Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
NORTH WEBSTER - The "Quiltbus" visited 30 members of the Lakeland Quilters at the Tippecanoe Township Community Center Monday.
The project for the day was to create a "Mystery" quilt in about three hours.
The owners of the bus, the husband and wife team of Kris and John Driessem, of Esperance, N.Y., have been traveling around informally for seven years and formally for the past three years. They've traveled from their home near Albany, N.Y., to as far south as Texas, as far north as Michigan, and west as far as Colorado. The Quiltbus will be in Culver today.
The quilters are asked to bring the necessary pieces of fabric and the Driessems provide the Mystery pattern. Each quilter brings their own sewing machine and other quilting tools to create the quilt. The quilters Monday represented Warsaw, North Webster, Cromwell, Columbia City, New Paris, Kimmell, Fort Wayne, Mishawaka and Huntertown.
Walking around the room looking at the different projects, there were many colors and fabric designs, from light to vivid and bright, and from minute geometric designs to small flowers to large patterns. Many fabrics had stories ("This one was left over from my 'Thus and So' quilt," to "These really aren't my colors"), and each was different. The "Mystery" is in the final product, when the colors and patterns are combined based on the pattern and where the various fabrics are used in the overall design.
Quilters ranged from beginners to experts. Everyone helped everyone else, providing guidance on fabric placement and helpful hints for sewing the pieces together. When completed, the quilt measured 36 inches by 36 inches and could be used as a wall hanging or in a baby's bed, or the quilter could make and add additional 3-foot-square pieces to create a bed-size quilt.
Inside the Quiltbus is a miniature fabric and quilting supplies store. A large variety of bolts of quilting fabrics are displayed inside the bus, representing all colors and designs. Other supplies include quilt patterns, thread and all kinds of supplies to make small and large quilts.
The Driessems, who both are quilters, provide the expertise to explain what tools may be needed, which quilts are easy and difficult and assist with fabric combination selection. For more information on the Quiltbus, call 888-817-6577 or visit quiltbus.com
The Lakeland Quilters welcome new members. They meet the second and fourth Mondays of each month at the Tippecanoe Township Community Center, North Webster, starting at 10 a.m. For more information, call Nancy Peterson, 260-856-3597.
