BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP
Staff Writer
ALLENTOWN — One downtown shop has stitched together quite a history.
For almost 30 years, the Quilter’s Barn, located at 34 S. Main St. in Allentown, has offered quilting instruction and supplies.
Owner Patti Ryan keeps shop and tends to customers among the many different colors and patterns of the 100-percent cotton fabrics the store sells for quilt making
Ryan, who purchased the shop in July 1998 from longtime owner Mary Boyer, said the store will celebrate its 30th year as a quilt shop in the fall with a quilt show.
“The shop will be 30 years old in November,” Ryan said.
Ryan learned to sew in the seventh grade and started making quilts in 1990.
“I’ve always been interested in sewing and quilting, but it wasn’t until my daughter started preschool that I could explore quilt making,” Ryan said. “I took a class here and made my first full-size quilt, a flying geese quilt.”
Ryan said she became a regular at Quilter’s Barn and soon learned Boyer had the store up for sale.
“I was taking classes at the time, and she mentioned that the shop was up for sale,” Ryan said. “Having a background in retail and a love for sewing, I decided to purchase the place.”
Before having her first child, Ryan worked as a jeweler in New York City.
When asked what motivated her toward quilt making, Ryan said, “I love everything about it, from picking out the fabrics to sewing them together.
“When you’re making a quilt,” she said, “there is such a joy in the creativity and when you finish a quilt. There is such a sense of accomplishment.”
Quilting, Ryan explained, is the sewing together, by hand or machine, of three layers of fabric — the back, the batting (or stuffing) and the top.
“Over time, quilting has pretty much remained the same,” Ryan said. “I don’t think that there is a design or pattern that anyone could come up with today that has not been created before.”
Ryan recited one of her favorite tidbits from the history of quilt making.
“In the 1930s, women used to use feed sacks to make quilts,” Ryan said. “The animal feed suppliers noticed that and started making the sacks more appealing [in terms of looks], with brighter colors and patterns. The wives would entice the farmers to buy their seed [based] on how the sacks looked all because of quilt making.”
Quilter’s Barn employee Christine Muller, of Freehold, called quilt making a traditional craft that brings people together.
“I love quilt making because I love creating gifts for other people,” Muller said. “It’s really a great, relaxing pastime that lets you express your creativity.”
Quilter’s Barn offers a variety of quilt-making classes for all ages and levels.