Quilting is here to stay

Locals say quilting is making a major comeback — one piece of fabric, one block of batting and one stitch at a time.

Two quilting shops — Calico Mermaid on Main Street near Subway and Josie’s Longarm Machine Quilting up the road near the Oak Pit — have opened in Porterville within the last nine months alone.

And while some facets of quilting have changed — the tools are better, the fabrics are brighter and the designs are bolder — the social aspect has remained the same since the advent of the craft.

That’s how quilters like it.

“It has become a community,” said Richard Goode, a professor at Porterville College by day and co-owner with his wife, Georgia, of Calico Mermaid by night.

The Goodes, who opened Calico Mermaid in April, sell books, fabrics, patterns and tools at their store. They offer a wide range of classes, taught primarily by teachers or retired teachers, each week as well.

The couple also hosts Friday Night Free Sew — a “get-together event” complete with a potluck dinner — from 5 p.m. to midnight the first Friday of each month at their business. The event allows people of all ages to get together, sit around a table, chat and, of course, get their quilting on.

“These people are artists. They are so creative and talented,” said Georgia, a second-grade teacher at Hope Elementary School. “They just want to share what they do. It’s wonderful.”

And share quilters do.

The Goodes maintain a Facebook page, a website and a blog, tools that they utilize to share class schedules, new arrivals at the store, pictures of quilts and more.

“We have quilters from all over the world who are communicating with us,” Georgia said. “They’re saying, ‘This (quilt) is beautiful in Swahili, Farsi, Italian and Greek.”

Indeed, it doesn’t look like the more-than-century-old craft will be going away any time soon.

In fact, Josie Flashberger, owner of Josie’s Longarm Machine Quilting, which she opened in September, said she had read last year that quilting is the 12th fastest-growing hobby.

Why? The answer is quite simple, the 74-year-old said.

“People are getting back to their roots,” said Flashberger, who has completed more than 700 quilts. “It’s a good, happy hobby.”

It’s a hobby that also allows individuals to get involved in philanthropic enterprises, such as completing and donating quilts to young ones at hospitals or troops overseas.

For this reason, quilting is a win-win for everybody involved.

“I think people need to be creative,” Georgia said. “I think it’s a healthy thing for people to have in their lives.”