Skip to content

Retired artists run technology-assisted quilting business from home

Colleen and Craig Lawrence run their business, No Guilt Quilting, from the front room of their home in Moose Jaw, using a Statler-Gammill long-arm quilting machine capable of thousands of varieties of stitching patterns.

Colleen and Craig Lawrence run their business, No Guilt Quilting, from the front room of their home in Moose Jaw, using a Statler-Gammill long-arm quilting machine capable of thousands of varieties of stitching patterns.

Colleen was the quilter, at first. After Craig retired about 15 years ago, his wife — still working at the time — decided he needed something to fill his time. She started their business, and he began applying technical skills and artistic instincts to the new challenge.

The next quilting show in Moose Jaw, hosted by the Prairie Hearts Quilting Guild and titled Sew Full of Whimsy, will be held April 21 and 22 at the Moose Jaw Events Centre. Colleen Lawrence is one of the organizers.

Quilts can be made for many different purposes. The Lawrences’ have made quilts for charity, to commemorate major life events such as births and marriages, as memorials for people and pets, as competitive entries into quilting shows, and, of course, purely for the sake of the art.

In similar fashion, quilts can be made many different ways. Hand-stitching is a labour-intensive, skilled trade requiring hundreds upon hundreds of hours for intricate patterns.

What Craig and Colleen do is use printed paper cutouts to create intricate fabric patterns. Once they’re satisfied with the design they’ve made, they use their machine to do the stitching.

“It allows you to be very creative,” Craig explained. “The computer can do such intricate things that no person could ever accomplish on their own.

“I didn’t get good at and really learn the program for, well, a couple of years. But I could do basic edge-to-edge within weeks, and that’s where we started.”

Their art requires a combination of digital graphic design, mechanical understand, and artistic choices in terms of fabric, pattern, threads, and colours.

“Usually, people bring us their quilt in three pieces,” Colleen explained. “They’re bringing us the backing, the batting, and the quilt top, already pieced together. And then they decide what kind of (stitching) design they want on there. ‘I want feathers,’ or ‘I want swirls,’ or dogs, whatever it is.

“So, we go through what patterns we have in that category and then they can choose.”

Most people, however, trust the couple to choose stitching patterns and thread choices for them.

“An awful lot of people just bring (the quilt) and say, ‘Build it for me,’ Craig noted. “There’s so much you can do.”

He demonstrated the input of a custom flame pattern using the graphic design computer attached to the Statler-Gammill long-arm machine.

“I use the mouse to draw it, and then put each of these in individually, and then they can be sewn as a group. These are all individual patterns. To do that one quilt takes all of these patterns, so it’s quite intensive work. … And I can cut this up and make other patterns out of it. I can change the shapes if I want to.”

Non-custom designs can take advantage of internet libraries full of patterns. One order from a motorcycle-loving couple involved turning 40 Harley-Davidson t-shirts into a quilt. They prepared the fabric, found Harley-Davidson motorcycle and logo stitching patterns, and created a piece of art the couple can display and treasure forever.

People come from all over Saskatchewan for the Lawrences’ work, and other customers ship them material from B.C. or Manitoba.

“We’re not looking for business or anything like that,” Colleen laughed. “We’re fine with what we have, because we like to travel. … We’re retired, so, you know, this quilt will probably take us until maybe three this afternoon, and then we’re done. And tomorrow we’ll put a different one on, and if it only takes us an hour or two, then year, we’re done for the day. So, it’s our choice.”

Craig and Colleen will have competitive entries at April’s Sew Full of Whimsy quilting show. Tickets are available from Sasktix.ca or from the Events Centre Box Office.

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks