Everything a quilt could need at Wimberley Stitch Studio

In quilting lore, the story goes like this: When Amish women make a quilt they purposely include at least one mistake because only God is perfect. It would be prideful to make the perfect quilt.

When Linda Chase Hasselberg teaches beginning quilters or children she doesn’t ask them to include a mistake. The mistakes just seem to come naturally and that’s okay. It’s all part of the process.

Linda operates Wimberley Stitch Studio at 704 FM 2325, just across from Gate 3 at Market Days. Everywhere you turn in the converted old house are quilting supplies — fabric, sewing machines, thread, and patterns. Colorful quilts and quilted wall hangings of all shapes, colors and sizes adorn the walls.

“I always tell my students there aren’t any rules in making a quilt,” says Linda. “Sometimes the things we do that don’t follow the rules turn out to be the most beautiful.”

Quilting goes back a long way. Some say the ancient Egyptians made quilted items. There are quilts made in Europe that date back to the 1300s. In the United States, quilt making was common in the 17th Century.

In the olden days, quilters used fabric remnants and old clothes. Today, of course, things are much more polished. While some quilts might be fashioned from old T-shirts, most are made from new material and follow prescribed patterns. You can even purchase pre-cut pieces of fabric so a quilter doesn’t have to bother with measuring and trimming. “Most quilters these days buy new fabrics to make quilts and coordinate colors,” says Linda.

A few basic supplies

At its essence, quilting is pretty simple, says Linda. You need fabric, a sewing machine — although some purists still sew by hand — batting, thread, a rotary cutting tool, pins, and scissors.

Linda estimated that a beginner can produce a nice quilt in a few months, working off and on.

Most of the quilts end up on a bed, but her students also create handbags, wall hangings and table runners.

Linda has been making quilts for almost 40 years. “I started when my first baby was going to be born. That was 1981. I started because I wanted to make a baby quilt for my little one,” she recalls. “My mother asked me why I was taking a perfectly good piece of fabric and cutting it up.”

When her youngest daughter started kindergarten, Linda got serious. She opened her first quilt store in 2013 in a little building in front of Linda’s Fine Foods. In 2016 she moved to her current location just down the road. She jumped from 300 square feet of space to 1,400 square feet. “We just kept growing,” she says.

This fall the property owner, Marilyn Barney, plans to open a “quilt retreat” in a remodeled house on the six acres behind the existing store. It will accommodate up to nine people who want to devote time to quilting.

When Linda first started making quilts she wanted to speed through the process and get to the finished product. She has more patience these days. “There was a point when God spoke to me and told me to slow down and enjoy the journey. Now it’s all part of the process.” Even when she makes a mistake and has to pull out stitches, it’s still just part of the “journey.”

“There’s a saying that my soul is fed by a needle and thread,” says Linda.

Wimberley Stitch Studio carries hundreds of bolts of fabric, all high quality. There are six basic grades of fabric, explains Linda. Generally speaking, you’ll find grades one and two at places like Wal-Mart, grades three and four at JOANN Fabrics or Hobby Lobby and top-quality grades five and six at specialized quilt shops.

Even fabrics that look alike can be of varying quality. Linda remembers a customer who wanted a hot chili pepper print. The customer thought the price was too high at the quilt store and found a pattern just like it at a discount store. The fabric, however, was difficult to cut and almost immediately started to fray. “If you are making something you want to last for years, you don’t want to use cheap fabric,” says Linda. “You get what you pay for.”

Linda estimates that a quilt made by a beginner will likely run between $100-$200. More expensive fabric can drive the cost up significantly. Says Linda: “You can go from very expensive to really pretty inexpensive.”

Quilt making is part art and part craft. There are some basic rules. “You can’t use all big, bold patterns. You need a place for your eye to rest so you can enjoy the bold parts.”

All kinds of classes

Wimberley Stitch Studio hosts classes and workshops for the novice and the expert. If you have never used a sewing machine, she’ll teach you that as well. She is starting a new set of classes this month and bringing in teachers from all over to introduce different techniques and styles.

The classes cost $25 a session and can have up to 10 students. There are also classes for children over 10. In one of the classes the students create patriotic-themed quilts that are given to local veterans and active-duty military personnel.

In the spring, there’s a regional quilting caravan that starts in Mc-Queeney, hits Schertz, Wimberley and Blanco, before ending in Fredericksburg. “This year we had 400 people in the shop over three days,” says Linda.

Most of the quilters are women, but there are male customers. “I haven’t been able to talk my husband into taking a quilting class yet,” she laughs. Linda’s husband Rich is retiring soon and plans on opening a blade sharpening business behind the quilt store. Linda has three daughters and recently added a stepson.

On the front of Linda’s shirt it says “Happy” in big letters and on the back it says, “Do what you love and love what you do.”

She’s living that dream.