Photos by Brea Jones, Daily Sun. During The Enrichment Academy’s Quilting: Beginning Intermediate 101 class, students Ruth Brooks, resident of The Village of Lake Denim, and Dianne Doucette, resident of Palo Alto, are able to work at their own pace.
In Penny Byrnes’ class, it takes a village to create a quilt.
Byrnes teaches “Quilting: Beginning Intermediate 101” in The Enrichment Academy, and by the end of the course her students will have made 56-by-70-inch quilts together.
At the Oct. 25 session, students showed the progress they’ve made one their 12.5-by-12.5-inch squares that will be pieced together to create the final product.
Byrnes said it was important for participants to have basic knowledge of sewing prior to joining the course.
“The differences between sewing and quilting is not a lot,” said Byrnes, of the Village of DeSoto. “I teach them the vocabulary to help them read the patterns. If you can read the quilting pattern, you can read the directions the pattern includes. It tells you where to cut and seam. As long as they get the language, you can make a perfect square.”
She said quilting is when technique and skill meet art.
Some of the shapes the class has learned to create this year include stars and piano keys using the Ribbon Stars ’n Keys pattern.
“If you are a puzzles person, quilts are great,” Byrnes said. “I really like puzzles.”
Having taught The Enrichment Academy class for three years, Byrnes said the most memorable feedback she’s gotten came recently, when a former student told her she was going to begin teaching.
“She was my student around June,” Byrnes said. “Now she’s teaching with the Quilting Guild (of The Villages). I feel very proud for her and that she adsorbed what I was teaching.”
Lori Karmolinski said she first learned to quilt while taking a previous course with Brynes a year ago.
“I was pretty pitiful,” Karmolinski joked. “I was like, ‘How do you turn (the sewing machine) thing on?’”
Brynes laughed when she recalled the level where Karmolinski started.
“We had to start her with the basics, but look at her now,” she said.
Student Nancy Saylor, of the Village of Pinellas, said she learned a lot over the first three weeks of Brynes’ course.
“I’ve gotten all my blocks together, and these ladies are very helpful in making sure I get all the points sharp and my seams right,” Saylor said.
Her interest in quilting, which started with her mom, has grown since the class began.
“My mom is a great quilter, but she lives in Delaware,” Saylor said. “I took this class to learn new tips and tricks. Now I have over-the-phone consultations with my mom or will send her pictures of what I’ve done. I’m the only one of the kids who picked up quilting.”
“Quilting: Beginning Intermediate 101” runs through Nov. 22 at Fenney Recreation. Although it’s too late to sign up for the course, there’s still time to sign up for future course led by Byrnes.
“Quilting: Advanced Beginner-Intermediate 102” runs from 9 to 11 a.m. Jan. 29 through March 5 at Fenney Recreation, 3200 Fenney Way.
“(The class) is open to everyone,” Brynes said. “I don’t care how old or young you are. As long as they can sew or can understand sewing, I can work with that.”
For more information about The Enrichment Academy or to sign up for a course, visit theenrichmentacademy.org.
Staff writer Brea Jones can be reached at 352-753-1119, ext. 5414, or brea.jones@thevillagesmedia.com.
