Staff Spotlight: The Quilter

Where a love of creativity meets an appreciation for following a pattern,that’s where you’ll find quilters. By day, she helps members find solutions, and in her free time, she creates pieces to last for generations. Meet LaDonna!

  LaDonna’s sewing career began at age seven. Growing up in a house where your mom makes clothes for you and your two sisters will do that. Unfortunately, one of the first projects she completed had a casualty: her favorite fuzzy bright yellow turtleneck sweater. You see, LaDonna needed something to stuff her corduroy pillow, and the fuzzy sweater, cut into pieces, was the perfect option. That’s around the time her mom decided she needed lessons.
 

“My mom was my best teacher. By the time I reached seventh grade Home Economics, instead of making heart pillows like everyone else, I was using my own pattern to make a hippopotamus!” LaDonna explained. “I was thrilled to have found a class that I excelled in.”

Fast forward to today, LaDonna has her very own side hustle, Comfort and Joy Quilting. LaDonna is an edge-to-edge quilter. When creating this style, a design repeats in rows across the quilt. Thanks to the Cadillac of machines, her Gammill Statler Sticher has a 26” throat (that’s a fancy way of saying a long arm), LaDonna can easily cover a large range of space quickly. Its computer-driven nature also lets her to easily download thousands of different patterns, making every quilt unique. It may also have exacerbated her pile of unfinished projects, as she’s easily distracted by something new and exciting.
 
The quilts with meanings behind them are LaDonna’s favorite. Like the ones she’s quietly made for friends after the sudden loss of a family member. Or the Navy-inspired design she made for her dad’s 80th birthday, which she now treasures after losing him nearly two years ago. Her most recent works in progress are for her siblings and include items of clothing worn by their late parents and sister.
 

“I believe having something that they had, in this case, their clothes to wrap up in is like having another hug from them,” LaDonna shared. “Because of the emotion behind them, memory quilts always take me the longest to complete.”

LaDonna firmly believes that anyone who wants to can sew and quilt. Her advice is to start with an inexpensive machine and some square blocks. Often, stores offer free lessons to help customers learn the machine and basic sewing tips. And for free videos of easy, beginner quilts online, look no further than the Missouri Star Quilt Company. Or as LaDonna fondly calls it, the mecca of quilting.
 

“If you can drive, you can sew! You push the foot pedal to go and your hands to turn the fabric,” LaDonna said with a smile. “But be careful not to get caught speeding! Though there may not be a ticket involved, it could end badly.”

Next time you’re thinking about what to get your loved one, consider a handmade quilt made from the heart by Comfort and Joy Quilting.