By TAMMIE TOLER

Princeton Times

PRINCETON — Laughter and advice flowed freely Tuesday, as four friends reveled in a very special fellowship, bound in fabric and stitched together with care.

The Moon Over the Mountain Quilt Guild keeps a warm crafting tradition alive and well in Princeton, while its members tackle all kinds of quilting challenges.

“Sometimes, I think we must be crazy,” guild member Nancy Najmulski said this week, during the group’s monthly meeting. “We take perfectly good pieces of fabric, and we cut them all up, just to sew them back together again. And, sometimes, we cut those pieces apart to make new patterns or projects.”

But, in the women’s words, that is the true “spirit of quilting.”

It’s the spirit in which the person behind each quilt

makes the most of every scrap of fabric available and turns what evolved from a very practical skill into a beautifully intricate art form.

Although the group totals about eight members who meet the fourth Tuesday of each month at the Princeton Presbyterian Church to show off their latest projects, discuss new ideas and issue challenges to the group, this week, there were only four members who could squeeze the session into their schedules and were daring enough to brave the wintry forecast to gather with fellow quilters.

Moon Over the Mountain Quilt Guild, named after a familiar quilt pattern, got its start in the late 1980s, when then-WVU Extension Service Agent Margaret Meador taught classes for the community. The courses started in the day, at the Mercer County Technical Education Center, but as interest grew, the sessions extended to include a night group, also.

“In the day classes, we made one block a month, but the women in the night classes wanted to do one block a week so they could get their projects finished more quickly,” Joyce Timson recalled.

Since those days, the art of quilting has changed a lot.

“When we first started, the rotary cutter wasn’t even functioning,” Timson said.

But, the quilters have evolved with technology too, and Karen Browning said rotary cutters, high-dollar sewing machines and even laptop computers are now tools of the trade for people who love to craft their hobbies out of tiny pieces of fabric.

For Debbie Burmer, the pastime that serves as her personal stress release and therapy, is also a happy extension of her career. Quilting seems to go hand in hand with her day job as a family and consumer sciences teacher in Tazewell County, Va.

“I’ve just always liked to sew, and I knew I was always going to quilt,” she said, explaining how she began the intricate craft in the first place.

Although most of the women in Moon Over the Mountain got their start in Meador’s classes or similar courses throughout the region, Najmulski was a little different.

“I made a quilt when my son was born, and I didn’t know what I was doing,” she said, laughing at her confusion as she attempted to piece the labor of love together. “Basically, I am self-taught, but now I learn a lot from our group here.”

In a way, Browning was born into the hobby. She grew up with a fabric shop as her home away from home, as her father operated the store.

“I’ve discovered that I really am a fabric collector, and I think that’s what keeps me quilting. I love the colors and the different textures of all different kinds of fabric,” she said, smiling at even the thought of long rows and bolts of all varieties of materials in the shops she loves to brouse.

While the Moon Over the Mountain women often work together on big projects and special challenges, their personalities are as different as the pieces of fabric they pair in quilt patterns.

Browning called Burmer and Timson “the producers,” because they turn out lots of projects in a timely manner. Another member not present Tuesday is “the processor,” because she loves to try each technique once and can instantly recognize them in other quilts. One woman enjoys large projects, while Browning enjoys smaller pieces the best.

Najmulski starts all kinds of projects at once, working until something else takes her attention, and then picking them up later, when inspiration strikes again. Others, work on one piece until it’s finished.

“Each person has their own likes and dislikes, their own strengths and quirks, and that comes through in our work,” Browning said.

“Even when we try to do the same things, they turn out differently, but they fit together well,” Burmer added

Much like a quilt, created of different threads and perfected through a wide variety of experiences and lots of self-reflection, the Moon Over the Mountain quilters have been working and playing together so long that their very different parts have created a solid unit.

That doesn’t mean they wouldn’t like to expand, though.

“We’re always looking for new people,” Najmulski said, suggesting that any beginner interested in learning more about quilting join the group.

It’s full of experience and support when the craft gets confusing, and the members enjoy giving back to the community. They make it a point to provide each Mercer County child adopted a quilt of their very own to take to their new home, and the members often get involved in other fund drives by donating their work as prizes.

Moon Over the Mountain quilters were also recently the featured artists in the Chuck Mathena Center Rotunda Gallery, where their work hung through the holiday season.

Much like their group’s name suggests, these women always have new projects on the horizon and put a lot of love into each piece, whether it’s considered complete or a work in progress.

“There’s always another project you want to do,” Najmulski said.

“Another one? Come on. There’s more than one,” Burmer added.

“OK. There’s 10,” Najmulski agreed, laughing as the group members separated until their next show-and-tell session, when they will once again revel in shared interests and friendship all wrapped up in an array of quilts.

For more on the Mountain Quilt Guild, contact Burmer at (304) 888-0968 or Najmulski at (304) 384-9694.