Fruita quilters find a common thread through featherweight sewing group

FRUITA, Colo. — At Owl’s Nest Quilters in Grand Junction, you could hear the quiet "click-click-click" of antique motors cycling needles up and down.

There were casual murmurs and bursts of laughter. It was a room full of mostly older women and they had something unique in common: they all own a Singer Featherweight Sewing machine. They were there for a workshop to learn how to maintain their little antique beauties.

This niche community was created by Fruita quilter Karen Murray-Boston.

Having studied the inner workings of her own Featherweight, she is the expert in the room. This group of people is looking to her to guide them through opening up their machines and cleaning, greasing, and oiling them. Many of these machines are almost ninety years old, and still ticking. Murray-Boston may be the Featherweight expert here, but the truth is she has probably been sewing for fewer years than most of the folks in the room.