Atomic City Quilts Shares Knowledge At 3-Day Sewing Camp

Submitted by Carol A. Clark
on July 15, 2023
- 9:57 am

Atomic City Quilts owner Shelly Kuropatwinski assists girls who took part in a 3-day quilt camp, which wrapped up Wednesday, July 12 in the quilt shop at 1247 Central Ave. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladaily.post.com

Atomic City Quilts owner Shelly Kuropatwinski with girls who participated in a 3-day quilt camp, from left, Grace V., Nixyn M., Viviana G., Mary-Beth K. and Austin S., show off Christmas stockings they created during the camp. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com

By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com

Sewing classes are disappearing from school curriculums but Atomic City Quilts owner Shelly Kuropatwinski is working to ensure the knowledge of how to operate a sewing machine and handle a needle and thread doesn’t fade in young people’s minds.

To keep youngsters engaged in the art of quilting and sewing, Kuropatwinski held a 3-day camp that began Monday, July 10, and ended Wednesday, July 12, in her store at 1247 Central Ave. Kuropatwinski and co-instructor Lana Kelsey schooled five girls, ages 8 and 9, on how to create fiber pieces. Each day, the students created a different piece.

Kelsey and Kuropatwinski explained the first day the campers made a four-patch quilt square that could be used as a potholder. The second day the girls made Christmas stockings and the final day had them making pop bags.

Besides creating fiber pieces, Kelsey said camp participants learned the basics of quilting such as what is required to make a quilt: it needs to have a top, a bottom and a middle. They also learned to use various tools such as a rotary cutter and a quilting ruler.

The girls seemed to have learned quickly. All of them sat around a table in the Atomic City Quilts classroom expertly maneuvering fabric pieces through sewing machines. One student even had advanced to making a complete quilt, which was the color of army-green camouflage and featured cubed-shaped creatures from the game, Minecraft.

Several students commented that they enjoyed not only learning how to sew but the camaraderie around the table.

For Kuropatwinski, she said a true highlight of the camp was seeing different sewing techniques mentally click in the participants.

“The smiles,” she said. “That’s my favorite part – the ‘ah-ha’ moment.”

Kuropatwinski added she also enjoyed having a second instructor for the camp.

“I have an excellent co-teacher, Lana,” she said.

Kelsey said she enjoyed working with the young sewers.

“I love inquisitive minds … sometimes they stump me … it’s just inspiring,” Kelsey said.

The camp may be over, but Kuropatwinski said that she hopes to continue teaching youngsters the art of quilting and sewing.

When the school year begins, she said the plan is to organize a quilting club that would meet once a month on a Wednesday afternoon at her store. Each month would focus on a different quilting project. If interested in joining or to get more information, email Kuropatwinski at shelly@atomiccityquilts.com