A labor of love

By Staff
Melissa Cason
FROG POND – Two things that Margie Oliver loves equally are her hand-sown quilts and her extensive glass collection.
Her first love is quilting, something she learned to do as a child with her mother, and her passion for it has followed her throughout her life.
"I learned to quilt before my feet could reach the pedals of the sowing machine," Oliver said.
She still has a few hand-sown quilts that she completed as a teenager, and while she has always loved quilting and sowing, she found herself too busy to do a lot of it when she went to work upon high school graduation.
"I went to work when I was 18, just after I graduated high school," Oliver said. "I just didn't have a lot time for quilting."
While quilting got pushed to the backburner, Oliver said she did not abandon her sewing roots. In fact, those roots helped her land a pretty good job at such a young age.
"I worked in the industrial garment business as a supervisor and quality control," she said. "I also ran a sowing machine at one time."
When not at work, Oliver did sewing for her friends and neighbors and made a good portion of her three daughters' clothing.
But while her sewing portfolio is extensive, Oliver said her quilts are her favorite because they were done for her family.
"My quilts are completely hand-sewn and I am in the process of completing my sixth cross-stitch quilt," she said.
It takes usually Oliver three months to make a quilt, even if she works on it every night. Cross-stitching is the most time consuming of the process.
"Some quilts have taken me a year to cross-stitch," she said. "So it takes a long time to complete them."
While quilting is close to her heart, Oliver said he enjoys giving her fingers a break on occasion and turns to another hobby: collecting antique glass.
"I love the glass," she said. "I have a lot of depression glass made in the 1930s and 1940s."
Oliver said that her glass collection is as close to her as her quilts are, but she enjoys them equally.
"Since I have retired, I really enjoy looking for antiques and other things with my friends," Oliver said.