CRAFTY WOMEN LOVE QUILTING: MARY VANDEVEN IS SOLD ON SEWING AND MAKING A GOOD LIVING DOING IT

Vandeven spends most of her quiet days in her shop, where she can sew a quilt in about two-and-a-half hours.

Working at home, where she is also able to raise a family, was an important factor for Vandeven in starting her commercial sewing business.

Vandeven says she takes quilts that have been started by others and finishes them herself.

Quilting may not sound exciting to some, but it's hard to deny it requires patience, a steady hand, and not a small dose of talent, skills that even some hang gliders do not possess.

"I love to sew," said Mary Vandeven of Marble Hill, who has turned sewing into her livelihood through her commercial sewing business. "It's easy to forget the outside world when I'm sewing."

When Vandeven began a family over 20 years ago, she and her husband were looking for a way she could work and still stay at home. Sewing was ideal.

"It's worked perfectly," Vandeven said, of being able to work at home. "I could be here when the kids needed me here and still do what I love."

That's right, Vandeven loves to sew; in fact, she calls it her passion. And while next year marks her 20th anniversary of selling quilts, she has been sewing much longer than that.

"I've always liked to work with fabric. I grew up loving to sew."

She began quilting small projects, such as baby quilts and lap robes, the latter of which are used mainly by those in wheel chairs to cover their legs. She made several items for her family, mainly quilts and pillows, until she got the feel of the machine.

Then she came up with the idea to start her own commercial sewing business, working out of her home.

A lot of the credit goes to Vandeven's parents, who gave her the idea after seeing a billboard on commercial sewing.

"When Mom and Dad told me about the sign, I said, 'Hey, that sounds like me.'"

In the fall of 1977, Vandeven began Mary's Machine Quilting, sewing quilts mostly for area residents. She does make quilts from scratch but the bulk of her work involves finishing quilts that people started but never finished.

"People find old quilts that their grandparents started in the back of their closet and bring them to me."

Vandeven works through Mary Wallace's store in Marble Hill, where she picks up the unfinished quilts and delivers the finished ones weekly, as she has for the last 19 years.

"I thought it was kind of humorous when people would phone the house and ask to speak to my mother," said Vandeven, who is 39. "They associate quilting with older people."

She didn't advertise for many years; people just heard about her through word of mouth. Apparently, word of mouth spreads far and wide -- Vandeven's done work for people in Hawaii and Germany.

"I guess they just heard about me through friends and relatives from around here."

Vandeven says her husband, John, has been very supportive of her quilting. She calls him her "in-home mechanic and maintenance man" since he repairs and cleans the machines.

Vandeven doesn't just consider quilting an occupation, though.

"It's more like an art form," Vandeven said. "It's not tracing, it's freehand -- like sketching on fabric."

And it's not just the "art" that Vandeven finds enjoyable.

"I've met a lot of really nice ladies, too," she said. "I get to be a part of people's Christmas and birthday presents. That's really nice."

Vandeven said it takes her nearly two-and-a-half hours to finish one quilt, a time that has improved considerably since all of her four children are in school now.

Vandeven says she can't imagine quitting quilting any time soon.

"It'd be really hard for me to give the machine up. Even if I were to do something else, it'd still be a hobby."