Leatherstocking Quilts Stitches Together a Creative Community

By BRIANNA FERGUSON
SUNY Institute for Local News
ONEONTA

As shopping increasingly moves online, one local store is banking on in-person shopping as a way to build community.

Jeanne Turner, owner of Leatherstocking Quilts in downtown Oneonta, sees her store not just as a place to buy fabric and quilting tools, but as a community.

“I think of quilting as a very communal hobby,” said Turner. “My goal was to provide high quality quilting fabrics, but also a place where people were happy to come in.”

At Leatherstocking Quilts, located at 155 Main Street, Turner offers private sewing and quilting lessons. She also offers “upsewing” lessons, where participants transform old clothing or bags into something new; a Block of the Month Series, where quilters make a quilt block-by-block over the course of a year; and free children’s classes on Saturday mornings and during school vacations.

The classes are a big draw, said customer Allie Tabor.

“Being able to go to a class and have someone, and other people attending the class, that know a ton about the craft itself…I think that’s a really special thing, not only for Oneonta, but just in general,” Tabor said.

There are plenty of how-to videos online, she said, “but nothing beats actual personal instruction and having immediate feedback.”

SUNY Oneonta student Mia Yanoti is currently interning at Leatherstocking Quilts and is also helping develop its website and online store.

“It’s really interesting to learn about how a retail business is run,” said Yanoti. “I’m learning a lot about the use of textile products and what consumers are looking for, which will assist my future career in textile design.”

Turner’s mother, Mary Lou Moulton, also works at Leatherstocking Quilts.
One of the best parts of being in the store, she said, is working with her daughter and “seeing her enjoy her lifelong goal. Seeing her connect with the customers. Seeing her get to teach another generation.”

This story was created by student reporters through the OnNY Community Media Service, a program of SUNY Oneonta and the SUNY Institute for Local News.