Top photo: Shela Motley puts the final touches on her first quilt. It is a vibrant reminder that creativity expands when shared with the community.
Other photos of projects made in the class are below.
TNCPNEWS photos
BY TNCPNEWS Staff
LANSING, MI – During the fall of 2025, St. Stephen’s Community Church Sewing Guild transformed its sewing space into a vibrant quilting studio. They offered a six-week class that blended creativity, skill-building, and genuine community connection. What began as a request from a church member and a simple opportunity to learn straight seams and construct a lap quilt quickly evolved into something much more profound. It became a collective experience of encouragement, shared wisdom, and joyful creativity.
Beginners and seasoned stitchers alike immersed themselves in hands-on instruction. With a minimal enrollment fee, participants had access to various sewing machines, fabrics, notions, and a warm environment designed to support all levels of experience.
A key part of the class’s success was the instructor, Sister Aversa, a skilled member of the sewing guild at the church whose profound knowledge, patience, and calm teaching style anchored the entire experience. She moved easily between quilters, sewing machines, and hand stitching tables, offering clear guidance while troubleshooting tricky seams and answering pattern inquiries with both expertise and warmth.
Sister Aversa translated complex steps into approachable, confidence-building instructions and created an environment where novice quilters felt more than capable.
Whether helping someone rethread a machine or creating a contraption to hold a larger spool, Sister Aversa ensured that no one felt lost, rushed, or overlooked. Her steady presence made learning feel both possible and enjoyable.
Shela’s First Quilt and the Community That Helped Shape It
For first-time quilter Shela Motley, the class became a meaningful entry point into a craft she long admired. Motley retired from the Michigan Department of Attorney General, where she served as a special agent. In retirement, she leaned into hobbies that connected her mind and hands with creativity: knitting, Tunisian crochet, baking, walking, and, more recently, mastering the art of making sourdough bread.
“This class was my introduction to quilting,” she shared. “I saw learning to quilt as an opportunity to learn something new, as well as explore an additional avenue to bring a vision to fruition. I thought taking the class with women from St. Stephen’s would be a supportive sister circle.”
Her instincts were right.
While she enjoyed learning the art of piecing and sewing, Motley said the heart of the experience came from the atmosphere, which was calm, encouraging, and rooted in the kind of easy fellowship that makes learning feel natural. One experience in particular captured the spirit of the group. When a class member grew frustrated and was ready to give up on her quilt, the women immediately surrounded her with reassurance. They helped her refocus, offered hands-on assistance, and celebrated together when she completed her project.
Such moments illustrate the idea of collective uplift, in which creativity and confidence grow when people learn side by side.
Motley said she would recommend the class to anyone who wants to learn quilting in a supportive, social setting. “Quilting in a group offers the opportunity to share tips, receive assistance, collaborate, and have fun while creating,” she said. “I would recommend this class to anyone.”
For Sister Aversa, the quilting classes were never just about fabric and thread. The classes became a living example of collective resilience, a place where creativity blossomed and encouragement flowed. And for participants like Motley, it became proof that learning something new is possible, even when done side by side with people you have just met.
As the sewing guild looks ahead to the possibility of future classes, it will remain busy creating the popular handmade aprons that it sells at local community art and craft events. Community members interested in finding out information, please contact the guild at 517-484-2180 or send an email to ststephenscommunitychurchucc@gmail.com.
