NEGAUNEE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WJMN) — Masks for Marquette has made an impact on one local business.
“Sewers and quilters are people that want to help,” said Pam Kauppila, Owner of Time Flies Quilt and Sew.
Kauppila has a passion for sewing. Inside her Negaunee shop, the walls are lined with fabrics of every color you can imagine.
Like many small business owners, her doors aren’t open right now, but that doesn’t mean Pam is just sitting back. She is part of the Masks for Marquette group.
“I have made some masks, but I haven’t been the prolific one to crank out 20 or 50 or 100 like many of our, we call them sewing warriors, have been able to do, but I feel good that I was able to make it easier for everybody to have a pattern to follow.”
Kauppila put together a step-by-step guide – showing people how to make masks — including pictures that are available on her website free to download.
Pam has kept online sales of fabric and sewing machines open.
She says people have been dusting off their old machines or looking for new ones, because they want to help their community.
“We’ve had people purchase sewing machines for the purpose of making masks and we help people who maybe are cooped up and they want to start quilting and they’ve purchased long arms from us, so we’re seeing kind of a wide range of customers.”
Kauppila is still able to connect with her sewing community, doing a series of Facebook lives for quilters and sewers.
She has plans to launch video classes using a variety of video conferencing platforms, including Zoom. Pam says Zoom is the best way to teach her class properly.
“You can communicate, you can share power points, you can share videos, and that’s what I’m gearing up here to do, but it’s hard because I am the only one here.”
For more information on Time Flies Quilt & Sew, click here.
