MiVT: Glowbirdy Quilts

SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) - South Burlington’s Carla White has been dabbling with fiber arts since she was just a little kid. Thanks to a family friend, her love of crochet and crewelwork evolved into a love of quilting.

“She asked if I would like to go to a quilt guild meeting,” recounted White. “I saw some really beautiful quilts, landscape quilts, and I just fell in love with it.”

She began Glowbirdy Quilts in 2008 while she was still working in radiological health, and living with lots of cockatiels. She’s since retired and the number of birds has lessened.

“Blackie and Brownie,” laughed White. “Not very original, but one is a very dark gray and the other one is brown.”

She says they make for great co-workers, except for when they’re feeling noisy.

After retiring from her health care job, she dove deeper into her quilting passion and picked it up as a full-time hobby. Many rooms in her house are now equipped for it, too.

“I have this set up right now to quilt a table topper for Christmas,” she explained, while working a piece of fabric with her longarm quilting machine.

Her affinity for these pieces of art shows, with the walls of her fabric room decorated with awards. White says many aren’t even hung up.

“It can take 20 hours and up to 120 or more, depends on the size,” she said when asked about the labor requirements for her work.

All of that time and attention to detail comes at a price. Her quilts range from just under $200 to upward of $2,000 depending on the size.

“Usually people see them and they go like, ‘Oh, wow, I didn’t know we could do that with a quilt!’ They’re art quilts, and they’re made for the wall,” White said.

She makes bed quilts, too. But regardless of the use, the real satisfaction is seeing people walk away with a new piece of art.

“I like to make pretty things,” laughed White. “That’s pretty much what it is.”

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