Friends’ mission: Cultivate creativity
Just in time for a summer project is a new business in Spokane Valley that combines the talents of four area women who want to help others discover the joys of being creative.
Needles, Pins and Friends is the name that provides only a hint of what longtime knitters, sewers and crafters Uschi Gaertner, Sheryl Janke, Lisa Wardian and Tara Mickschl have to offer in their year-round classes for children and adults.
The four women became fast friends after meeting each other mostly at the fabric store. Together – realizing their passions and mutual desire to teach and help others find creativity – they now have a class schedule for knitting, sewing, crocheting, felting, jewelry making and paper crafting among their itinerary.
Their June schedule is available online at needlespinsandfriends. com and includes day classes for projects that take about 2
Classes are held at the home of Gaertner, who fashioned her basement into a cheerful sewing room and a cozy knitting room. A breezeway also is set up to accommodate outdoor crafting.
“Art and creativity feeds the soul,” says Mickschl, a longtime scrapbook and paper crafter.
The four women agree that all people can be creative, but many don’t know how or where to begin. Their classes are for those who want to learn, gather and create and make new friends along the way.
It’s especially delightful, they say, to see children develop such skills that can become lifelong joys and talents.
Each woman offers classes from basic to advanced and will provide instruction at the appropriate pace for the age and skill level. The women have been refining much of their crafting since childhood and have some experience teaching others.
Gaertner learned to knit and crochet as a young child in Germany. She took a decade-long hiatus while living in the humid climate of Georgia and rediscovered her passion when she moved to Spokane Valley about five years ago. She designs patterns and has published many articles in national knitting publications.
Janke started sewing and knitting at age 10 and says she wants to help teach the basics to people so they don’t feel the need to throw things out – even when a shirt is missing a button. Janke will teach a variety of sewing projects and knitting on a loom.
Wardian is an elementary schoolteacher and expert in fiber arts and crocheting. She will teach many projects including basic crochet, crocheting with jewelry wire and purse making.
Mickschl brings her experience working at a fabric store and as a Scout leader. She will teach scrapbooking basics, other paper crafts and clay crafts.
The women are thrilled to be able to teach others, provide a gathering place for crafters, and say they are also available to help with ideas or projects that customers might already have started on their own and need guidance.