Isaac Yonkers was the proud owner of piles and piles of old fabric and textiles carefully saved and passed down through four generations of his family. The collection included everything from shirts and pants to drapes and even military uniforms. Each piece held a story.
For decades, the plan had always been for someone to sew it all together into a quilt. There was just one problem: no one in the family quilted anymore.
“I thought, ‘This is just going to never be used,’” said Yonkers, who serves as security manager at Hastings Middle School. The fabric had followed him, waiting for someone who knew what to do with it.
That’s when a familiar face stepped in.
“I told him that I’d make him a quilt,” said Lynette Keiser.
Keiser had worked for the district for 15 years before retiring last year, but retirement hasn’t kept her away permanently. She remains a familiar presence in the halls of Hastings Middle School, occasionally stopping in to visit former colleagues or to check on Mr. Renner’s Innovation and Design class during their sewing unit.
Her knowledge and skills go a long way in helping students, and they certainly came in handy in creating the family heirloom for Yonkers.
Quilting has been her longtime hobby. So when Yonkers mentioned the literal barrels of inherited fabric, she didn’t hesitate.
She sorted through the mixture of wool and cotton fabrics and spent months bringing them to life. This week, she revealed the finished quilt.
Sized for a king-sized bed (making for a big project), it offers a mosaic of many things that Yonkers remembers, and maybe doesn’t remember, from his past.
“I’m really excited,” Yonkers said as he looked it over. “It’s what multiple generations of my family intended to do with it, and it’s finally in that form.”