A unique stitch in Corning

Barbara Steigman sits and closely studies the hand-pieced quilt top laying in front of her as she decides what unique stitching design she will use to highlight the finished product.

Steigman, who with her husband, Dan, owns and operates Foster Family Quilts in Corning, is an artist in the time honored world of quilting.

Sixteen years ago, Steigman was "dragged" to a quilt class by some friends in Redding. The rest is history.

"They decided I needed to make a quilt, so I did, and then I was hooked," Steigman said. "I have always been crafty but quilting is what I love best."

Steigman started making quilts and giving them away to Shasta Community Health for the babies.

"That is what I do most often when I make a quilt of my own, I give them to family or friends or donate them to charitable causes," she said.

According to her husband, a pastor at Believers Church of God in Corning, his wife's new found talent started taking over their home.

"She had her sewing machine, fabrics and other quilting supplies all over the house," he said. "That is when I decided it was time to open a shop."

Of course, the sewing machine Dan Steigman is referring to isn't your average machine that can snugly fit on a small table.

Barbara Steigman's machine is a 12-foot, long-arm machine used for sewing together, using a design throughout, the top, batting and bottom of a quilt.

So, in 2007, the couple opened their quilt shop, located at 954 Highway 99W, and named the business after one of their other passions, taking care of foster children.

"We have taken in and cared for dozens of foster children," Dan Steigman said. "So naming the shop came naturally."

Walking into the shop is like

walking into a rainbow of quilting fabrics, as every color of fabric lines the walls and already cut quilt pieces line the shelves.

"We try to supply everything a person would need to make a quilt," said Barbara Steigman. "And we also sell sewing machines and Dan repairs machines."

People come from all over the West Coast to have Steigman put their quilts together.

"When I sew a quilt together, I don't use design patterns like so many people do," she said. "I uniquely design each and every quilt I put together and no two are alike; that would just be wrong."

And although Steigman hasn't ever entered one of her quilts in a show, many of her customers have with many winning Best of Show, said her husband.

The Steigmans offer quilting classes at their shop all day on Mondays. For more information call the shop at 824-4240.