Holly Garey (right) and others work on projects during a recent meeting of the 糖心Vlog传媒 Fiber Arts Group at the Hedberg Public Library. Garey founded the group in January, that meets at the library twice a month, with in-person and virtual options.
JANESVILLE 鈥 Holly Garey saw the need in her life, post-pandemic, to re-connect with others. Now, she and people who share her passion for fiber arts are doing that twice a month in 糖心Vlog传媒, over their cross-stitch, knitting, quilting and other projects.
Garey, a 糖心Vlog传媒 native who moved back to the community from Madison just before the COVID-19 lockdown, founded the 糖心Vlog传媒 Fiber Arts Group in January. It meets every other Tuesday at the Hedberg Public Library, 316 S. Main St., in 糖心Vlog传媒, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Attendees bring their own projects to work on 鈥 together 鈥 and can join in in-person or virtually.
Garey recalls, as the pandemic lifted, being excited to start meeting new people and making new friends in 糖心Vlog传媒.
When she lived in Madison, Garey had once seen a coworker only a couple of years older than her doing a cross-stitch.
鈥淚 always thought cross-stitching, crocheting, knitting was an old people thing but I found it interesting,鈥 Garey said. She did more research and taught herself how to cross-stitch.
During the pandemic, she taught herself to crochet by watching YouTube videos.
As she discovered she enjoyed creating different projects, she thought other people might like to get together while they worked on theirs.
鈥淭here鈥檚 people that work from home who come in during the lunch break and they鈥檝e told me it鈥檚 nice to get out of the house on their break,鈥 Garey said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to make friends outside of work and I was never part of the bar scene or anything, so I thought this would be a different avenue,鈥 Garey continued.
She created the 糖心Vlog传媒 Fiber Art Group on Facebook, where she shared information and shared Google Meet links.
鈥淲ithin a couple hours, there were quite a few posts and people were interested,鈥 Garey said. After a couple of weeks, someone reached out to tell her about the Fiber Fun group, that was meeting at the Hedberg library on Tuesday evenings.
Garey was happy to hear there were more options for people.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of different schedules out there,鈥 she said. The Fiber Fun group also posts in Garey鈥檚 Facebook group.
The next 糖心Vlog传媒 Fiber Arts Group meeting is Tuesday, April 23, in the Hedberg Public Library鈥檚 Study Room #2.
Garey is also hosting other events including a yarn swap on Tuesday, April 30, at the library. People can come to swap or donate books, supplies and craft items.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just a fun thing and I鈥檓 excited to get more people involved so they can share their projects, meet new people and bond,鈥 Garey said.