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Date: 1/11/2023
BELCHERTOWN – Local quilter and artisan Kim Leclerc started Kim’s Quilts and Crafts five years ago designing modern quilts with vivid colors. She also makes quilted pocketbooks and tote bags, baby items, masks, aprons, bowl koozies, stuffed dinosaur tails and chapstick holders.
This past Christmas Leclerc made a memory quilt for a woman in Ludlow whose husband passed away. She made three quilts for this woman out of her husband’s flannel and work shirts; one for each of her daughters and one for her mother-in-law.
Leclerc works mostly in fabrics, but has branched out into quilts in the last two years thanks to a new quilting sewing machine she bought called the longarm used to sew together a quilt top, quilt batting and quilt backing into a finished quilt which Leclerc said makes it much easier.
“What makes Kim’s Quilts and Crafts unique I think is that I don’t see many longarm quilters in my area and I saw a niche for that,” Leclerc said. “I’m a mom of four children and a Muslim woman trying to start my own business during a pandemic so I think that makes me stand out a little bit.”
Leclerc is self-taught, but didn’t know how to sew until five years years ago. Her mother wanted to do a quilt together so she did and from one quilt, Leclerc kept going. After she did those first quilts with her mother, Leclerc found out that she had a talent for sewing and fell in love with it.
“I got a real quality machine and found out I’m pretty good at this and from there started doing craft shows,” Leclerc replied. “People really love my quilts and I’ve done pretty well over the last two years.”
She went on to say, “This is such a passion of mine that I can sew up to nine hours some days. I have the summers off because I’m a school bus driver so the entire summer I’m working more than eight hours a day sewing to get inventory up for all of my fall shows.”
Leclerc has done the Bark Fundraiser for the animal shelter in Belchertown, the fall and Christmas craft fairs in the town, Jabish Brook’s Crafts and Carols, the Monson Arts Council’s Big Mac Craft Fair and the Apple Country Fair in Brookfield. When she was doing a lot of business, Leclerc wanted to sell from her house and not just wait until certain craft shows would come up during the year, so she got her business license and tax ID number two years ago.
“I want to get my name out there more so people are aware that there is a business right here in Belchertown near them,” Leclerc said. “When it comes to my quilts, I’ve been told it’s like getting a hug sometimes. They take home something I made, love it and they’re using use it to keep warm. Touching someone’s lives like that just by sewing is pretty awesome.”
Kim’s Quilts and Crafts is run out of a 300-square-foot workshop in Leclerc’s home on the weekends from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Other days call by appointment at 362-9467 or go to Facebook at Kimsquiltdesigns to send a message on Messenger.