Back in the Middle Ages, a person became a master craftsman, or artisan, by first becoming an apprentice. In the 1820s, the quilting bee was born—a gathering of quilters who shared techniques and taught younger generations. The crafting get-together is still a popular activity and one of the best ways to learn something new about your beloved hobby of choice. So if you’ve been crafting by your lonesome or simply dying to learn and looking for someone to guide you, here are some resources to get you started.

QUILTING

• The Quilting Party (Blacksburg Quilt Guild)
  Meetings are held at 7 p.m. on the first Tuesday of every month at the New Blacksburg Middle School community room, Blacksburg. All skill levels are welcome. Call 540.961.5222 or e-mail BRQFest@aol.com for more information
• Blue Ridge Quilt Festival
  Daylong workshops are offered at this annual festival on June 20-22, Preview evening 19 held the New Blacksburg Middle School. There is a small admission fee for the festival and registration for workshops is between $22-45. Call 540.961.5222 or e-mail BRQFest@aol.com for more information.

• Jacksonville Center for the Arts
  220 Parkway Lane S., Suite 1, Floyd
  Fiber arts classes include quilting. Call 540.745.2784 for more information.

• JoAnn Fabric and Craft
  2625 Market St., Christiansburg
  540.382.9225
  No classes offered here, but supplies and advice are bountiful.

• Loosely Woven Quilters
  This unique group often works together over a large quilt frame. Meetings are held at 10 a.m. every Wednesday at the First Christian Church in Newport. Call 540.626.3132 for more information.

• Meadowbrook Quilters
  Meetings are held at 2 p.m. on the third Sunday of every month at the Meadowbrook Library Community Room in Shawsville. Call 540.268.2123 or e-mail ljwilson@usit.net for more information.

• Old Church Gallery Quilters Guild
  Meetings are held at 10 a.m. on the first and third Mondays of every month at the Jacksonville Center for the Arts. Call 540.961.5222 or e-mail BRQFest@aol.com for more information.

• River City Quilt Guild
  Meetings are held at 7 p.m. on the second Thursday of every month at Grove United Methodist Church, Radford. Call 540.674.8379 for more information.

• Schoolhouse Fabrics
  220 North Locust St., Floyd
  540.745.4561
  Located in a 19th century schoolhouse and filled with 3 floors of fabrics and findings, their tagline is rightfully “A Sewing Paradise.”

• Sew Biz
  92 & 94 Harvey St., Radford
  540.639.1138
  Located in Radford’s historic Central Depot building, this store invites browsing. A free Breakfast Club meets on Saturday mornings and they also offer more than 35 other reasonably priced classes this season. In early August, a Quilt Camp will be held at Selu Conservancy.

• YMCA at Virginia Tech’s Open University
  This spring there are 3 different series of quilting classes taught by Karin Täuber at the Blacksburg Middle School for $10-$15/class.

KNITTING

• Knitch Knitters (Blacksburg Knitting Guild)
  The Knitch Knitters Guild meets on the second and fourth Mondays of the month at the Lutheran church on the northwest corner of Tom’s Creek and Price’s Fork roads. The meeting room is in the basement of the church. Call 540.789.4499 for more information.

• Mosaic Yarn Shop
  Bonomo’s Plaza
  880 University City Blvd., Blacksburg
  540.961.4462
  The all ages Knit Night is officially held every Wednesday from 6-9 p.m. but it seems there’s always an informal group of folks here. Occasionally formal classes are offered but seasoned knitters are willing to lend a hand or give an impromptu lesson.

• Sew Biz
  92 & 94 Harvey St., Radford
  540.639.1138
  Located in Radford’s historic Central Depot building, this store invites browsing. A free Knitting Support Group meets on the first Thursday of the month from 6-8 p.m. and they also offer more than 35 other reasonably priced classes this season. In early August, a Quilt Camp will be held at Selu Conservancy.

• Unraveled
  1129 Main St., Radford
  540.639.2015
  Located downstairs inside Encore Artful Gifts, this cozy yarn corner offers classes in knitting and felting, and books private parties as well. Open classes are every Friday from 2-6 p.m. and every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There’s a Knit Night held across the street at the Coffee Mill on the last Monday of the month from 5-7 p.m. and a Knitting Book Club on the first Monday of the month. Come down at 7 p.m. on Feb. 4 when the group will be discussing E.M. Forster’s Passage to India while they knit! A Student Knit Night will be held from 5-7 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 18. For more information e-mail encore@ntelos.net.

JEWELRY MAKING

• Beadsburg
  2605 Ramble Rd. Suite A, Blacksburg
  540.953.2323
  Located in the same building as New River Office Supply, Beadsburg sells all types of beads and offers free walk-in lessons and also hosts parties.

• Beads Indeed!!
  123 East Campbell Ave., Roanoke
  540.344.9586
  One of Virginia’s largest bead stores at more than 3,000 square feet, Beads Indeed!! offers free stringing and earrings classes each Saturday morning at 11 a.m. The mother-daughter owned business offers two beginner classes in earrings and stringing. Also two new classes were added for the more advanced jewelry maker, in basic wire wrapping and linked wraps. Pre-registration is required.

• Seeds of Light
  32 Market Square, Roanoke
  540.342.8037
  Also in the Roanoke area is Seeds of Light. Family owned and operated, Seeds of Light specializes in beads, jewelry, blown glass and gemstones. Jewelry makers new and old can either take a class or teach themselves from one of the books sold at the store.

• Michaels
  140 Conston Ave., Christiansburg
  540.381.0468
  Some crafting classes are offered at this craft chain megastore in Christiansburg, but they’re seeking beading classroom instructors at the moment.

• Mish Mish
  125 N. Main St., Blacksburg
  540.552.1020
  This art store has a small selection of beads and jewelry-making supplies as well.

• Southwest Virginia Jewelry Artisans
  This group is largely Roanoke-based but gathers artisans monthly to share ideas and techniques. Membership is free, open to jewelry-makers of all different experience levels, and permits access to a lending library with many books and videos on beadwork, stringing, and wirework, etc. The last meeting was in Salem, but e-mail info@swvajewelryartisans.org for more information.

SCRAPBOOKING

• Blue Ridge Crafters Retreat
  247 Rivendell Rd. NW, Willis
  540.250.3935
  This 9-acre retreat house was opened by Julie Wheaton and gets a lot of guests from Northern Virginia. She offers weekend packages, day crops and evening classes. All-inclusive crafting weekends run from $199 and $215 and includes sleeping accommodations, meals, snacks, beverages, a goodie bag and one class or make and take. (Sorry guys, women only.) A free scrapbook meetup will be held from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 16. Contact her at julie@blueridgecraftersretreat.com for more information.

• Creative Memories
  The Pampered Chef of scrapbooking, known as Creative Memories, sells everything you need to get started or items to add to your collection. Local independent consultant, Tracy Sebring hosts home parties and offers a full line of products. If you can’t get a group together Sebring also hosts one or two scrap nights a month in Pulaski and Christiansburg. A fee of $5 and a snack to share gets you free drinks and a night of idea sharing and space to work. She also hosts a weekend retreat that is held each Spring and Fall at the Southwest Virginia 4-H Educational Center in Abingdon. A fee of $130 includes meals and lodging. Visit www.mycmsite.com/sites/tracysebring for more information.

• Michaels
  140 Conston Ave., Christiansburg
  540.381.0468
  Aisles of tools, stamps, paper, stickers and books fill a large portion of the store. Some crafting classes are offered at this chain’s location in Christiansburg, but they’re seeking scrapbooking classroom instructors at the moment.

• Mish Mish
  125 N. Main St., Blacksburg
  540.552.1020
  This art supply store has a small selection of stamping materials as well fine handmade and decorative papers.

• Target
  195 Conston Ave., Christiansburg
  540.381.9459
  As testament to the popularity of this craft, the Christiansburg Target location has devoted an entire aisle to scrapbooking supplies.