Barbara Weiss. (Photo by Richard Wolfson)

Walk into the children’s section of the library, and a vibrant collection of quilts surrounds the visitor with color. A stunning king-size quilt in earthen colors inspired by the Maori of New Zealand enlivens the north wall, where it accompanies a smaller pink and white quilt of precisely pieced hearts. Continuing along the east and west walls, the quilts range in style from sophisticated to playful, but all exhibit a high quality of workmanship. The exhibit of 10 colorful quilts, made by Harvard artist Barbara Weiss, hangs in the library through March 2007. Each quilt has a little surprise, she said in a telephone interview December 4. “There’s something in each one you have to find.”

Interviewed at home December 8, Weiss and her husband, Abbott, talked about her transformation from craftswoman and seamstress to professional quilter, something Weiss said she never imagined. Before her two children arrived, she said, she was a special education teacher in the elementary school system. After the births of Sarah and Aaron, though, her interests turned to home. Always interested in handcrafting, she became proficient with needlework of all kinds: knitting, needlepoint, and sewing.

Eventually, when daughter Sarah became involved in the Worcester Youth Ballet production of The Nutcracker, Weiss found creative fulfillment making costumes for the production. Taming layers of tulle trained her well for the kind of precision piecing that makes up her first quilt: a wall hanging of deceptive simplicity designed for a quilter with advanced skills. Motifs of “flying geese,” pine trees, bear paw, and log cabin squares combine to make a sampler quilt obviously made with painstaking care. In that particular case, Weiss said, ignorance was bliss. She didn’t realize that she had chosen such a demanding pattern for her first quilt, but friend and quilting mentor Laura Burk guided her through the process.

After that first one, she said, she was hooked: quilts now hang from any number of walls in her home, and each bed is covered in a special design, sometimes of her own creation. A colorful, elaborately beaded Mariner’s Compass quilt—a gift for her husband—hangs on the wall of the office downstairs, and a three-dimensional quilt depicting a basket and hydrangeas hangs beside the quilt-covered master bed. It was after every member of the family had their own quilt, she said, that she turned to sewing professionally for private commissions and retail.

Weiss now makes a quilt or two every month. Some of the quilts are made to commemorate a client’s special family event, like a wedding, birth, or anniversary. Making something special for someone is something she thoroughly enjoys, she said. Picking out colors and making design choices is the most exciting part of the project, and sitting down with a client to go through a palette of colors is the best way to identify what really pleases them, she said. “It’s great to help them crystallize what they really want.” Making a special muslin bag to store the quilt is her gift to the client, she said, as is extra fabric to help with any future repairs. Very few of her quilts spend much time in storage, however: Weiss has received a number of letters over the years from clients who tell her how much they still enjoy looking at and sleeping under the quilts she has made. Her quilts are made to be as practical as they are nice to look at, she said. “I like to make quilts that are useful, that people sleep under.”

Weiss also sells a number of quilts at Nantucket Looms, a craft shop that has carried her work for the last several years. Quilts with boating and seashore motifs are the most popular, she said, as are baby quilts. And while she wouldn’t name names, Weiss modestly mentioned that some famous people have taken her work home from the shop. Whether it’s the choice of color or the workmanship that makes her work so successful, Weiss couldn’t say, but her emphasis on quality is part of what she enjoys most about the quilting process, she said. “I enjoy giving a quilt that’s quilted properly.”

Weiss is also an active member of Concord Piecemakers, a guild of more than 150 members that meets monthly to learn more about the craft. As part of this group she has made many comfort quilts, she said, including a very special one for the wife of her rabbi. Comfort quilts are given to different organizations to help those struggling with illness or loss, and have been an important part of her quilting career, Weiss said.

This year Weiss is taking on co-chairmanship of the annual Concord Piecemakers quilt show at St. Matthews Church in Acton, an event that takes place October 18, 19, and 20, 2007. The challenge of hanging 200 quilts to show each to its best advantage is a big one, she said, but also a lot of fun. The process of presenting the show embodies what Weiss clearly loves best about her craft: the creativity involved in bringing people and fabric together in a meaningful way.