It’s the end of an era for Katikati’s well-known patchwork store.

“Quilters are lovely giving people. It’s been a great journey, that’s for sure.

But now I’d like to spend more time tending my garden,” says owner Carol Biesiek, who has put Katipatch on the market.

Carol has been a patchworker and quilter for three decades and opened the store in 2006, shifting it to her property in 2009.

“I was living in northwest Sydney back in the 1990s when my three kids were teenagers and I found I had some time on my hands, so I thought I’d give quilting a go at the local craft store.”

The first project she completed she gifted to her daughter.

“She still has that quilt.

“I enjoyed the process of making it and the quilt has really lasted the distance.

“Quilts are a chance to inject your own personality into a room.

“It’s a double pleasure and those of us who love sewing really do get that it’s the beauty of creating something.

“It’s also an item of art that can be displayed by being on the bed or have someone sleeping under it.”

When Carol and husband Eddie returned to New Zealand, she began teaching in New Plymouth before they relocated to the Bay of Plenty where the Katipatch store was opened.

“You don’t need to be a sewer to take a class.

“I do machine quilting and it’s so much easier to learn in person rather than trying to follow instructions in a book or online. You can simply ask when you need help.”

Patchwork is also an opportunity to re-use old clothes or material scraps, says Carol.

“Some people bring along shirts or even silk ties that a family member wore when they were alive and transformed them into beautiful keepsakes of that person.

“Patchwork is a form of recycling. It’s not just quilts for beds – we also make bags, wall hangings, table runners and floormats.

“My students are so happy when they finish a project.

They bring it in to show me.

They’ve put so much love and effort into it.

They’ve selected the fabric, stitched it together and created something with someone in mind.

I feel pretty proud of them.”