GALION – Becky Gehrisch has sewed like crazy over the years, but she’s “fabric-ated” a new hobby in her retirement years – quilting.

The longtime Home Economics teacher for the Galion City Schools is a pro at piecing together colorful blocks of fabric which, after countless hours of tedious work, turn into one-of-a-kind quilts. Quilts of comfort.

Some of the blankets decorate her home, but the majority are gifts for patients in the infusion unit at OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital. Others benefit children enrolled in Flying Horse Farms in Mt. Gilead, a non-profit organization and camp for seriously ill children and their families.

“There’s a million designs you can do,” said the sewing wiz, whose basement craft room is chock-full of fabric bins, all organized by color. “I call myself a fabric artist, but I will tell you my quilts are not perfect. Basically, I just sew to keep busy and for fun.”

Gehrisch, who racked up 38 years with the school district, discovered her passion for quilting after she retired in 2010. She enrolled in a crocheting class at Jo-Ann Fabric in Mansfield, where she met a longtime quilter who was part of a quilting bee that met at the Richland County Fairgrounds.

After one session, she was hooked.

Now she’s a regular at the monthly gatherings, which have since moved to Marion, Mt. Gilead, or Lexington. She takes kits home so that she can put together quilt tops for the next meeting, laying the 12- by 12-inch blocks on the floor in order to come up with the perfect color combination and overall design.

“Teaching took so much of my time I didn’t have time to do quilting, too,” said Gehrisch, who taught at both the high school and middle school. “I’m just a participant now. After 38 years, I just like to go whenever I can. When we make the quilts, I feel like I’m helping.”

Gehrisch’s sewing roots run deep. Her grandmother worked at the former Stratbury Mfg. Co. in town, and her mother – the youngest of 12 children – learned to sew at an early age. Gehrisch said her mom had an old treadle machine and made all of the family’s clothes when she was growing up.

Gehrisch was a natural with a needle and thread, too, and was stitching outfits for her Barbie dolls by the time she was 12. But she always wanted to quilt like her mom, to create something as beautiful as her “Sunbonnet Sue” pattern quilt covering her parents’ bed.

“I said I would always quilt someday.” That day is finally here.

“Time flies. I go down in my basement, and I just get started,” said the Galion native, who uses a Bernina brand sewing machine from the 1970s and has a large craft table to accommodate rotary cutters, dozens of tools, and notions. “I have overrun my basement, and it’s not pretty.”

She has given names to many of the 55- by 65-inch bound blankets – “Spring,” “Red, White & Blue,” and even a “COVID Snowman” quilt which she fashioned last winter during the height of the pandemic. And when she has the “notion” to, she also makes stuffed animals, handbags, table runners, and baby blankets for gifts.

Because this seamstress, who taught generations of students to sew over the years, is enjoying her retirement gig. One stitch at a time.