Meet Laura McComis and Veronica Meridith! Together, they own Our Quilting Workshop in Hartland. Laura caught the quilting bug from Veronica about seven years ago, and the two friends began to dream about opening a quilt shop. They realized this dream when Our Quilting Workshop opened in February, 2020.

Shortly after opening, Laura and Veronica quickly shifted gears from selling quilting supplies, to becoming a destination point for all things mask making. Our Quilting Workshop became the Lake Country distribution center for Masked Sewists for Southeastern Wisconsin, a volunteer group which has made more than 30,000 masks.

Donated masks have been provided to healthcare workers and others in need throughout Waukesha County. The effort has consumed several hours of most days for the ladies. They have also donated elastic and other supplies from their shop to the cause.

Our Quilting Workshop has long-arm quilting services up to king-sized quilts, training/classroom opportunities for all levels of quilters, open sewing for local groups, and a retail areas that proudly carry fabrics by Riley Blake, Blank Quilting, and Robert Kaufmann.

The shop’s training room, or ‘ProCraftination Room’, is equipped with a 4k TV, tables and chairs, cutting boards, ironing board and irons and has enough space to spread out a project. There are also new sewing machines available for rent for a small fee. And Laura and Veronica are there to share ideas and to help solve any issues with a project.

Question: What inspired you or led you to your current career?
Answer: Laura: “If you don’t set goals toward a dream, you’ll never do it. I set out with some ideas, and lots of opportunities aligned for time, location. Everything just came together.”
Veronica: “I retired early last year. Laura and I had done many quilt trips together, and often talked about what the ultimate quilt shop would look like. This fall, we asked ourselves, ‘why couldn’t we? What would it take?’ Then we implemented it.”

Q. What is your favorite restaurant in Lake Country, and what do you love there?
A. “We both like Endter’s Sports Grill. It’s right next door and we have visited many times, especially when we were first prepping the shop. Their burgers and fish fries are great.”

Q. What is your favorite movie OR what is the first movie you remember seeing in a theatre?
A. Laura: “My favorite movie is Avatar.”
Veronica: “The first movie I saw in the theatre was The Way We Were. I had to sneak out of the house to see it, because my parents didn’t want us to go to the movies.”

Q. What is something on your bucket list?
A. Laura: “I’d like to learn another language, French would be nice.”
Veronica: “I’d like to learn to play the piano.”

Q. Name three artists you would like to see (dead or alive).
A. Laura: “The Beatles, Billy Joel and Phil Collins/Genesis.”
Veronica: “ABBA, Billy Joel and Katrina and The Waves.”

Q. What current / former local business makes you the most nostalgic about Lake Country?
A. Laura: “The Smiley Barn in Delafield. My parents lived nearby, and it’s such a landmark. I was so happy when it came back.”
Veronica: “Piggly Wiggly. I grew up in Illinois and they went out of business in that area, so being able to shop there now has brought back childhood memories.”

Q. Choosing anyone alive and a non-relative: with whom would you love to have lunch?  Why?  Where in Lake Country would you have lunch?
A. Laura: “Archbishop Listecki because he seems down to earth and personable. I’d like to talk with him about life in general over dinner on the outdoor patio at Weissgerber’s Golden Mast Inn.”
Veronica: “I’d like to have dinner with Barack Obama The 5 O’Clock Club, because of it’s cozy supper club feel. I’m not a political person, but I think it would be interesting.”

Q. What is your favorite thing or something unique about Lake Country?
A. Laura: “My favorite hobby is river kayaking, and Lake Country offers access to rivers, lakes and streams galore.”
Veronica: “Lake Country has lots of nice, winding back roads where you can take a quiet Sunday drive and watch the lakes and wildlife.”

Q. Even for friends or family, what is something interesting that most people don’t know about you?
A. Laura: “People that know me would never guess that I’m a quilter, in fact, when they find out they are amazed that I’ve done something that involves sewing.”
Veronica: “I was involved as a volunteer in the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City. I lived there for a month, and spent most of my time working at the speed skating oval doing bag checks and ID checks.”

The Faces of Lake Country is a project to showcase the amazing people that live or work in our community. If you would like to nominate an interesting person to be featured, please click the button below

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