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'Service with a smile': Beloved quilter and teacher hosts exhibition

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Class members and visitors mingle among the quilts on display in the Hargraves Community Center on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025.

On a quiet street in Carrboro, just beyond Rumors Chapel Hill, tennis courts and a baseball field surround the Hargraves Community Center, a space for social gatherings, sports, and for the past eight years, quilt making.

David Lyles has been quilting, self-trained, for most of his life. In 2017, he brought his talent to the community center, where he began to teach classes. 

“Thursdays, always on a Thursday, and it’s from 10 in the morning to 1 in the afternoon,” Lyles said, when explaining his class routine. 

Lyles said that he usually gets around 13 students to “drop-in” each week and for three hours, he teaches different quilting techniques and creative ways to use them. 

On a sunny Saturday morning, Lyles and his students had the opportunity to show off their work. The main room of the community center was reserved for their quilt show, which would last three days, and included both graduated and current students’ work.

Lyles drifted around the room, ready to answer questions and explain pieces to visitors. 

“These two outfits here was quilt tops, okay? And what I did was tuck them and made a garment item to show you all the different things you can do with a quilt top,” Lyles explained. 

A quilt top is the top pattern of a quilt, made from scraps of fabric. 

Lyles said that the quilt top is only one part of a full quilt; the full process of quilting is stitching the batting, lining and the quilt top together.

Colorful quilts were laid on tables and hung from racks for visitors to both admire and potentially purchase. 

Patricia Holman is one of Lyles’ students, and she has been coming to his classes for a little over two years. 

“I tell you, we have an awesome teacher. Mr. David is an awesome person,” Holman said. 

Her first ever quilt was on display on Saturday morning, squares of teddy bears surrounded by deep red and green fabric. 

“Mr. David, with his expertise, was going to fold [the quilt] and show me how to cut it and everything, and I kept saying, ‘Don’t cut my bear heads off!’” Holman said. 

The group of people that surrounded to hear Holman’s story laughed at this comment.

“[Lyles] says, ‘I’m not cutting your bear heads off. Imma show you how to make the quilt and how to cut these pieces out so you can start putting them together, I swear,’” Holman said. 

Holman said that she cherishes this story because of how much she’s learned since then.

She added that Lyles is an attentive teacher and walks around class asking, 'whatcha need?' or 'let me show you how to do this,' and he answers every question that comes up. 

Viewers of the quilt show included avid quilters, casual quilters and community members. 

“I am not a fancy quilter, [the show] is just wonderful to see,” visitor Karen Dorn said. “It’s like artwork.”

While Lyles holds all his students’ work close, he pointed out one of his favorites, a square patterned with oranges and flowers and outlined with royal blue. On the royal blue outline are 14 initials, representing the first ever class he taught. 

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Lyles credits his quilting classes as a way to give back to the community. 

“This is a product at the beginning, when I first started,” Lyles said. “When I came to Chapel Hill, I wasn’t too well, so I called myself [to] giving back to the people that gave help [to] give me back life.”

Lyles said that while he teaches for his students to learn and grow as quilters, he never wants them to worry too much about the little details.

“I teach that don’t worry if the seams don’t match up, don’t be concerned,” Lyles said.

He said his main goal when teaching is to have fun and that his process won’t work if he can’t smile with his students and connect with them beyond a stitch or a pattern.

“Service with a smile. That’s my goal, and that’s what I live for. Service with a smile,” Lyles said.

@dthlifestyle | lifestyle@dailytarheel.com