Molly, helping the earth one reusable fabric at a time
Molly Boland-Stover sells handmade items at the local flea market in downtown Harrisonburg. Molly makes anything from quilts to stuffed animals, which are made out of reusable fabrics purchased at the goodwill.
Wrinkled by time and old age, Molly Boland-Stover has lived a life full of reusable fabrics and one message, work with what you’ve got. Smiling with her eyes as she watches customers come and go, Molly meets with a friend and shows a curious kid a fox she made out of reusable fabrics.
For Molly, this passion of sewing stemmed from her mom who bought her materials.
“I was curious about how sewing works and that evolved into making things for myself and clothing and it became a functional purpose for myself and for my children that I babysat.”
Taking this passion and turning it into a business, Molly, with the assistance of her husband, opened a shop at the local flea market.
After facing health issues, Molly saw this negative as a positive. Working from home and helping her daughter at the farmers market began a new journey for Molly. Once asked by the market if she’d set up a shop, a tent wrapped in quilts was built at the end of the market, and it would be called The Quilting Shed. Sense the opening of The Quilting Shed, time and time again Molly continues to return to the venue, only missing one week in July out of the year.
Molly hasn’t always been good at sewing or at least she thought.
I was curious about how sewing works — Molly Boland-Stover
“Unfortunately I think I didn’t realize how good I was at it and I just kept doing it without a lot of confidence, but what actually motivated me is that quilting is the ultimate form of recycling [and] my life has always revolved around using and reusing.”
Eventually, Molly would age with confidence and agree with a child younger than five who out of shock shouted “these are nice.”
But The Quilting Shed would serve as a bigger purpose for Molly as she wouldn’t just be selling hand crafted pieces, but a message and inspiration for those in her community.
Even at times when “you can feel pretty helpless in a world with so many environmental issues that need to be addressed” Molly said she feels that though it may feel like she’s doing a very small part, she’s inspiring other people to work with what they’ve got. The core of her mission and creative pursuit.
After living in a converted old flower mill and building a house using materials from other old houses at a young age, Molly had to learn how to live off of little, but she didn’t mind, because she was an optimist.
“You realize we are surrounded by materials that can be used if we have a little creativity and think about the possibilities.”
Because for Molly, this isn’t just a trend influencers hop on, it’s a lifestyle.
It’s a lifestyle anyone who visits the Farmers Market can see with Molly tucked away in her chair watching customers and products that she crafted come with a smile on her face.
That’s Molly.
