Atomic City Quilts owner Shelly Kuropatwinski in her shop Tuesday at1247 Central Ave., Suite C. Photo by Bonnie Gordon/ladailypost.com
By BONNIE J. GORDON
Los Alamos Daily Post
bjgordon@ladailypost.com
Shelly Kuropatwinski, owner of Atomic City Quilts had a dream, and it came true Sept. 1, 2015 when she opened her quilt shop.
“I’ve been sewing since I was 8 years old, but I didn’t start quilting until I was pregnant with my first child. I said to myself, this baby needs a quilt! I taught myself to quilt and the rest is history!” she said.
With four kids and a full-time job at Los Alamos National Bank, Kuropatwinski was pretty busy, but she continued to quilt and nurture her dream of opening a quilt shop. She put money away every month in a special account for that purpose.
In March 2015, she was laid off at LANB. Around the same time, Katie Brousseau, owner of Warm Hearts Yarn, asked Kuropatwinski about sharing space in her store. The time was right for opening the quilt shop.
When Warm Hearts Yarn closed in 2018, a new yarn cooperative, Close-Knit Yarn Cooperative, took over the space. The partnership between Atomic City Quilts and Close-Knit Yarn Co-op has been good for both businesses, Kuropatwinski said. She holds down the fort Tuesdays and Wednesdays and Mary Fellman, manager of Close-Knit Yarn mans the location Thursdays and Fridays. They alternate Saturdays. Both can answer basic questions about the other’s stock and craft.
“Fiber artists are the best people and the best customers,” Kuropatwinski said. “They like to make things for others. They’re very giving. Meeting both local people and tourists is the best part of the job.”
The biggest challenge for the business is the high Los Alamos rent, although she said her landlord, Shannon C de Baca, was a wonderful landlord.
Kuropatwinski has made more than 100 quilts. Most of them have been given away.
“I do other kinds of fiber arts, but quilting is my passion,” she said.
The precise nature of quilting appeals to Kuropatwinski, who has a background in physics and math.
Nationally, Kuropatwinski is a member of the Modern Quilt Guild and locally, she quilts with Los Alamos Piecemakers. During the pandemic, Piecemakers worked out a “star swap” where each member chose a design and four others participated in quilting it.
“It kept us going when we couldn’t meet in person,” she said.
The store coped with the pandemic by making sure its website was set up and running for online orders. They also instituted home deliveries in Los Alamos and White Rock.
“The surge in mask making helped fabric sales,” Kuropatwinski said. “My daughter Kaitlyn, who’s a high school sophomore, made 120 masks and her first queen size quilt during the pandemic.”
Atomic City Quilts carries fabrics, notions and patterns for quilting and supplies for other fiber arts such as embroidery floss in every conceivable color, plus stripes! She also carries locally made consignment items, including masks, as well as skin care items and other things as they turn up.
Kuropatwinski also gives quilting lessons. She is limiting lessons to one or two people at a time for social distancing purposes. She teaches quilters from absolute beginners to more experienced quilters who want to learn new techniques.
Kuropatwinski encourages quilters to bring in their finished product.
“I love to see what customers have created,” she said. “I put their projects in our newsletter to show them off!”
Atomic City Quilts is now open regular hours, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at 1247 Central Ave., Suite C and online all the time at atomiccityquilts.com.