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.

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.

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.