DAYTON - Suzanne Shuba was always a talkative member of the Crazy Crafters, a group of about a dozen Dayton ladies who get together on Thursdays to try out new craft techniques from painting on rocks to making corn husk dolls.

Shuba, who joined the group about a year ago, loved creating new objects and bringing out old ones she found at the South Third Street home passed down by a late relative, who left behind antique dolls and quilts.

She liked to take designs from books and magazines, then try making them herself, said Lois Hemphill, one of the informal group's coordinators. And, she had a...