Shannon and Jason Mullett-Bowlsby, also known as the Shibaguyz, are a pair of truly remarkable makers who have been taking this quilty industry by storm. With professional roots in the fiber arts, they’ve been mainstays in that world for years, traveling around sharing their mad crochet and knit apparel skills with dedicated students and fans.
In pre-pandemic times, they were regulars at shows like STITCHES and Sew Expo, selling out classes, packing booths, and taking to the runway with cutting edge fashions. These days, you’ll find them selling out live and hybrid virtual classes, sharing techniques for wonky log cabin quilts and Sashiko stitching with a bit of cooking thrown in for good measure.
They are featured educators on Creative Spark, a virtual education program launched by C&T Publishing last year and we’re absolutely thrilled to announce the launch of their newest class, The Colors of My Pride, available just in time to celebrate Pride for the month of June.
We invite you to read Shannon & Jason’s class launch post HERE. Their words are thoughtful and educational, sharing a bit of Pride Month history, a lot of encouragement, and paying homage to all those who have fought and continue to fight for LGBTQIA+ rights in the US and around the world.
Show Us Your PRIDE Colors! June is LGBTQIA+ Pride Month and we want our LGBTQIA+ maker community and allies to participate by showing us the colors of your Pride with the Colors of My Pride Quilt.
The LGBTQIA+ community is not a monolith, and neither are the colors of our Pride. In addition to the incarnations of the Rainbow Pride Flag, there are individual flags that represent the communities we each identify with. The history of the banners we wave to represent us in the LGBTQIA+ and TGNCNB community is as deep and as colorful as the members of our community itself.
Our quilt, The Colors of My Pride, is a combination of colors from across the wide range of vibrant Pride flags that we feel represents us best. The blocks themselves are created using a Scrappy Wonky Log Cabin block construction with 17 pieces built from the center out using a total of 11 colors repeated.
For our The Colors of My Pride quilt, we included the six colors from the Rainbow Pride Flag since that is the first flag that either of us remembers flying as a banner at marches, plastered on our vehicles, worn on our bodies, waved in defiance, and painted on our skin for many… many… years. However, in more recent years, we have come to feel that the representation of the colors from the More Color, More Pride Flag is more inclusive and even further encompasses our community, so we included the black and brown stripes from that flag. Shannon is non-binary, so we also brought in the soft blue and pink from the Transgender Pride Flag and added a lavender stripe to represent those of us who feel we are outside of (or fluid within) the gender binary.
You might pick a smaller set of colors that represents your Pride for your quilt resulting in a completely different set of repeats. Certainly, the wonky style of construction using free cutting and scraps from previous blocks will result in exciting variances from block to block and quilt to quilt.
Regardless of how we feel on the inside or how we represent ourselves on the outside, each of us celebrates our Pride differently and we certainly express our Pride with colors that go beyond the rainbow.
CLASS DETAILS
The Colors of My Pride Quilt Blocks Live Class: June 18, 4-7pm (PST)
This is an interactive, sewing celebration. Get access to the instructions as well as the ability to have your wonky log cabin questions answered on the spot. This will be recorded so be prepared to possibly be on camera and be part of the recording. Pattern download included. Access to the recording is for 1 year.
The Colors of My Pride Quilt Blocks Recorded Class: Available June 24th.
Not able to make the LIVE event on June 18th? Don’t fear. You can watch a recording of the class that works with your schedule. The recording will be available June 24th at which time you will have access to all the content. Pattern download included. Access to the recording is for 1 year.
LINKS
— Register for The Colors of My Pride Quilt Blocks Classes
— Colors of My Pride Kit including Cherrywood Hand Dyed Fabrics
— Launch post by Shannon & Jason on the Shibaguyz website
— Shibaguyz 2020 Pride Project
— Purchase FAB Sashiko Essentials (6 LG spools Aurifil 12wt)
— Purchase The Mighty Ten (10 SM Spools Aurifil 50wt)
ABOUT SHANNON & JASON
Website — Blog — Facebook — Instagram — Pinterest — Twitter
Shannon and Jason Mullett-Bowlsby are the dynamic DIY duo known as the Shibaguyz, the inspired creators of the Shibaguyz studio. Shannon’s pronouns are They/Them and Jason’s pronouns are He/Him.
Their award-winning crochet, knit, and sewing designs have been featured in and on the covers of dozens of domestic and international publications. Together, the Shibaguyz team currently has over 300 published patterns and 11 books credited to their name since their first design was featured on a magazine cover in 2010.
Their designs and photography work can be seen in four of their books, as they are sought-after freelance book-packaging designers having crafted books and photography for major publishing companies like Sterling Publishing, Leisure Arts, and Creative Publishing. They just finished work on their new book Boro & Sashiko – Harmonious Imperfection with C&T Publishing.
The Shibaguyz have been teaching adults for 30+ years. Their enthusiasm, quirky sense of humor, and relatable teaching style have made them sought after teachers in both local and national venues like STITCHES Events, Sew Expo, BARN, and Pacific International Quilt Festival Online, and Houston Quilt Festival. They also have a wide range of online classes available.
Beautiful!