Will we see you in Atlanta for QuiltCon next week? You can find us Thursday – Sunday at the Aurifil booth (1221) in the main exhibition hall. We are so thrilled to be attending for another year and are looking forward to connecting with old friends, meeting new ones, and collaborating with some of our favorite partners!
This year, we’re excited to support Sew Black, a remarkable event space for Black participants that will run throughout QuiltCon, designed and realized by the incredible founders of Black Women Stitch and made possible with the support of companies like Spoonflower, Moda, and Bernina. We’re delighted to share a guest post from Lisa Woolfork of Black Women Stitch and Stitch Please here on Auribuzz to introduce the event and we would encourage you to visit her website to learn more.
Thanks so much to Aurifil for hosting us today! Thanks to major underwriting from Spoonflower and generous support from Moda and Bernina, Black Women Stitch is bringing Sew Black to QuiltCon.
Sew Black is a multipronged project: an affinity space, travelog, and sew-and-show. The affinity space is designed with a specific community in mind. Of course, there are other ways that everyone can participate in Sew Black.
Black History Month is often observed passively. Below are a variety of ways that readers and QuiltCon attendees might actively engage.
Stitch Please Podcast
The Black Women Stitch podcast, Stitch Please, is featuring quilters throughout the month of February to buoy the path to the convention. The podcast is heard in every state in America and in 83% of the world’s countries. Most recently, the Stitch Please podcast has been nominated for an AMBIES award for Best DIY Podcast of 2023. Everyone can listen.
Sew Black Giveaway
Get Your Stitch Together with the Sew Black Giveaway is a way to celebrate today’s creative Black history whether you’ll be in Atlanta or not. Thanks to our partners at Bernina, everyone (in the US) can participate in this stitchy good time. Black Women Stitch is giving away a @berninausa Bernette 33 sewing machine! Click on the button below to enter!
Sew-and-Show
The Sew Black Sew-and-Show amplifies Black quilt fabric designers. The intention is to bridge the divide between quilting and garment sewing. We want quilters to see that they can make garments with the same quilting cottons they already know and love. We are working with Black sewlebrities to promote the fabrics of e bond (Free Spirit), Jen Hewett and Rashida Coleman Hale (Ruby Star Society), and Janine Lecour (Spoonflower). Follow Black Women Stitch on Instagram and other socials to see the garments and craft projects featuring these fabric designers. The hashtag is #sewblackqc. Spoonflower is offering a 20% discount and Crimson Tate is offering a 10% discount. Our hashtag–SEWBLACKQC– is the discount code in both spaces. Everyone can sew.
Social Media
Black Women Stitch will have robust and engaging social posts. In February, we’re interviewing quilters on the podcast and posting the Road to QuiltCon travelog. We’ll have videos, headshots, quotes, and still images. What is Road to QuiltCon? Leading up to Sew Black, The Road to QuiltCon: Trains, Planes, and Automobiles is a campaign that will feature stories of Black makers as they ready themselves for the MQG’s event in Atlanta. Lisa Woolfork and Naomi Johnson from Black Women Stitch will be traveling via the Amtrak Crescent in an overnight sleeping car. They’ll be sewing on a Bernette machine and documenting their experience via social postings and live streaming. Follow the hashtags #sewblackqc & #sewblackqc2023. Everyone can like/share/save a post.
Shop
Folks can support Sew Black by purchasing the Black Women 2023 Wall Calendar. It’s a beautiful full color printed calendar jam-packed with a range of Black historical events and figures. Most of the art was created specifically to celebrate Black women and/in sewing.
Another great way to support is to amplify Black businesses who will be vending at QuiltCon: Cultured Expressions, Sew Creative Lounge, & Our Fabric Stash. Everyone can support Black-owned businesses.
These are all active practical ways to support Sew Black before QuiltCon and throughout Black History Month. For more information, contact sewblackatqc@gmail.com. People can sign up to support here.
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