February 26th, 2013 at the Sew-Op

Folks are getting excited at Bib & Tucker now that our Kickstarter campaign is coming to a close. We had three new members join us at DISCO today and the machines were a’whirling. Sharon was finishing up one quilt and beginning to cut out the squares for a second quilt. Michelle has two quilts in the making and might possibly be finished with both within a week.

As always we talked about all sorts of topics in between the jazz and the piecing and the ironing. The group is becoming quite familiar with one another and with the myriad steps to putting together a quilt. We had a wonderful woman drop off a couple of boxes of notions, sewing projects and patterns and Ms. Jeraldine started discussing the possibility of teaching some garment construction workshops.

We are still quite limited in our collective skill set, but the ladies started discussing the bigger picture this week and it is clear that everyone wants Bib & Tucker to become a viable, self-sustaining entity that will permanently reside in Woodlawn. One new member, Naomi – a quilter during her school days at Alabama School of Fine Arts and a math instructor – has helped with cutting and sewing both times she has joined us and her ability to work one-on-one with our members reminds me that the process of sewing is multi-layered and requires us to slow down. As each member gains confidence in her skills, she will become an instructor in her own right, as well as a designer and creator. The possibilities are endless, not to mention that we all get such satisfaction from sitting around making each other laugh in between the stitches. Again, I extend an invitation to anyone reading – if you are in the area on a Tuesday, you are more than welcome to come visit us. Just don’t expect to be a wallflower. Someone will pull you into the fray and next thing you know, you’ll be telling your own stories and cutting your own fabric and tapping your foot to Mingus or Coltrane.