Spreadin’ the love

We’ve got love, oh yes we do. We’ve got it, we’re givin’ it and we’re so thankful and grateful for the overwhelming support of the community. Thanks to all who helped make the Kickstarter Campaign a smashing success. Now the fun begins. We look forward to sending out our rewards – most of which should be available later this month. And we hope that we’ll be making new friends in the coming weeks. We’ve already had one backer stop by and we encourage those who can make it out on Tuesdays to see what the Sew-Op is up to. If you’d like to stay in touch, please check out the blog regularly and/or like us on Facebook.

Do you like my hat?

When I was little, my mother read me a book that I believe was by Dr. Seuss. There were lots of dogs in this book. The dogs went all over the place and did all sorts of amazing things. But the best part of the book was when this male dog would interact with this female dog. They would come across each other, for example, at the grand canyon – each driving an awesome convertible car and wearing ridiculously over-the-top hats. The male dog would, cool as a cucumber, approach the female dog and say, “Do you like my hat?” and she would say, with eyes closed, “No, I do not like your hat.” But before they would go their separate ways, she would call out, in turn, “Do you like my hat?” At which point, what else could the male dog say? “No, I do not like your hat.”

“Goodbye”

“Goodbye”

This happened at least three times in the book. Of course, on the last couple of pages, the two dogs meet again and they ask each other the inevitable questions regarding their hats. But this time, the answer is, “Yes, yes! I do like your hat!” “And I like your hat!” And voila! They smile, cavort and end up driving off into the sunset together.

Do you want to make sure you get the right answer the first time around? Well, then you need one of Sharon’s hats. Available now as a reward in our Kickstarter campaign. Hurry! Only 67 more hours to go! (Pledge at $250 for this reward)

A place for writing and creating

What happens when you have three brothers and no homework and you’re at DISCO? Well, the lovely Lauren draws with your brothers and it gives you a chance to spend some time on the sewing machine, which you have not done since this summer. Mariam was in just such a circumstance last week when she stopped by DISCO after school and we got to work on a pillow for her soon-to-arrive baby sister. The second daughter in a house already filled with four sons! Mariam saw the pillows the members of Bib & Tucker had been working on (including her mother) and she said, “I want to do something even more complicated!” So we looked to the flying geese technique of creating a star. While Mariam sewed, her brothers discussed just exactly how one should go about drawing a ship with sails.

Mariam completes one star and giggles with delight

Mariam and Samba pose in front of Africa after Mariam completes half of her pillow

In the meantime, as the Jalloh family illustrated and sewed its way into the night, local shop owner Brittany Harwell stopped by with her young student, Bradford to work on a sewing project. As it turns out, Bradford recently placed third in the Rising Star design competition held during Birmingham Fashion Week. Bradford is currently working on a prom dress for his sister.

Never a dull moment at DISCO, a place where writing and creating come easily. And how did the evening end? With a drawing competition, of course! Although some judges were more judicious in their award-giving, it was determined by Mariam that Saliou was 1st place, with Lauren 1st runner-up and Abdul was 2nd place with Samba 2nd runner-up. I must admit, I did give Saliou 1st place for the naming of his ship: the Nat King Cole!

Bib & Tucker – Tuesday, Feb. 26th 2013

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 a multi-layered one 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.