Hello Sewing Friends, 

Life is filled with ups and downs, happiness and pain, and risks worth taking because you don’t want to miss out on where your life might take you if you don’t. Today is a very happy day for me, to be writing on the AGF blog announcing I am back at it doing what I love and getting to share it with people who are passionate about it as much as I am!

For those that don’t know me, Hi, my name is Melissa, people in the sewing community call me Meli and I have been working for Art Gallery Fabrics on the Production and Marketing Team for 6 years designing, sewing and creating Youtube videos for the AGF Channel! If you are subscribed to the Art Gallery Fabrics Channel you may know that I took some time off to be closer to family and moved back home to my home state of Minnesota!

In my Welcome Back video I talk about my Dad’s passing and how it effected me and how I found strength through the sewing community. I also share how important it was to be close to family to grieve and mourn the loss of a very special person in my life. There will never be a day I don’t miss him or even think about him because I am so much like him and I learned a great deal from him. I feel so blessed everyday to have known my Dad for as long as I had him, I could never thank him enough for all that he has given me in my life and how he shaped me to be the women I am today!

My Dad taught me to never give up and to follow my heart! Through his advice I found my true passion in life! I didn’t find my create sewing side until much later in my life. I wish it would of found me sooner but life has a funny way of giving you what you need when you're ready for it. (at least that’s what I have grown to believe)

After graduating high school I was so lost, I had so many passions I could explore but at the time college was about choosing something that would make you money after you graduated. After floating around for a year with no major in site I finally decided to choose Marketing for my degree. I loved all the courses, Economics, Marketing Research, Logistics, especially Public Speaking and Business Writing! I learned so much that I apply to my everyday life personally and in business but my heart ached for something more. I was always a creative person, as a child I loved to craft, make things with my hands, sing, and dance, I was a very shy yet expressive child.

Since I can remember I always have been in love with fashion and worked as a merchandiser at big department stores through my high school and college years. This is where I got the urge to not only be able to merchandise and make other peoples product look good in stores but to actually be able to make and design my own products. One day it hit me like a bolt of lighting, days after I picked up the phone to start calling schools in warm weather states.  I was sick and tired of the Minnesota cold and was ready to find a warmer place to live. After 20 mins on the phone with an advisor from The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale I was enrolled in Fashion Design School. Three weeks later my Mom and Dad drove me down to Florida and that’s where I journey began that brought me to AGF and to find this beautiful sewing community. My life has been forever changed and I am so happy to be here!

I have been sewing up a storm throughout the past 10 months below are some of the projects I would highly recommend that brought me tons of joy to sew and I feel should be on everyones to sew list! :) What have you been sewing lately? Comment below with projects we can add to our to sew list!

 Grow Quilt by Suzy Quilts

Suzy Quilts, Grow quilt. I used AGF Pure Solids to create this fresh retro looking quilt top. At the time of this sew along I had barely any significant type of yardage but I new I wanted to make my quilt with AGF Pure Solids so I had to use the colors I had and make it work. I was pleasantly surprised it turned out better then I thought seeing as I wouldn't probably normally choose this colors to go together. 

Fat Quarter Shops Ultimate Beginners Sew Along

Following their fun step by step videos to learn the basics of quilting. I used a mixture of AGF Pure solids and AGF Denim Studio.

The Granny Cabin Quilt by Then Came June

The Granny Cabin Quilt by Then Came June was so much fun using April Rhodes Observer fabrics. Such a refreshing sea of whites and blues.

Meadow Land Quilt by Then Came June

This next quilt is also by Then Came June, I can’t help but smile when I see my Meadow Quilt done up in bright, beautiful Pure Solids and AGF blenders hot off the long arm machine!

Sweet Home Quilt by Sharon Holland

Sharon Holland’s Sweet Home Quilt was an easy beginner quilt project that made me feel blessed to be home and how important it is to remember what really matters in life. Here I am showing off another quilt made with AGF PURE SOLIDS.

My Signature Sampler by Sharon Holland

The my signature sampler sew along by Sharron Holland was a blast using a variety of holiday inspired AGF prints of  a handful of different collections. Still have yet to bind this beauty but by this Holiday season I will be cozy and warm.

Turn to Me Quilt by AGF Studio

The Turn to Me Quilt, was one of the first and many quilts I designed for AGF! My sister fell in love and had to recreate this quilt for her using April Rhodes Bound fabrics.

Fire Fly Quilt by Pen and Paper Patterns 

Pen and Paper Patterns Firefly quilt was one of the cutest projects I have made. Used her blocks in the sweets assortment of AGF Pure solids to create two table runners to decorate my sisters house for spring!

Cotton Tail Quilt by Lella Boutique 

YES, it snowed on Easter… but that didn’t stop me from sewing up a cute bunny block pattern from Lellaboutique. 

Scrappy Heart Quilt by Emily Dennis

And finally the Scrappy heart Block pattern by Emily Dennis. I made this block on my Dad’s one year anniversary after he had passed, of course I took the picture in my favorite place to sit and think about him.

I hope this blog post helped you to learn a little bit more about me, where I came from and what I have been up to! Make sure you subscribe to the Art Gallery Fabrics Channel to see my new videos and let me know what videos you would be interested in seeing!

Happy Sewing,

Meli