I have granny hobbies. I think that’s what they call it. And, I’m building something for others like me: https://www.opensewapp.com
A life drenched in color and crafts
My mom is creative—owned her own jewelry store, majored in photography, painted, worked as an interior decorator.
Really, my family is creative. A cousin taught me color theory when I was 11, aunts collect art, other cousins work in design/photography—it’s all over. (I mostly thought it came from her side but in a shocking twist, my dad has recently gotten super into VR painting and he’s actually good in a “let the style grow on you” kind of way).
My grandma taught me how to knit when I was 6ish after my left handed mother made a good faith attempt at it but the backwards-ness didn’t compute for me and it’s been down the rabbit hole ever since.
I won awards for my friendship bracelets at camp.
A friend taught me crochet in high school and that became another obsession.
I “sewed” some “dresses” for my dolls out of t-shirt scraps and washcloths.
I bought a too-large-for-a-beginner tapestry kit and completed about 1/100th of it before passing it on to friend who actually enjoys needlepoint.
I made one macrame plant holder and bought 4 rolls of rope cord in various colors.
And finally, last year…I started quilting.
Well, technically I started quilting in 2013 when I made one quilt top (without a pattern) my mom had it longarmed by a friend, and I never bothered to learn how to finish/bind it. For over a decade.
This time though, the hobby stuck. The trick is that my boyfriends mom owns a quilt shop and I started working on her marketing. I’m in the shop twice a week, I take classes, I hoard fabric…I quilt now.
A spreadsheet girlie at heart
I have always wanted to be “a creative” in the flowing dresses, big jewelry, spontaneous, exciting sense. Big feelings. I wanted to be more like my mom and that cousin who taught me how to paint.
But, as it turns out, I’m more like if Schmidt from New Girl really like arts and crafts.
I love a system. I love to lay all of my books out and alphabetize them. I love a spreadsheet.
Remember the friendship bracelets I mentioned? My embroidery floss box was kept in perfect color order.
I’ve bought loads of yarn and saved patterns, dreaming of drawers full of handmade socks (I hate wearing socks) and sweaters.
I impulse bought 6 Woobles sets because amiguri was going to be my new thing.
I made a few zippered bags for friends and committed to MAKE 100 BAGS (dear reader, I did not).
I have screenshots and lists and Canva designs outlining my next quilt projects.
After a life of envy over the manic pixie dream girl aesthetic, I have come to accept that I need a plan. An organized plan.
For me, the planning is almost the point.
(And, I really like putting colors together.)
What does this have to do with anything?
I can’t be the only one, right?
Over the last year and a half, I’ve noticed that quilting kind of marries my two worlds—it’s creative and it’s formulaic (depending on how you do it—I’ll dig into improv quilting some day).
I’ve also been trying to gobble up inspiration and ideas everywhere I can. So many Pinterest boards, so little time.
I also have started to visit local shops whenever I travel (like I’ve been doing with bookstores for a while now) and I love them. I want them to exist. I want them to thrive.
I have a closet full of fabric and patterns and plans.
It was making me crave a tool.
Where’s the tech at?
There are quilting tools and apps out there. Of course there are. But, they don’t really do what I want them to do.
There are tools for planning quilts, but you have to upload your own fabric swatches and the inspiration part is missing.
There are tools for posting your projects for others to see but the organization aspects don’t do it for me.
There are so many calculators. Lists. Maps.
But, if you look on Reddit or in the Facebook groups, people are asking for something different. The same thing I was looking for.
And so I’m building it. That’s the point that it took be all these words to get to.
The Open Sew App
I’m making a place for the crafters, the spreadsheeters, the inspo-seekers, and the shop hoppers.
A place to get inspired and get organized so you can get to quilting.
It’ll start with a rich, searchable pattern and fabric database that let’s you find and plan projects. It’ll allow you to save what you have, what you’ve made, and what you want to do next.
It’ll also highlight local quilt shops so you can find a place to go when you need something new. Or someone to chat with about thread.
Eventually, I’m hoping it will grow into a place where people share what they’ve made. And work to benefit all those local shops in a meaningful way.
I have a prototype so far and my goal is to provide weekly updates as I move toward a beta. Here’s where you can get on the waitlist and receive my weekly updates: https://www.opensewapp.com
Thanks for being here. Talk soon.