While the Quilt, Craft, and Sewing Festival has great fabric and pattern vendors (some of which we featured in Part 1 of this post), that’s not all that’s there.
You can find booths for guilds and organizations devoted to keeping handmade traditions alive. There also are lots of vendors selling tools, embellishments, and materials that go along with quilting and other types of crafting. It’s impressive how many of them have invented, made, or designed the products they’re selling!
Tools
Pauline’s Quilters World – Pauline Rogers invented the Sasher, a small plastic tool, shaped to make it quicker to fold and press strips of fabric. She also created the Quilt As You Go technique and wrote The Quilt As You Go Handbook (QAYG).
- Based in Queensland, Australia.
- I learned about the worldwide efforts to craft for recovering Australian wildlife from her Facebook page.
- FB: PaulinesQuiltersWorld
- IG: paulinesquiltersworld
- Tw: quiltersworld
- YouTube: Pauline Rogers
Tailor Made Tables, LLC – Sewing machine repair and sewing extension tables custom-made to fit your machine by Dean the Table Guy.
- Made in San Tan Valley, AZ.
Thread Cutterz – Invention featured on Shark Tank to easily cut thread or fishing line. You can wear it on a ring, or it can mount flat to the side of your sewing machine.
- FB: threadcutterz
- IG: threadcutterz
- Tw: @threadcutterz
Lakeside Scissors Sales – Specializing in hard to find small tools, they have bins and bins of scissors, pliers, magnifying glasses, and other gadgets.
Cheryl Ann’s Design Walls – These are portable, freestanding fabric surfaces for laying out quilt squares. Instructors can use them for demonstrations. They’re also helpful at quilter get-togethers where design wall space is limited – like quilting classes, retreats, and guild meetings.
- Now a part of Off The Wall Quilt.
- Free patterns + project of the month tutorials.
- YouTube: Julie Luoma / AnglePlay + Off the Wall Quilt
Embellishments + Accessories
Uniquely Crafts, LLC – Family-owned business specializing in 5D Diamond Art Kits, a craft project where you create a picture using a special tool and a type of beads (“diamonds”) with a flat, sticky back. It’s kind of like paint-by-number with rhinestones.
- We met both Stan and Amy Regal at their booth.
- Amy designs their kits.
- They offer a selection of 5D diamond kits for kids.
- FB: UniquelyCraftsLLC
- IG: uniquely_crafts
Custom Keepsakes – Heirloom sewing and machine embroidery in the style of vintage handiwork. They had lots of adorable little dresses on display to showcase their Heirloom Collection.
African Everything / Maendeleo Imports – I met Rashawnda Ogwel, who was standing in for her mother-in-law, the entrepreneur and importer known as “Basket Mary.” They continue to offer gorgeous handcrafted products from across Africa, like Ghanaian baskets and batik wall hangings from Tanzania.
- Booth at Downtown Phoenix Farmers Market (Saturdays, 8am – 1pm).
- Online shop.
- IG: @africanbaskets
Wooly Felted Wonders – A reusable alternative to dryer sheets or fabric softener, Wooly Felted Wonders are dryer balls made from 100% New Zealand wool and ethically handcrafted in Nepal. The company also sells other felted wool accessories, like bags, hot pads, and cat caves.
- FB: woolyfeltedwonders
- IG: woolyfeltedwonders
Chenille-It – This bias tape comes in a rainbow of colors and provides a shortcut for getting the frayed-edge look of of chenille in quilting and sewing projects.
- FB: ChenilleItBloomingBias
- IG: Chenillle
- YouTube: Chenille-It
Sew Many Creations specializes in natural cork fabric, which is a renewable material that’s sturdy enough to use as a leather alternative for bags and wallets, yet thin enough to stitch with a regular sewing machine. They sell different colors and sizes of cork fabric, as well as patterns and hardware kits for bags. Owner Jessica VanDenburgh has also designed fabric lines for Windham fabrics and leads workshops and weekend bag-making retreats.
Square in a Square – A series of quilting-centric novels by Jodi Barrows, who is also the creator of the Square in a Square quilting technique.
Karen and Chuck Nolke were back with their ever-changing array of unique handcrafted earrings and scarf rings!
- Etsy: karennolke
- IG: karennolke
Guilds
These organizations are devoted to a particular type of craft. They are usually open to anyone interested in it, regardless of skill level. While they may have annual dues or membership fees, you can almost always attend a meeting or two for free to see if you’d like to get more involved.
Embroiderers’ Guild of America (EGA), whose raison d’être is “because a world without needle art would be pointless” was represented by local chapter EGA Desert Threaders.
- The Desert Threaders meet the 4th Wednesday of the month at 9:30am in Phoenix.
- Free patterns.
- FB: EGAUSA
- IG: ega_usa
- Tw: egausa
- YouTube: egausa
Phoenix Area Quilters Association (PAQA) – Organization with quilt programs, speakers, quilt challenges, blocks of the month, quilts for charity, prizes, and these adorable little cactus pincushions!
- Meets on first Thursday of each month in Phoenix.
- FB: PhoenixAQA
Lacey Ladies of Arizona – Gathering of women who craft with or make lace. They host an annual Lace Day celebration in the Phoenix area in November.
- Chapter of the International Organization of Lace, Inc. (IOLI).
- Hosting the 2020 IOLI National Convention in Mesa in July.
Arizona Desert Weavers and Spinners Guild (ADWSG) – Friendly fiber arts group that sponsors informational activities and demonstrates weaving and spinning skills at schools, craft fairs, and other community events.
- Phoenix meetings on the first Saturday of month (October through May).
- FB group: ADWSG
We were guests of the Quilt, Craft & Sewing Festival.
