Once Upon A Time...

Here I am, writing my very first blog post; a summary of a life that only existed in my dreams.

I was 18, a freshman at Bloomsburg University when a good friend made me the quilt pictured below.  I LOVED it and had to know how to make something like this myself!

I purchased a used 1998 Singer from a local sew and vac store in my tiny college town and drove back and forth to NJ on the weekends to learn and pursue a hobby that I came to love.

My sophomore year I moved to Florida and met my husband.  I knew he was a keeper when he didn't question my love for quilting and fearlessly entered Jo-Ann's with me early on in our relationship.  I went on to graduate from the University of South Florida with a degree in Physical Education.  Despite pursuing PE as my full time career for 7 years I was still sewing nights and weekends on my (then) 10 year old Singer when my quilty friend Cindy informed me that I needed to have it serviced every year or two.  She also taught me that I should clean out the bobbin area once in a while.  What???  I've never done that!  If I had a camera phone back then I'd show you a picture of what 10 years of bobbin lint looked like. Cindy and I attended guild meetings and retreats together, we became best friends but eventually I moved away.

While in Virginia I worked in the medical field running a very busy Internal Medicine office.  After about 4 years, I had lost my spark for the job I once loved and my husband knew that.  As I was spreading grape jelly on my English muffin one Friday morning in 2013 he said to me, "Why don't you just turn in your resignation and do what you love."  Despite all of the what-ifs, I took a chance and turned in my notice before I left work that day. 

In early 2014 I purchased my longarm machine, in 2015 we moved out to the suburbs to a larger house which is where I decided to open an online fabric shop.  2016 brought the addition of the computer to the longarm machine which was a GAME CHANGER!  My Memory quilt business was picking up, I was gaining customers and had an 1100 sq. ft. basement all to myself filled with beautiful bolts of fabric, a Keurig and a TV  (see pics below). 

Heaven, right?  Not for long. 

  

In early 2018 we found out we were moving to the Boston area.  While excited, we had a 12 ft. longarm machine and hundreds of bolts of fabric in tow and there are only a handful of houses that have rooms large enough to accommodate such things. 

This brings us to TODAY...I have a beautiful home that I love.  My longarm is in the formal dining room, my sewing machines are in my husband's office and my fabric shop is upstairs in one of the bedrooms.  We are in the process of finishing the basement so I can have my "heaven" back. 

Even though my days are typically busy, I'm so thankful for where I'm at.  I work hard everyday to grow my business and I've met so many amazing friends on this journey.  While I look at how far I've come and what I've accomplished, I often feel like this is just the beginning. 

How sweet it is to not only do what I love but to have a husband, son and friends who support me 110%.  

Here they are, my crew...its not the best family photo but it IS the most recent :)

Thanks for reading all about how Sewcial Stitch came to be. 

I look forward to sharing tips, tricks, tutorials and an occasional personal blog post.

Until next time, I hope you have a fantastic day...chat soon :)

-Mandi