Needlework Collective

Hi! We’re a welcoming, casual group that meets roughly bimonthly to chat and work on our needlework projects in Chicago. All are welcome! For standard meetups, bring your own project and supplies. For how-tos, all supplies will usually be provided and noted when otherwise. Location will vary depending on what member is hosting, with light refreshments provided. Join our email list where the location is shared through the link in our bio. Hope to see you soon!

Here is our schedule for the next two months, including two dates that are part of Quilt-a-thon (check out @quilt_a_thon to learn more!) Our next meetup is May 18, Monday, 6-8 pm at Palmer Square Park in Logan Square. Cross your fingers for nice weather and bring a blanket to sit on and project to work on! We can grab food or drink afterward in the area :)

*** now at Becca’s apt in Logan, DM if you need the address *** Weather is looking beautiful for our meetup this Monday, May 18, in Palmar Square Park (2200 N Kedzie Blvd in Logan Square). We meet at 6 p.m. and can stitch for 1.5-2 hours and then head somewhere for food/drink. Bring your own project to work on and blanket/chair to sit on. I’ll plan to set up on the west side of the park (the side with the big hand statue) and have a little sign staked and some baked goods to share :) See you then!! -Audrey

Thanks for hanging out yday and to Gabby for hosting us!! 🫶 I will announce our May & June dates in the coming week :)

Hi! We meet up this Sunday from 1-4 p.m. at Gabby’s in Lakeview. Feel free to drop in and out at your leisure. This is a standard meetup, so bring your own project and supplies to hang out, stitch, and meet some new folks! DM if you need the address and you can join our email list thru the link in bio. See ya Sunday!

Quilt-a-Thon t-shirts alert!!! Featuring our beagle dog ;) showing off the “Hey Neighbor” block and screenprinted here in Chicago on @Everybody.world ‘s boxier trash tee; they’re available to order for $37 at the link in our bio. Proceeds will be used for costs not covered by our sponsors, such as food/drink, event supplies, quilting materials, etc. Thanks for supporting! <3 ~~ As a reminder, we are giving this queen size quilt away once finished! So use the links in our bio to make a donation to the Midwest Immigration Bond Fund (suggested $25 donation) and sign up for the drawing to take home the quilt!! You do not need to work on the quilt to enter the drawing :) ~~

***update, time slots are full for quilting with us at lotsa on May 30*** Hi Quilt-a-Thon!! Participating blockmakers have their supplies and have the next few weeks to assemble their blocks and get them back to us. Behind the scenes, we will be piecing the queen-sized quilt to prep it for our HAND QUILTING DAYS! The first of which will be hosted with @lotsa.fun on May 30 from 11am-6pm, and the second will be hosted with @needleworkcollective in Audrey’s backyard on June 7 from 12pm-7pm. Only about 7-8 quilters can fit around the frame, so sign up for your timeslot at the link in our bio for Lot’sa; for Audrey’s backyard, drop by whenever, and BYOProject in case the frame is full. Don’t be shy! Beginners welcome, and we will teach you!! ~~ As a reminder, we are giving this queen-size quilt away once finished! So use the links in our bio to make a donation to the Midwest Immigration Bond Fund (suggested $25 donation) and then sign up for the drawing to take home the quilt!! You do not need to work on the quilt to enter the drawing :) ~~

Ahead of Quilt-a-Thon kicking off this Saturday with our blockmakers in Lincoln Park, we’re releasing our “Hey Neighbor” pattern for free download through the link in our bio! You do not have to be an official Quilt-a-Thon blockmaker or participant to download the pattern and enjoy. :) 
 Our Quilt-a-Thon sewists will make 30 blocks in the depicted green/cream colorway for a queen-size quilt that will be communally hand quilted and then given away. You can donate to Midwest Immigration Bond Fund and enter the drawing to take home the finished quilt through the links in our bio <3

Thanks for hanging out and to Emily for hosting!! 🫶 We’ll have another BYOProject meetup this month in Lakeview at Gabby’s on April 26 :)

Hi! We’re at Emily’s in Logan Square from 1-4 p.m. this Sunday, April 12. Hmu if you need the address (and join the email list in the bio to get future addresses). This will be a standard meetup, so bring your own needlework project and supplies and come hang out :). We’ll have some snacks too <3 see you then!!

My friend Audrey told me all about her latest quilt WIP for my substack! The series is called Other People’s Quilts (OPQ) 🌟🪡 Audrey and I are working on an event series @quilt_a_thon for this Spring/Summer in Chicago, raising money for the Midwest immigration bond fund (I’ll say it, fuck ICE!!!). I hope some of my Chicagoland quilters and quilt-curious friends will get involved with us 🤝💞

****** EDIT: We have enough sewists for blockmaking, so we’ve closed sign-ups. <3 Stay tuned for more info on our hand quilting days!!! ******* We’re excited to launch Quilt-a-Thon, a series of events to collectively make one queen-size quilt (i.e. a quilting bee) and raise funds for the Midwest Immigration Bond Fund (MIBF), which pays immigration bonds to free those in ICE custody. We believe through collective quilting we can build connection and community and support efforts to reduce the harm ICE is inflicting on our neighborhoods. You can donate to our MIBF fund and enter the drawing for the to-be-completed quilt, which we will be giving away, through the link in our bio. The first event will be held in Lincoln Park at Claire’s on April 18 from 1-4 p.m. to distribute 30 house quilt block kits and discuss the general quilt making process. We’re looking for 30 sewists to attend, take a quilt block kit home, and sew and return the block to us in Chicago by May 9. Quilt experience is not required, but you should be able to either machine or hand sew your block at home. If you are interested in making a quilt block, see the link in our bio for more details and to sign up! After filling out the form, we will follow up via email to confirm and provide location specifics. Huge thank you to @fullmoonfabricco for donating all the fabric for the block kits!! 🫶 If you can’t attend the April 18 event but are a confident sewist who lives in Chicago and are willing to pick up a quilt block kit from Claire/Audrey, you can email [email protected] and we’ll try to accommodate. P.S., You don’t have to make a quilt block to help with the ample hand quilting we will need help with at later events. More details to come on our community hand quilting days :) Audrey & Claire