About

Susan StewartFabric and stitching have always fascinated me. I have a little embroidered bib that I made for my baby sister when I was not yet five years old. By the time I was 9 or 10 years old, I was making many of my own clothes. I tried other needlearts – knitting, needlepoint, hand embroidery – but always came back to the sewing machine. I made garments for myself, my sister, my cousin, and later, my children. Then, in 1988, I had one of those “moments” when something happens, you blink your eyes, and things are changed. I picked up a copy of Sew Beautiful, an heirloom sewing magazine. I had grown up on a farm in Missouri, gotten a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, and had never seen laces and fabrics like that! I was hooked! Because I knew how to sew, and because I consider myself more of an engineer than an artist, I easily taught myself how to make those beautifully embellished children’s clothes. I did everything by machine, and because I hadn’t been taught the “proper” way of doing the techniques, I developed my own ways. Soon I was going far beyond the traditional techniques and coming up with new interpretations. Almost before I knew it, I was sewing for that magazine.

From 1990 to 2005 I worked free-lance, although essentially full-time, for Martha Pullen Co., as a primary designer for Sew Beautiful magazine, all of her other publications, and for “Martha’s Sewing Room” PBS TV show, on which I was also a guest. I have created many of the techniques made popular by her endeavors. My column “Sue Says…” in Sew Beautiful magazine, which I wrote for 8 years, was shown in a reader survey to be one of the most popular features of the magazine, and I have had scores of feature articles. I had two articles published in Zig Zag magazine, and made the cover garments for two issues of Sew News magazine. Ten years ago I wrote Easy Elegance, a book with heirloom sewing techniques and patterns. I taught at the Martha Pullen School of Art Fashion in Huntsville, AL over 30 times, at Pfaff and Viking Conventions, and for guilds.

During those years, I followed and admired quilting. But I didn’t do much quilting, except a few very simple heirloom technique samplers. Then, I made a Christmas quilt for my husband, and a fiftieth anniversary quilt for my parents. The siren call of quilting was drawing me!  About three years ago, as I was giving a trunk show presentation for our local quilt guild, I had another of those “moments”. It struck me that very few people out there were making really good quilts using heirloom sewing by machine techniques, and that I was the person to do that. So I decided to integrate my expertise in heirloom sewing by machine with the exciting creativity in the quilt world. My first “serious” quilt was “Heirloom Dreams,” which won a blue ribbon at the 2004 IQA show in Houston. The quilt was also featured in Issue 7 of Creative Expressions, an Australian magazine, and was juried into the 2005 AQS show. My next quilt, "94 Yards of Lace", won a third place ribbon at the 2005 AQS show, was juried into the 2005 IQA Houston show, and is featured in Bonnie Browning’s new book Borders and Finishing Touches 2. "Opulence" won a second place ribbon at 2005 IQA Houston, and was juried into the 2006 AQS show. "It's All Thread!" won a blue ribbon at 2007 IQA Houston.  I have a new book out, Heirloom Machine Sewing for Quilters, published by AQS, and an article I have written will be in an upcoming issue of American Quilter magazine.  I keep on working, and the pictures in my mind keep on coming!

In the summer of 2005 I resigned from Martha Pullen Co., to have more time to follow my new interests. I still love the gorgeous heirloom garments, and I have more ideas for quilts than I will ever have time to make. And now, I have yet another area of interest. I am 52 years old. For the past couple of years, I’ve been experiencing frequent hot flashes at night, waking up soaked with sweat, then being unable to go back to sleep because I was cold and clammy. I have worn wicking fabric for years in long underwear for winter jogging, and came across a few companies that offer ready-to-wear sleepwear made from these fabrics. But I sew, I wanted to make my own, and I wanted them to be pretty. I made a couple of nightgowns from wicking fabric for myself. They are great! They stay dry, even when I wake up burning hot, and allow me to go back to sleep quickly. When I was at the 2005 Houston quilt show, I was looking for my mother in the food court area. I looked out over the sea of post-menopausal women who sew, and figured there had to be a market there! So I offer patterns and supplies for comfort nightwear, which is also helpful for women going through chemotherapy or thyroid problems. Even my 24-year-old daughter says it’s the most comfortable thing she’s ever worn.

I have two grown children. My husband, Mark, and I live in Pittsburg, KS, with the companionship of Stella the cat, who "helps" me with my sewing, and Honey the dog, who sleeps a lot!