will stich | Mr X Stitch

Will Stich In my search for the subject of this month's column I came across a mother, sharing her son's work, in a fiber art group I belong to. It was exactly what I have been keeping an eye out for; a quilt inspired by the world around us today. Will Stich is a high school student in Washington. His mother (owner of Green Roof Farms Embroidery) does digitizing/designing and has created a group of designs to be embroidered. These designs illustrate various images that relate to the pandemic we are all experiencing. Many of the images highlight gratitude for those working for us all. As is the case with all students these days, Will is in a position where he has a lot of time on his hands. I reached out to Will and asked him what inspired to do this “historical” quilt that speaks strongly about our reality right now. He said “My mom is a designer and she designed this set and I wanted to turn it into a living historical piece that our family can keep or that I can put into a museum.” He also told me that his mother has been teaching him a lot of different things, and how, because he is out of school, he has been spending a lot of time with his mom “while she designs and it has been a real blast!” This is his first quilt, and also his first real sewing project he says, as I see pictures of a wonderful plague mask he is making! In addition he is learning how to make videos and various aspects of such production. He says his mom has him learning “all day.” Will embroidered each of these designs and then took many scraps of fabrics, some left over from sewing masks, to create strips that were then sewn onto the embroidered blocks. A local news station, in Seattle, featured him (find that here) and he also put up a YouTube video to show others how he made the quilt. The patterned blocks are available through his mother's store if anyone wants to give this “historical” quilt a go! I think it is a wonderful look at just one way we can approach, and deal with, this time in history.