A Note from Our Founder - Marilyn
In 2016 when I was the owner of QuiltWorks in Bend, Oregon I wanted a way to reach children so that anyone could learn to sew without it being costly to families. I had the great opportunity to learn when I was a child, and it has been a love of mine my whole life.
I asked some of my QuiltWorks friends and customers if they would like to help get a program started that allowed trained and screened mentors to be matched with children to learn to sew for free. The founding board members of Sew Teach Me (known as STM) were Jean W., Patti S., Beverly H., and myself. A few months later we brought on Nikki C. and Suzanne M. The 6 member Sew Teach Me Board of Directors developed the program, raised funds for the website and supplies, and started to match mentors and children. We worked out the kinks and before long the QuiltWorks classroom regularly had children and mentors quietly working away.
When QuiltWorks closed in 2019, I left Bend and went on the road to promote Sew Teach Me to other communities. In 2020 everyone’s lives changed and the Sew Teach Me program that had started was shelved. In the meantime, I found a home in a tiny rural community far from Bend. The board still met quarterly in keeping with our bylaws, but no matches were being made. In 2022 mentor June K. was anxious to get back to teaching children. We asked her to join the Board of Directors and help get the program restarted. Through June’s hard work and dedication STM has been able to continue matching mentors and children.
Although I am the founder, past president, and a board member of STM, it’s the local board members in Bend that are making the program work. June K., Elaine K., Susan M., Cindy O., and Phyllis V. have all stepped up and now are the ones that keep Sew Teach Me matching mentors and children.