“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” --Pablo Picasso In this month’s blog we highlight some of the ways the San Diego chapter of the American Sewing Guild (ASG) gives to our community. Kathy Sterling and Andrea Towle are two of our members who bring a lifetime of love for sewing and experience to important volunteer work that benefits many service organizations in the San Diego area. They weave together their experience in teaching and coordinating donations to bring the joy of sewing and its practical value to others. Both women have been sewing since they were children, learning originally from their mothers. Kathy was the oldest of four girls and loved to watch her mother sew. She had to wait until her feet reached the floor while sitting before she could use her mother’s Singer Featherweight sewing machine (which Kathy still uses). She took a Singer sewing class and learned to read and cut out a pattern and discovered there was a lot of information on a pattern. She started sewing her own clothes and Mom said that if she completed and wore a garment three times, she would reimburse Kathy for the cost of the materials. That motivated Kathy to make things look good. When she was sixteen her boyfriend's mom, who had no daughters, was excited to teach sewing to Kathy. From her, Kathy learned that “a pattern is the foundation, but not the end of the story.” Kathy took her sewing machine with her to college where she studied Biology and Art. She sewed for herself and her family and later worked in a sewing machine shop in Reno, Nevada. Reno is where she first joined ASG. When she moved to Pasadena, California, Kathy enrolled in the Pasadena Community College (PCC) fashion department. She learned industry sewing techniques that were different from home sewing and followed her passion for making period costumes, science fiction and dance costumes. After graduating from PCC Kathy worked for a time in Burbank then returned to PCC where she taught for 18 years in their fashion department. It was there that she first created fabric “pass along.” In 2014 Kathy moved to Oceanside and joined the local American Sewing Guild neighborhood groups and became connected to the sewing and fashion department at Palomar College. With her move, she continued the fabric “pass along” process. Ultimately, she developed connections with many local organizations that use the fabrics that are donated to the San Diego Chapter of the ASG. Andrea also learned to sew from her mother then continued to learn throughout junior high school, high school and college. She earned a degree in Home Economics and after raising her family accepted a teaching position as a cooking and sewing teacher in West Sacramento. Andrea taught junior high for 25 years. Andrea’s sense of humor had much to do with her success as a middle school teacher. Also, sewing and cooking were subjects that were of interest to the students. The kids learned that the sewing project came first and they must finish it before going on to cooking. Kids could come in at lunch to sew. They were motivated to cook and therefore, every sewing project got completed. Andrea moved to San Diego from the Sacramento area in 2022 and was immediately welcomed by our San Diego ASG president, Lisa Moallemi. Andrea got involved in community service right away. She teaches sewing at the Salvation Army campus in El Cajon and at Bridge Builders in San Diego. Refugee women from Afghanistan who attend the Bridge Builders' six to eight week classes already know how to sew but the classes focus on how to use electric and electronic machines used in the U.S. At Bridge Builders, Andrea teaches how to make samples of different seam and hem finishes. After completing the class, the women are on a waiting list for donated sewing machines they can take home to use. Kathy developed her ideas for fabric exchange and donation when a friend of her mother’s was downsizing her extensive fabric collection. Today, the San Diego Chapter of the ASG receives donations of fabric, supplies and used sewing machines through our website, https://www.sandiegoasg.org/. The process of collecting and distributing these donations is a big job. Andrea collects donations from the south part of San Diego county and Kathy from the north. In addition to loading all the boxes of fabrics these women sort through them to determine where they will be best used. Below are the organizations that receive these fabrics: “Keep Sewing Alive” has an annual fabric sale to make fabrics available to fashion students who cannot otherwise afford to buy specialty fabrics on which to practice various techniques. “Gently Hugged” receives flannels which they use to make kits for blankets and other baby items. These kits are distributed to sewists who make blankets and bibs for mothers. “Dress-a-Girl” creates kits for making simple cotton dresses for girls in African countries. “Keep Sewing Alive” helps to distribute the upholstery fabric to students at community colleges upholstery classes. Knits are shared with the Neighborhood Group Savvy Sergers. This group will also teach a Serger class at Bridge Builders in January 2026 to women who have these machines but need help in making the most of their special features. Visions Museum of Textile Art at Liberty Station receives fabric for their annual Veranda Sale. Salvation Army gets bags of scraps. The Salvation Army in El Cajon holds a class that Andrea teaches twice a month. She makes kits for tote bags with pockets. These kits are used to teach sewing techniques to beginners. In addition to distributing fabric and notions and sewing supplies, Andrea and Kathy accept used sewing machines for the Bridge Builders sewing machine donation program. They collect the machines and take them to a local sewing machine repair expert who gets them ready. In the three years since San Diego ASG has been involved with this program, we’ve distributed 166 machines to Afghan refugee women. San Diego ASG provides the funding for the sewing machine repairs and when cash donations are made to our chapter, these are added to our sewing machine repair fund. Oceanside Museum of Art is seeking tiny tiny art, such as an Art Quilt that is 5" X 5", for their annual fundraiser to help pay for art classes at the museum. Please consider making a tiny tiny quilt for this good cause. Open the blue button below the images to find the TeenyTiny2026 Submission Form.

#ASG San Diego Annual Meeting This year members of ASG San Diego enjoyed a presentation by Kandi Christian. Her talk included the similarities between couture sewing and heirloom sewing techniques with beautiful samples to illustrate the techniques. Kandi explained how to sew tucks, create Madeira applique and cutwork, and how to apply lace by machine that looks handsewn. A highlight of the annual meeting was the “San Diego ASG Project Runway.” Members took to the “runway” while our own Teri Ang announced the sewist/models and shared descriptions of their creations. As always, members had fun with the “What Was I Thinking?!” table of donated fabric and sewing items. A Community Service Projects table included beautiful dresses for the SD Dress A Girl service project. Each Neighborhood Group presented a display table showing what they have done for this year. Thank you to outgoing Board members Pat Stilwell and Lisa Moallemi. They have both served our chapter for the last four years: Lisa as president, and Pat as secretary. San Diego ASG appreciates their leadership and service to our chapter. Incoming board members include Melissa Miller as President and Teri Ang as Secretary. V.P. of Programs is an open position and we are looking for volunteers. Community Service Update In 2025 our chapter donated 167 items to Gently Hugged, including 85 burp cloths. Gently Hugged in Carlsbad was able to provide to fifty moms, clothing for Baby for one year. Our Sewing Machine Donation program has given 161 sewing machines to Bridge Builders. All machines are serviced and ready to use. INTERESTED IN JOINING SAN DIEGO ASG? COME JOIN OUR SEWING COMMUNITY! We would love to invite you to one of our Neighborhood Group meetings.

What’s New at the San Diego Chapter of the American Sewing Guild? #Master Pants Sewing Workshop On September 4, 2025 from 10:00-5:00 PM, members and guests will join Judy Kessinger for her Master Pants sewing workshop. Registered participants have purchased the pattern and fabric in advance in preparation for this class where they will: Make pants that fit! Go home with your perfect pattern. Learn to measure, draw, and fit. With the FitNice Master Pants Pattern and a 2-way stretch fabric, you can make the most comfortable pants you will ever wear! Learn more about Judy at www.fitnicesystem.com #San Diego Chapter of the American Sewing Guild Annual Meeting On Saturday October 11, 2025 SD ASG’s Annual Meeting will be held at North Oaks Community Center (Rancho Bernardo) 12578 Oaks North Drive, San Diego, CA 92128 The meeting will begin at 10:00 AM and include a “fashion show” of what members have created this year. Displays will be set up by each Neighborhood Group highlighting their activities since October 2024. The election of the Chapter Advisory Board members will be finalized at the annual meeting. Participants will enjoy lunch together with sandwiches from Panera that will be available to order and purchase in advance. #Sewing Machine Donation Program Our outreach started in January 2022 with a goal of providing 15 sewing machines to the refugee community of Afghan women in East County. As of September 1, 2025, we have delivered 153 machines! All of them are serviced and ready to be used. INTERESTED IN JOINING SAN DIEGO ASG? COME JOIN OUR SEWING COMMUNITY! We would love to invite you to one of our Neighborhood Group meetings.

Neighborhood Group Spotlight: Poway NG The members of this Neighborhood Group decide together what they want to do for the upcoming months. They enjoy sharing useful projects, tips and techniques. Members take turns giving demonstrations. Recently, Joan showed how to make a hoop embroidery purse. Next month, Kathy will lead members (and guests?) to make an ingenious dog bone pillow using a free AccuQuilt pattern. The Poway NG includes sewists who live for part of the year in Oregon, Texas and New Mexico. When they return each year to their homes in California, they join their “built-in community” at Poway NG. It is something they can count on year after year. The Poway Neighborhood Group meets on the 2nd Wednesday of the month from 10:00 AM- to Noon at Paradise Sewing at 13242 Poway Road in Poway. This business has a long history of support for members of the American Sewing Guild by making their store available for ASG meetings. Peter Chang bought Paradise Sewing in December 2019 and provides a comfortable gathering place for ASG members who love to sew, share their inspiration, and who actively support service projects. The Poway NG holds Service Project Sew-Ins where they have provided, over the years, 40 pillow cases for Ronald McDonald House to give to patients, Ouch pillows for breast cancer recovering patients, Angel Gowns for babies that were stillborn at hospital, Flannel PJ’s for children in a hospital burn ward. Poway NG’s latest service project for the last two years has been to sew burp cloths, bibs, soft toys, and blankets donated to Gently Hugged for underserved infants from birth to one year of age. Kathy Hodges has been the Poway Neighborhood Group leader for more than 10 years. She has been sewing useful items since she took home economics in Jr. High and High School. She likes free motion embroidery and enjoys sewing pillows, bags, purses. Kathy recently shared a Denim purse made from repurposed jeans decorated with a colorful belt through the belt loops. The Poway NG is a fun group. Come to Paradise Sewing and give them a try.

What’s New at the San Diego Chapter of the American Sewing Guild? #San Diego ASG Annual Retreat 2025 At Vina de Lestonnac Retreat Center in Temecula Many different sewing projects, great inspiration and sense of community, plus three delicious meals each day prepared and served by the friendly retreat staff. This was another successful event for our San Diego ASG members. Below are photos and captions showing some of the projects our talented sewists completed over the four-day retreat. INTERESTED IN JOINING SAN DIEGO ASG? COME JOIN OUR SEWING COMMUNITY! We would love to invite you to one of our Neighborhood Group meetings.

#Savvy Sergers NG hosts Serger Clinic A Serger clinic was held May 29, 2025. Five participants spent 4 hours learning the basics of serging. Each participant had a mentor who assisted when there were questions or rough spots. Everybody learned something even the mentors!! Neighborhood Group Spotlight: North County Coastal NG Leader and Co-leader Melissa Miller and Yvonne Key have both been sewing for years. Melissa mainly sews garments and has made her own costumes while acting in Community Theater. Melissa has also worked with professional theaters as a costume consultant. A new interest for her is Shibori and Indigo dying, which she hopes to bring to the North County Coastal NG once she becomes more proficient. Yvonne has recently become the co-leader for the group. Yvonne enjoys sewing many different kinds of projects. She sews items that she needs--dog beds, BBQ covers, etc. She designs her own patterns for baby quilts that she shares as gifts. She recently created an 18x12” cushion in the shape of a big leaf for a 12” ceramic grasshopper that lives on her patio. Yvonne’s next project will be to re-upholster a cushion for a camel saddle. She will take apart the worn cushion to make a pattern. There are 25 members in the NCC NG and about 15-18 of them join each meeting. The North County Coastal NG is a very eclectic group with a variety of interests and skills so there is always someone there to help and give inspiration. It is fun to see the variety of things that people create and bring to share. They are active in sewing for our ASG San Diego chapter’s community service projects. Many burp cloths, receiving blankets and cloth toys have been donated to our community partner, Gently Hugged , by these talented people. The exciting “Fabric Challenge Reveal" will occur in July. Each year the members do a fabric exchange to see what people come up with using a “what was I thinking when I bought that” fabric . It’s fun to see the creativity, humor and skill that go into transforming unwanted fabric into useful items. The North County Coastal NG have been sewing together for many years. They are active sewists and would love to welcome new people who love to sew. Check out the Neighborhood Groups page of our website to see the variety of projects the NCCNG has planned for this year. #Indigo Dye and Shibori Class On May 17 three of our ASG San Diego members joined a class in San Diego to learn techniques of Shibori and indigo dyeing from Sarah Myriam Winston, who has been designing, dyeing and weaving apparel and accessories as well as preserving collectible textiles for over two decades. We each used common tools like clips and wooden disks and made stitched designs to create resist in the fabric which we then dipped into indigo dye in a warm, deep vat. It was a fascinating process and fun to go home with several new accessories that reflect an art form used in many different parts of the world. The photos below include a meeting of the Poway Neighborhood group as they created fabric flowers for our Annual Meeting in October, the Savvy Serger NG's recent Serger Clinic, and the Shibori and indigo dye class. INTERESTED IN JOINING SAN DIEGO ASG? COME JOIN OUR SEWING COMMUNITY! We would love to invite you to one of our Neighborhood Group meetings. Contact membership@sandiegoasg.org

What’s New at the San Diego Chapter of the American Sewing Guild? Neighborhood Group Spotlight: Fit and Sew NG Fit and Sew Neighborhood Group is just what it sounds like. A focus for this group is to sew clothing that has been custom fitted to each of the sewists. Each year the group members select a garment pattern and learn to make tissue pattern adjustments to ensure a good fit. After constructing the garment they do a final fitting to adjust for variations in the type of fabric used. In previous years, Kathleen and Anne, both certified in the Palmer Pletsch fitting method guided us in the tissue fittings. The Fit and Sew group has been growing each year. So this year, Kathleen is teaching the members to work with a partner to make the fitting adjustments. In 2025 the Fit and Sew members are making a collared button-down shirt/blouse. The project in 2024 was a T-shirt with a variety of neckline and sleeve options. 2023 found the Fit and Sew members creating jean jackets and Chanel-style jackets. In addition to fitting sessions, the meetings are devoted to learning garment construction skills, and different members sign up to share mini-presentations. The meetings always begin with San Diego ASG news and announcements and conclude with “show and share.” Fit and Sew will meet next on June 2 from 12:15-2:15 at the Vista Library. Topics for the May 5th meeting included Seams and Finishes and Pintucks and Topstitching. On June 2, Specialty Feet for sewing shirts and pockets will be presented. Other News Quilts of Valor is looking for some quilters to start a new Quilts of Valor group in the San Diego area. We have an excellent existing group, but have many veterans and active duty nominations to fulfill. If you are interested in wrapping our military community with healing and comforting quilts - please contact me. Thank you! Darlene Berwick, CA State Coordinator, QOVF Contact Info Name: Darlene Berwick Email: darlene.berwick@qovf.org Phone: 817-602-6902 INTERESTED IN JOINING SAN DIEGO ASG? COME JOIN OUR SEWING COMMUNITY! We would love to invite you to one of our Neighborhood Group meetings. Contact membership@sandiegoasg.org

Sewing and Quilting Retailers Several new sewing and quilting retailers have been added to our “County Retailers” page where you’ll find a link to each retailer’s website as well as addresses and phone numbers. The newest addition is a List of online fabric stores. Neighborhood Group Spotlight: El Cajon Crazies Do you want to learn new sewing skills but don’t have time to drive to a neighborhood group meeting? The El Cajon Crazies NG meets in person and virtually. This clever group has set up a double-camera mini studio at El Cajon Sew and Vac that allows Zoom participants to clearly see what is being demonstrated during that month’s program. Join them virtually or in person on April 2 at 10:00 AM to view Lora Morrow’s demo, “A New Way to Bind.” Go to this website’s Neighborhood Groups page for the Zoom link or to contact the leader, Ruth Gessler. Each meeting of the El Cajon Crazies also includes a time for sharing their newest projects and a novel approach to “What was I thinking?” After the meeting, participants can select from fabric, sewing tools, and all things related to sewing in the “trunk show” of the parking lot. If you have items that others might enjoy, bring them in your car’s trunk. Additionally, this group consistently participates in community service projects, submitting their service project hours to the group leader. Thank you, El Cajon Crazies, for your commitment to community service. Judy Kessinger Pants Pattern Workshop Make pants that fit! At this workshop with Judy Kessinger you will learn to measure, draw and fit. It will be held on Thursday, September 4, 2025 from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM at Villa Nova Country Estates Community Center, 1440 S. Orange Ave., El Cajon 92020. Don’t miss out. Click on the blue button to register for this exciting workshop. Sewing Machine donations update: Our outreach and partnership with Bridge Builders Network started in January, 2022 with a goal of providing 15 sewing machines to the Afghan women in East County. To date, we have delivered 128 machines! All of them are serviced and ready to be used. Our thanks to the many people of our community who contact us with sewing machines to donate. We often hear, “This machine was very special to my (mom, aunt, friend). I don’t need it but I want to be sure it goes to someone who will love it.” These donated machines are well loved and used by our local San Diego neighbors. The San Diego ASG Annual Summer Retreat The San Diego ASG Annual Summer Retreat will be held June 16-19 at the Vina de Lestonnac Retreat Center in Temecula Wine Country. Join us for uninterrupted sewing in a large, open studio space, great food and accommodations, and best of all, the camaraderie of other creative people who love to sew. There are just a few more spots left. Click on the blue button to register. INTERESTED IN JOINING SAN DIEGO ASG? COME JOIN OUR SEWING COMMUNITY! We would love to invite you to one of our Neighborhood Group meetings. Contact membership@sandiegoasg.org