Under the auspices of the Seattle Chapter of the American Sewing Guild In 1985, Lorraine Kimmel said, "There are plenty of quilting retreats, why not a Sewing Retreat?" and the Vashon Island Sewing Retreats were born. Even though the Seattle Sewing Guild disbanded that year, Lorraine kept the Sewing Retreat idea going, holding the first Retreat that September.
(See 1985 Retreat photos.)
Gradually, over the years, Lorraine's daughter Penny took on more and more responsibility for coordinating the Retreats, so that sadly in 2008, when Lorraine passed, Penny was ready to keep the Retreats sewing.
In 2009, after twenty four years of hosting Sewing Retreats, Camp Burton insisted that they could only continue hosting our Retreats if we became a nonprofit. So the Stitching Girls Society was founded as a registered 501(c)(3), tax exempt nonprofit. We took our name from our favorite theme song: "We are the Stitching Girls!" Although our name says "Girls" we are open to all who want to share the joys of sewing. Penny served as both our Executive Director and President until 2021.
When we were no longer holding Sewing Retreats at Camp Burton on Vashon Island, we changed the name of our Retreats to the Stitching Girls Sewing Retreats !
Since Penny's retirement in 2021, the Stitching Girls Society Sewing Retreats have been coordinated by the members who attend them. And to come full circle, in 2022, new Retreaters joined us from their reconstituted American Sewing Guild local chapters. We continue to grow with new members every year.
Stitching Girls Society promotes sewing, quilt making and other needle and fiber arts skills by providing inspiration, fellowship and educational opportunities through events, classes and sewing retreats; and encourages and facilitates the donation of created items to other charitable organizations.
For more information, contact President, Cheryl Scheeler
4306 NE 22nd Court
Renton, WA 98059-3647
Phone: (206) 300-0533
Email:
SScheeler@sprynet.com
To become a member, send $30 annual Dues to:
Stitching Girls Society
c/o Cat Shepherd
14506 1st Ln NE #105
Duvall, WA 98019-6460
Or pay with PayPal here.
30 Years is a long time! To celebrate our achievement, Penny created a video showing how we came this far and highlighting the ongoing fun we have been having since the 20th DVD.
Click here to watch the 30 Years movie on YouTube!
Our first 20 Years of Sewing & Fun in a 50 minute DVD video plus 20 years of photos accessible on computer
To Order DVD, email request to Peggy Garber
(Requires Acrobat Reader)
It's at hoot!
