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about me

My name is Silvia Sutters, I am a stay at home mom of two fun and awesome babes under the age of three who fill my day with laughter, love and lots of drama (well, they are girls afterall). In my spare time -- really spare-- I quilt, sew, craft and sometimes sleep. My quilting journey is not a long one as I do not come from a family of quilters. I am from Brazil, thus the blog name, and was exposed to sewing at an early age, since my grandmother was a seamstress who made wedding gowns and also usually baked the wedding cakes too - isnt' that a great combination? On our visits to my grandparents house, I would always see her sewing machine set up, fabric and brown paper patterns laid out. There was the smell of oil from her old cabinet machine filling the air together with the brewing coffee and cakes she would always bake for us—such great memories! Unfortunately, I wasted those precious times doing other things that kids and teenagers do in an era prior to smart phones and internet. It wasn't until later in life that I decided to learn how to sew. My mom had a heavy, old Singer - which I still have today - and I remember her showing me the basics during my teen years, but not much came out of it. Fast forward to some years ahead when I was in my early 20's working on my final project in Fashion Design school where I realized I needed to sew my pieces together. Then comes mom's old Singer out of the dust. That’s when I realized I could "make stuff". I then partnered with fashion friends to make clothing and bags, took a sewing class and tried doing alterations. Then I got married to the greatest guy on earth and moved to the USA. There, I started working at a family owned window treatment company, making lay-outs for special orders (such as odd size windows valances -with scallops, points, pockets, etc-, bedding, shams, table cloths and runners, pillows and more pillows and the occasional dog bed to name a few). For three years in that environment, I learned a ton about cutting, sewing and industrial machines. I left to venture into the high-end couture world, where I interned in several fashion houses (Narciso Rodrigues, Catherine Malandrino, Isaac Mizhari, among others) while working on a Patternmaking certificate at FIT. However, as a good wife, I moved with my husband to Ohio so he could pursue his PhD which lead us to where we are today, further in the Midwest. I could go on describing my work in Ohio as a Visual and Appareal Manager at Anthropologie and Abercrombie, but lets skip that and get to quilting, which really started a little over a year ago. As a stay at home mom, it is hard to get a big chunk of free time. I came across an online quilt class and decided to make one. I was definitely hooked after that. I loved the flexibility of working for 15 minutes and getting the pieces cut, then finding another free 15 minutes to piece it, then finding three minutes to press here and there. That is what's so great about quilting, you can work—and you should work—slowly, enjoying each piece, savoring each stitch. I look back to my days of youth and regret that I wasn't more proactive in learning all that I could have from my grandmother, but I do know that having that exposure helped shape my path. Well, that's me, and this blog is a place where you will see my work from beginning to end. I hope you enjoy it and I do wish to be an inspiration for you. If you would like to purchase one of my quilts, please do so at my Etsy shop, or contact me for made-to-order items.

Happy sewing! 

Love,

Silvia