Vida has always been a “Maker”. It started with her first counted cross stitch piece at the age of 14. She grew up surrounded by other passionate makers watching her mother sew and her grandmother crochet as well as making bobbin lace. In 2015, with encouragement from her husband, Vida pulled out the sewing machine her mother had bought her 18 years previous and began putting to use the skills and knowledge she had picked up all those years ago watching her mother sew and began sewing in earnest herself. It wasn’t long before she began teaching in her local shop and out of her home studio.

In 2020, with an established studio and website, she found herself uniquely positioned to help fill the need for face masks as a result of COVID. She started a group on FaceBook and helped organize sewists in her area to make and donate more than 7,000 masks. She also found herself with people asking to purchase masks through her website eventually making more than 18,000. Vida used some of the proceeds from her mask making to purchase a long arm and began quilting for clients.

In early 2021, Vida discovered Quiltworx online and although she had never done any paper piecing, her husband encouraged her to attend a Quiltworx Retreat. In the months leading up to the retreat, Vida made two projects, Braided Table Runner and Fractured Paintbox. She arrived at her first retreat with Dragon Star in progress and decided to pursue being a Certified Instructor so she could share her new found passion with others. Since beginning her Quiltworx journey in 2021, Vida has made 14 Quiltworx projects and all the current technique of the month quilts to include making a sample of our new TOTM Carnival Flower which she pieced and quilted for Quiltworx.

Vida also serves as the President of the Missoula Quilters’ Guild and was recently invited to join the Gammill Education Team and will be teaching on their Quilting With Confidence Tour. Vida not only teaches in her local shops but also from her own fully equipped studio where she offers one-on-one classes and group classes as well as Judy Sew Days and mini-retreats. For up-to-date information on her class schedule and to subscribe to her monthly newsletter, visit her website at https://www.sewflyquilts.com. Vida loves coloring Quiltworx kits using Quiltster and sells her kits on her website and the Quiltster Marketplace. Vida also offers long arm quilting services, both custom and e2e, on her Gammill Statler.

In her spare time, primarily in the summer, she and her husband love to camp and fly fish from their boat along the Montana rivers. Vida is based out of Missoula, Montana, but is willing to travel.

Social Links:

https://www.facebook.com/sewflyquilts
https://www.instagram.com/sewflyquiltsmontana/
https://www.pinterest.com/SewFlyQuilts/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtAz7ngRKWqOEN1MS_ML1uw