Sandi Blackwell - Wheeling, WV
Sandi is a West Virginian and has been a home sewer for most of her life. She started quilting in 1992 and has since received over 50 ribbons for her quilted works.
In 1996 she began her own quilt business named "Stitched Buy". Sandi's work is sold primarily locally but can be found at select locations across the United States. She makes quilts of all types and styles from miniature to king size,from pet quilts to wallhangings. She quilts both by hand and machine.
Sandi is an artisan of the Wheeling Artisan Center in Wheeling, West Virginia and the state artisan project "MountainMade.com" (an internet shopping catalog for West Virginia artisans). Several of her quilts were selected to be on display at the Ideal Home Exhibition in London, England in 2000, and the West Virginia High-‐Tech Foundation in Fairmont in 2001. In March, 2001 she had a wallhanging juried into the West Virginia Culture & History quilt show.
One of her winning miniature quilts was published in the "Miniature Quilts" magazine #48 in July, 2000, and was featured on the cover.
In May of 2001 Sandi was juried into Tamarack, the premiere West Virginia artisan outlet located in Beckley, WV. Her work is now on display and sale there, as it has been since 2001. her works there include a line of "antiqued" table toppers, table mats, wallhangings, miniatures and lap quilts, as well as special orders.
In March of 2002, Sandi created a commissioned full size patriotic quilt for the West Virginia Federation of Democratic Women, which traveled around the state before being raffled off at their convention in September 2002. Since then, she has designed and created the quilts for the next seven years.
In 2003 she completed a commissioned wallhanging for the lobby of the Stonewall Jackson Convention & Resource Center in West Virginia. Over the past years, she has completed several commissioned works for the Wheeling Heritage Association.
Quilt Magazine has published several of her quilts and patterns, the most recent issue featuring her quilts and patterns is "Miniature Quilt Ideas" #35 of October 2002.
She has also designed and published her own quilt patterns. She currently has four quilt patterns available for sale.
One of Sandi's greatest pleasures is talking to people and demonstrating the world of quilting to others. She has done numerous quilt demonstrations for the Wheeling Artisan Center, the West Virginia MountainMade.com center (Washington DC and Thomas, WV), as well as numerous local craft fairs and schools. She enjoys traveling and has met quilters in her travels from Northern Europe (Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands) as well as numerous locations in North America.
She teaches classes (both beginner and advanced techniques) at a Wheeling quilt shop and for quilting groups, as well as private lessons. Sandi has been accepted into the National Quilt Association teacher certification program.
She is a member of AQS, NQA, Fort Henry Piecemakers Quilt Guild, West Virginia Quilters, and the Virginia Consortium of Quilters. She was also selected as the NQA Member in the Spotlight for October 2010. Sandi's newest venture is becoming an author. Her first book"Square-‐agonals;
A New Angle on Quilting" was released in September of 2010. It is based on a new technique that she has developed. She is also creating a series of quilting books based on this and other new techniques. Sandi resides in Wheeling, West Virginia with her supportive husband of 36 years and her
two very wonderful young adult children, who graduated West Virginia University in May 2009.Contact Sandi (304) 281-6458