Welcome to The Mill!
What drives us here at The Mill? We’re both neurodiverse and have struggled to find places and spaces where we feel comfortable being ourselves. We’re both avid sewists and quilters, but some quilt store employees ignore us, because we don’t dress like the stereotype of quilter. Some of the shops that people brag about are the ones that ignored us – to the point of us putting down several hundred dollars of fabric and walking out. We didn’t feel welcome. We talked about it – what would make us happiest about a quilt store?
The answer was: a place where we feel like we belong. A place where we can be ourselves.
Quite frankly, there’s a need for spaces where people can be themselves all the time. A space where people can create things that make them happy. And a community of people who are accepting and welcoming.
We want to be that space.
We want to be the place that people come to for cosplay and learn that they can make their own clothing for streetwear. To learn that they can make a quilt based on their favorite show/book/whatever. For quilters to come and see that they can explore other avenues of expression.
We want to have classroom and workshop space for people who don’t have large spaces in their own homes to work. For kids to learn. We want to have an old-fashioned-hanging-from-the-ceiling quilting frame with a quilt on it that ANYONE can help quilt. An ongoing quilting bee. When a quilt is done, it gets donated. Another one goes on the frame.
We want to have geeky-themed fabrics and batiks and blenders and all the things that are lovely and soft and kind. Some hand-dyed fabric. Patterns for geeky-themed quilts and clothing. Cosplay patterns and fabrics.
We want a place where people want to be.
A garden outside of dye plants and herbs, and places to sit and chat. A deep porch to hang quilts on and places to sit and chat and hand-quilt.
That’s the dream of The Mill. Right now we’re all online, but hopefully in time we can build that physical space. For now, we’re taking the dream online.