Arienne La Barrie
Arienne from the Dancing Bear Stitchery traded Miami for the good Georgia life seventeen years ago, and she hasn’t looked back since! For her main gig, she enjoys being the head of logistics and finance at an Atlanta-based company, but when she wants to use the creative part of her brain, she turns to sewing. 

Rope bowls, quilts, bags, and more… Arienne never gets lost in the sewing world because she’s always looking for her next pattern! She loves to try new and different things, and this is very evident when you look at her collection of projects: Quilted zipper pouches, landscape quilts, patchwork pillow covers with half-square triangles, scrunchies, canvas tissue covers, chubby totes, and rope trivets. Her handmade accessories will bring all the good vibes your way with their spirited, modern prints and colorful flair!

(Oh, and in case you’re wondering, her business’s name, The Dancing Bear Stitchery got its name from Arienne’s love for ballet and modern dance. As for the “bear” part of the name, she just really likes bears. Who doesn’t?)

Sheila Shepherd
Sheila Shepherd, owner of Thirty4Stitches, is a professional longarm quilter. Her Gammil Statler, affectionately named Claire, is fabulous purple and helps Sheila accomplish her tremendous, quality work. Together, they add the perfect finishing touch to quilts, bags, totes, and even coats!

At our Duluth Makers’ Market, Sheila will have T-shirt quilts, bags, and longarm quilting services available. She can’t wait to meet you!

Beth Aubuchon
Beth makes beautiful quilty accessories, zipper pouches, handmade bags, and machine-embroidered gifts. Her items will make you go, “WOW! I’ve gotta have this, this, this, and that!”. You may not want to give them away as gifts — Beth’s items are so adorable that you may just want to keep them all to yourself!

Tonya Allen
Tonya! A Renaissance woman! She’s an incredible garment-maker, cosplayer, sewing instructor, small business owner of MiaLa Design, and a loving mother and wife.

2024 has been a big year for her. In April, her husband opened Preacher Green’s, a new restaurant on the east side of Athens that serves southern comfort food. (If you haven’t gone yet, GO! The food is delicious!) Tonya has been by his side through every step of the way, helping out wherever she can. (And taking small bites of the yummy food in the process!) In the summer, she took a fun trip with her daughter to NYC, where they both had a blast and made forever memories. And, in September, she fulfilled a longstanding goal and went to Dragoncon as Leia/Boushh from Star Wars. What a revolution around the sun it’s been!

Adding one more thing to her 2024 excursions, she’ll be at our Makers’ Market in Duluth, where you’ll be able to find her Kindness Christmas elves! Hailing from Nordic lands, each Kindness elf is handcrafted with the utmost care. Dressed in cotton and wool clothing, featuring delicate features, and each possessing its own name, a Kindness elf is an ideal, timeless gift for the ones that you love the most.

Lorie Hughes
Lorie Hughes has been sewing and playing with fabric and color since she was a little girl.  She comes from a long line of seamstresses and crafters.  Her itch to create has inspired her to sew apparel, smock children's clothing, quilt, make custom pillows, embroider by hand and machine, create lampshades, decorate many homes, and try her hand at mixed media. She also loves doing color analysis for women and men, and even pets!  Since semi-retiring from her career as a cancer physician, she has more time to indulge her passion for fiber arts.  

Sue Lawrence
Sue loves the outdoors! She looks forward to walking her dog, hiking trails near and far, or simply sitting on her patio reading, sewing, and creating pottery with plants that she picks up during her adventures. She is always seeing the incredible beauty that lies in the smallest leaf or flower, and is awed by the majesty in sweeping desert plains and mountain vistas.

Over the years, Sue’s made countless quilts, and especially enjoys gifting them to friends and family. Endlessly creative, Sue also craves getting her hands into clay. For her, pottery is a messy endeavor, but loads of fun. If you make a mistake, then just wedge it up and start again. It’s kind of like the seam ripper in taking out mistakes, although a lot less tedious!

At our Makers’ Market in Duluth, she'll be bringing small landscape art quilts and pottery products, including pincushions, potholders, buttons, bud vases, magnets, mugs, and wall pockets. If you are intrigued by nature as much as she is, make sure that you swing by her booth to get some items that will beautify any space!

Miranda Jeter
It all started when Miranda couldn’t find a sleeve to fit her Kindle. Sewing since she was six years old, she decided to make her own. It all went uphill from there, because since having this encounter, she’s been making bags nonstop and is now a proud bag lady who loves what she does!

Miranda’s bags are functional, versatile, and crafted with the meticulous care and attention-to-detail. You’ll turn heads and be the envy of all of your friends when you wear Miranda’s gorgeous bags!

Dana Pritchett
If you’re looking to get organized and decorated, Dana is your girl! At our Market, she’ll be offering tote bags, mug rugs, hand embroidery organizers, quilting and EPP organizers, and zipper pouches.

Katherine Broyles
Katherine, representing Daisy & Mum Quilt Co., makes fashionable handmade quilts, bags, and accessories. They’re totally groovy with a retro, 70s-reminiscent twist. You won’t have a bad day when you’re wearing one of Katherine’s makes!

Michelle McKirahan
As a missionary, founder of His Jewel, and silk painter, Michelle firmly believes that silks are a ministry. 

After discovering silk painting in 2003 and being immediately captivated by the free-flowing art form, she began channeling her faith to produce silk pieces full of movement and color. When she started ministering full-time in 2007, Michelle took her endeavors in silk painting and used them to help her accomplish a larger purpose: to empower women. Since then, Michelle has made countless visual art products that guide others in finding a more joyful and faith-based place in their lives.

Offering premium silk scarves, each of which is hand-painted and made with 100% Habotai silk, Michelle’s work is beautiful, luxurious, and vibrant. Each can serve a million purposes in your life — worship flag, neck scarf, hair ribbon, fashionable belt, handbag embellishment, gift, and much more. Select the one that calls your name — you’ll hold it near and dear in your heart for forever!

Elizabeth Rogerson
Elizabeth came into our store a couple of years ago because she liked the idea of sewing. One step at a time, she bought fabric, took private lessons, got some thread, bought a machine, made things, bought another machine, stitched additional things, and added one more machine to her collection (this time a heavy-duty one). One day, she said, “Hmmm, I think I’d like to start my own handmade goods business.” And thus, Monroe Creative Stitches was born.

Having borne witness to Elizabeth’s sewing journey over the past year and a half, we could see this final step coming from a mile away. (It was only a matter of time!) 

She absolutely loved everything about sewing, and we could see her passion, hard work, and dedication to her craft through every project that she created.

We are honored to have Elizabeth, representing Monroe Creative Stitches, at our Makers’ Market in Duluth! Her awesome product lineup will be making an appearance; delight yourself with her handmade bags, pouches, key wristlets, rope baskets, and embroidered towels! Each product is functional, features a unique and quirky style, and will be a well-loved piece of sunshine in your life.