Design Stars – Ebony Love

Design Stars

From left to right: Scott Wernet, Frieda Anderson, Angela Wolf, Reen Wilcoxson, Rita Farro, Cheryl Sleboda, Ebony Love, Rhonda Pierce, Rolando Bohlemann, Pete Janss

From left to right: Scott Wernet, Frieda Anderson, Angela Wolf, Reen Wilcoxson, Rita Farro, Cheryl Sleboda, Ebony Love, Rhonda Pierce, Rolando Bohlemann, Pete Janss

Early this year, we had visitors from the Industrial Division of SCHMETZ Germany. To help SCHMETZ executives better understand the consumer market, many activities were arranged. Yes, we had traditional meetings and visited retail shops, but we also toured Modern Quilt Studio with Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr and ended the week with a star studded designer showcase with five designers from the Chicago area. Each designer presented their special niche in the marketplace. The result was aptly described by SCHMETZ as “astonishing!” The day was laced with energy, talent, savvy and a passion for creativity. These five business women demonstrated grit, talent, creativity and strategic work. With hard work, that never goes out of style, they make awesome contributions to the sewing industry that we love. Meet, or re-meet, because several ladies have already been featured in SCHMETZ Inspired to SEW: Cheryl Sleboda, Ebony Love, Reen Wilcoxson, Frieda Anderson and Angela Wolf. Five shining stars that make sewing even more fun!


Ebony Love

Ebony Love was featured in SCHMETZ Inspired to SEW #27. After earning a degree in engineering, she worked full time for a large corporation. Increasingly, she yearned for a more creative path. Ebony has always been a maker.

To scratch that creative itch, Ebony took commissions for custom quilts. She loved it! That led to her first sewing business, LoveBug Studios. Her career in the sewing industry really took off when she discovered die cutting. Ebony purchased custom “dies” to cut circles for a quilt she was making. At the time, she didn’t even realize she needed a die cutting machine to use the dies. Learning about the various machines and dies that were coming on the market became her mission, and she stopped taking custom quilt commissions. She realized other consumers might also be struggling to figure out this new thing so she wrote a book, The Big Little Book of Fabric Die Cutting Tips.

While working on an updated edition to her best-selling book, Ebony identified another gap in the market relating to the types of available dies and other products for quilters who love making traditional quilts. She partnered with Sizzix to launch a line of dies under her LoveBug Studios brand to introduce new shapes and block possibilities to the quilting public. Ebony rounds out her product offering by producing patterns, templates, books and videos to help people make beautiful quilts.

Die cutting isn’t the only thing for which Ebony is well known. She is hostess of uniquely-themed mystery quilts, which often center around popular books or television series. Her first big hit was based on Downton Abbey, partnering with Andover Fabrics, and has since introduced mysteries for Outlander, Anne of Green Gables, Little House on the Prairie, and Jane Austen’s novels.

Ebony recently opened another sewing business — MADE (www.madecreativestudio.com), a Creative Fiber Arts Studio in Mundelein, Illinois. “MADE is a place for people who already love making things, or who want to learn to love making them. It’s a place for creatives to gather, to learn, and to grow. MADE offers classes in sewing, die cutting, patchwork and appliqué, and long arm quilting.” MADE is a by-appointment creative studio, where customers can rent space or equipment. The die cutting stations are equipped with AccuQuilt and Sizzix machines and over 1000 dies. There is also a long arm lab outfitted with Handi Quilter machines.