About me and my work.

South Atlantic Stitching Company is me, Julie Zaichuk-Ryan, working by hand (mostly) in Pittsburgh, PA.

I am a maker of traditional-meets-modern quilts, wall hangings, and textile art pieces, using traditional craft to create a link between the present and the past. An early childhood introduction to needlecraft, over two decades spent developing fine handwork skills, and a line of work repairing quilts by hand has made me treasure the oldest methods and time-honored techniques.

A long-time student of the history of quilting, I am most inspired by the bold, abstract design and colors of Amish quilting tradition. My process begins with an eye-catching color combination, possibly colors many would consider clashing, often including a piece of antique fabric. Over time I have become a collector of even the smallest vintage scraps - occasionally they find me, through donations by people who understand my passion for these fabrics; sometimes I hunt them down in antique shops and online. I love pairing these prints with bold, bright, modern solid colors, recalling the use of unexpected tones in antique Amish quilt work.

I piece by machine for quilts and wall hangings and by hand for framed textile art. All of my work includes my signature hand-quilting stitches, adding a decorative and textural overlay that contrasts the more severe machine work. My framed textile pieces eliminate machine work altogether, offering an intimate peek into the past by focusing closely, like a zoomed lens, on the combination of antique fabric fragments and traditional needlecraft. I sew as much as possible by hand for the very reason that some wouldn’t: it’s slow work that cannot be mass-produced and allows the unique shape of my stitches to shine, like a fingerprint.

My work combining fragments of antique fabric with modern style and color play is a collaboration with the generations of unnamed and undervalued women makers of the past, learning from their stitches and creating my own heirloom pieces to last a lifetime. I feel so lucky to be in conversation with those makers and I am captivated by the hands and lives of the women that touched the fabrics I touch today.

I was recently interviewed on The Slaw, the podcast by Very Local PGH. Listen to my episode here, discussing virtual classes, learning to sew, and the idea of women’s work.