Customer Corner – Barbara Lynch, Quilting & Applique Artist

Customer Corner – Barbara Lynch

Meet Barbara Lynch! Barbara’s medium is fabric. She enjoys quilting and applique and makes fantastic bags, many from fabrics she gathered during her (pre-pandemic) travels. Barbara loves how her CraftOptics WOW Package (magnifying eyeglasses and light) takes her work to the next level—and lets her create absolutely anywhere.

What do you love best about creating?

The chance to make something beautiful and functional. In recent years, many of my projects have been bags of different styles. I love it when a customer has a vision and we work together to bring it to life.

Tell us a little about your history in creating

I fell in love with quilting because of my grandmother’s quilts. She had quilts from her relatives—and they weren’t just quilts, they were stories. The idea of women coming together to create these beautiful things fascinated me.

In my younger years, I spent some time quilting but sewing went on hiatus for a good 30 years while I was working. But then one year, I went to a quilt show and it was like I jumped 100 years into the future! There were so many new tools—rotary cutters, computers. It was like I’d died and gone to heaven!

When I retired, I started two things: quilting and traveling. I kept buying these little bags to travel with and, I swear, they always fell apart as I was going through customs! I thought, “I can do this better!” and started making bags.

Over the years, I’ve experimented with fabrics and styles. I especially love working with a customer to create their bag. I really enjoy helping people with medical issues come up with a bag that can store their medical supplies—again, something that’s beautiful and functional.

In recent years, I’ve met some master sewers who do beautiful work in applique. I’ve begun to incorporate that into many of my pieces.

Please share a favorite project—or something you’re working on now

My sister, Judy, and I are working on a Christmas quilt that incorporates appliqued Old World Santas and classic quilting. I’m doing the Santas and she’s doing the piecework (I dislike sewing triangle points!). Because of COVID, we’re working on it together long distance, over Zoom.

My dream is that we can get together this summer and put the quilt together. It will be an heirloom to hand down to the next generations.

When did you start using CraftOptics glasses?

In late 2020. About a year prior to purchase, I tried out a pair owned by Barbara Carper, a master at silk applique. We talked about improving the ability to create smaller, invisible stitches. Later took an applique class and struggled with seeing close enough to hide stitches. When I decided to expand my skill for applique and other hand sewing, I realized the glasses may be worth the financial investment. Once I had them, I recognized that I should have invested sooner.

They were the best purchase I made in 2020 and worth every penny. I’d highly recommend them and would purchase again in a nanosecond!

Tell us why you love CraftOptics.

There are three reasons:

They eliminate barriers. As my eyes aged, I found I couldn’t always do the projects I loved. For instance, I’d given up on beading because the beads were just too small. And even though I was intrigued by applique, I struggled to do it well. It was frustrating not to be able to see clearly and I’d start to feel tense. Those barriers are gone thanks to CraftOptics. They’ve given me back that feeling of joy and fun when I’m creating.

They improve the quality of my work. The quality of my work and the detail I can create have jumped 10 levels with CraftOptics. Master sewers are known for their tiny stitches—we’re talking 12 stitches to an inch! With CraftOptics, I can applique so you don’t even see my stitches. That’s a big deal! My hand-sewing has improved to competition level now that I can easily see my work.

The light gives me freedom to create everywhere. I opted for the combination of the magnifier and the light and it’s made my life so much easier. Now, once I’ve put the pieces in place in my workshop, the light means I can applique anywhere I want. In the past I had to sit in a special place with a good light. Now, I can sew while watching television, sitting in an airport, riding in a car or when we have family over, I can be in the thick of the company.

Where can people see more of your work?

Check out my website at https://www.bworks2017.com/ Be sure to look at the Gallery section to see past projects. If you see something you like and want to customize—or you have a bag idea, you want created—just fill out the contact page on my site and I’ll get in touch.