{image1}Nothing makes you feel warmer, safer and cozier than wrapping yourself up in a big soft quilt, especially if it is homemade just for you.
According to Sarah Mast, owner of the East Side's new Dovely Quilts & Fabrics, 138 E. Capitol Dr., custom quilts are the gift to bring to baby or wedding showers these days.
With Hancock Fabrics gone from its Bayshore Mall spot, the best crafters and quilt DIYers could do on the East Side for a supplies store was Wal-Mart, until now.
Mast has filled the craft gap by opening Dovely, a place where quilters can find supplies, a design shop for the gift-giver seeking a truly personalized gift, and a homespun haven for quilted purses, handmade dolls and other patchwork pieces.
After spending years creating quilts, handmade dolls and other textiles at home, Mast felt that opening her own business was the logical next step. Coincidentally, Mast has also recently taken another "next step" toward something she's equally as passionate about. Having fostered several children, Mast and her husband adopted a child this spring.
Experiencing the difficult yet extremely rewarding adoption process first hand motivated her to recognize and reward the efforts of other Milwaukee families doing the same.
In an effort to combine her passion for both quilting and adoption, she has designed a grand opening event for Dovely that simultaneously celebrates the recent adoption of 10 area children. The first annual Adoption Quilt Day will be held at Dovely on Saturday, June 4 at 4 p.m.
"Adoption should be celebrated," she says. "A child has found a home and parents now have the gift of a child in their lives. I wanted to do my part, through my new business, to congratulate these people."
At the event, Sarah will present handmade quilts that she created especially for these 10 children and their new families.
OnMilwaukee.com staff writer Julie Lawrence grew up in Wauwatosa and has lived her whole life in the Milwaukee area.
As any “word nerd” can attest, you never know when inspiration will strike, so from a very early age Julie has rarely been seen sans pen and little notebook. At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee it seemed only natural that she major in journalism. When OnMilwaukee.com offered her an avenue to combine her writing and the city she knows and loves in late 2004, she knew it was meant to be. Around the office, she answers to a plethora of nicknames, including “Lar,” (short for “Larry,” which is short for “Lawrence”) as well as the mysteriously-sourced “Bill Murray.”
