Julie Letvin of Me & My Stitches

A look inside Julie’s creative journey and the family stories that inspire her work.

If you’ve ever wandered through a quilt show, stopped mid-stride, and leaned in to study a tiny quilt block tucked inside a pendant, something so impossibly precise you wondered whether tweezers and superhero vision were required, you may have already encountered the creative magic of Julie Letvin. Warm, funny, humble, and wickedly talented, Julie is the kind of maker you instantly feel connected to. She laughs that she has “no clue” how her friends would describe her in three words, but spend five minutes with her, or her work, and you’ll come up with plenty. The first three that come to mind are, humble, hilarious, and talented.

Julie first dipped her toes into quilting thanks to a gift she explicitly said she didn’t want: a sewing machine from her husband. It sat quietly for a while, until a few church ladies convinced her to give quilting a try. One class led to another, and before long, she was piecing blocks in every spare moment she could carve out. By 2009, jewelry entered the picture. She submitted a few pieces and her story to magazines, and the response was overwhelming. Juggling her growing creative business alongside a full-time HR job seemed impossible. So in 2011, she took the leap, the brave, scary, life-changing leap, and walked away from the traditional paycheck. She’s never regretted it, not even for a moment.

Her now-iconic miniature quilt jewelry began with one simple challenge. Her mom noticed Julie’s quilt blocks were getting smaller and smaller and finally asked, “How small can you make a block?” Julie, of course, mentally says, "Challenge accepted." She paper-pieced a 2" pineapple block (which she now teases is far too big). Her mom, who owned a stained-glass shop, took that tiny masterpiece and set it in glass to make a pin. That moment, a mother and daughter experimenting together, sparked Me & My Stitches, a brand that would eventually ship Julie’s jewelry all across the globe.

Quilting never took a backseat. When Robert Kaufman began searching for another Civil War reproduction designer, fellow designer and friend Jill Shaulis recommended Julie. They chose her, launching a new chapter where she could blend her love of tiny prints, rich dark tones, and treasured memories into full collections. Julie often jokes that the “dark and dirty” colors she gravitates toward from the Civil War era might reflect her personality—and those moody, earthy tones give each collection a signature depth. Each line carries a piece of her life: Homestead Harvest honors her dad; Life on the Ridge celebrates her mom and their 4-H years; other lines nod to grandparents, family sayings, and favorite stories.

“Thanks for Coming” comes from her Grandpa’s Journal line and captures one of her grandpa’s quirks. He loved family gatherings, the stories, meals, and laughter, but before too long he’d stand, smile lovingly, and declare, “Well… thanks for coming!” It was his trademark cue that visiting hours were officially over. When Julie told her dad the story, it became part of their own family rhythm. After dinners or holidays at Julie’s house, her dad would catch her eye, grin, and repeat, “Thanks for coming,” signaling it was his turn to head home. That quilt isn’t just a pattern—it’s a stitched-in memory.

“Where’s My Purse?” appears in her 6th Street Cotton's line honoring her grandmother, Verna May (Horn) Bischoff. During her final year, Alzheimer’s brought confusion and worry, and she frequently repeated the question, “Where’s my purse?” Over time, the phrase became something the family used— most times in jest but, always in the lovingly memory of her grandma. The quilt layout looks complex at first, but it’s made from one simple block. Julie often reflects that the visual chaos reminds her of the confusion her grandmother must have experienced, making the sweet memories all the more precious.

Creativity runs in her roots. Her childhood was filled with crafts, ornaments, ceramics, cooking projects, and everything in-between. Her mom sewed beautifully; her aunt quilted and still helps finish Julie’s quilt tops.

In every fabric line she’s ever designed, she’s included a log cabin or courthouse steps quilt—something she may or may not keep doing. But knowing Julie, tradition and creativity usually hold hands.
Fueled by Friendship, Creativity, and a Love
of the Craft

Julie stays inspired simply because she truly loves what she does. She sees color and ideas everywhere—sometimes in nature, but most often when she’s surrounded by like-minded friends. Retreats, brainstorming, laughter, shared meals… creativity flows in those spaces. And though she attends a lot of retreats, she admits she tends to work the whole time. That’s Julie: focused, passionate, and incredibly dedicated.

The quilting community is her heart center. She is genuinely humbled when someone asks for a photo, brings a project they made from her fabric, or tells her that her work inspired them. She never takes those moments for granted; she carries them with her.

Julie jokes that the most exciting thing she could achieve would be something simple: catching up. But of course, her imagination refuses to slow down. She’s pitched several ideas to Robert Kaufman for future lines (fingers crossed!), Greg is happily in the workshop dreaming up new ruler boxes and wood items, and she hopes to relaunch her beloved Charming Program—mini ¾" quilt-block charms for necklaces and bracelets. She’s bursting with ideas and laughs that she definitely needs an assistant.

Whether someone sees her jewelry, a quilt pattern, or a bolt of her fabric, Julie hopes they feel inspired. That’s what she carries into every tiny block, every color choice, every design. Her work makes people lean closer, appreciate the details, and feel the urge to make something beautiful of their own.
If you’re already smiling, already feeling like Julie is someone you’d want to sit with at a retreat, already wondering how she makes blocks that small, good. This is the magic of Julie Letvin. She’s a creator who feels like a friend.