GivingTuesday 2021 Partner: Social Justice Sewing Academy

Edited: May 17, 2022

Five people stand at a white table looking at fabric selections in a fabric shop. The person on the left is looking at the top fabric in a stack of eight fabrics. The next two people are looking at a stack of the different fabrics. The fourth person is looking at the top fabric in a stack of two different fabrics. The last person is looking at the camera.

Workshop participants shop for fabric. SJSA founder Sara Trail is the second person from the right.

GivingTuesday was created in 2012 as a “global generosity movement” encouraging people to do good. It is held annually on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.

In 2020, Spoonflower gave 10% of its proceeds to three different nonprofit organizations, Durham Free Lunch, Raleigh City Farm and Social Justice Sewing Academy.

This year, to maximize our impact, 10% of our GivingTuesday proceeds will be donated solely to the Social Justice Sewing Academy (SJSA). This will help us amplify our giving more effectively.

What is the Social Justice Sewing Academy?

The Social Justice Sewing Academy was founded in 2017 by Sara Trail, and it empowers youth to create change and find their creative voice through making quilt blocks.

In 2020, SJSA started a six-month virtual Business Incubator to help develop and support young entrepreneurs. They also create memorial quilts for individuals lost to violence through volunteer participation as well as related activist art banners for their Remembrance Project.

To find out how you can help them further their mission, SJSA’s website includes a round up of all the ways you can volunteer with the organization.

The organization runs a variety of workshops throughout the year all over the country, working with local groups in person as well as virtually.

How Much of My Spoonflower GivingTuesday Purchase Goes To SJSA?

This year on GivingTuesday, November 30, 10% of your Spoonflower purchase will go toward helping SJSA empower more youth with their work, teaching young adults to make quilt blocks that share their unique stories.

Shop our trending fabric designs

SJSA Workshop Participant Quilt Block Examples

A quilt block with a large orange butterfly with four differently patterned fabrics making up its body. The top left of the butterfly is orange with small red flowers growing on black stems. The bottom right of the butterfly is orange with wavy yellow lines. The top right of the butterly is orange with batik lines outlined in dark orange. The bottom half of the butterly is a light maroon and yellow plaid. The butterfly’s body and attenae are dark brown. Small flowers, a white daisy and tall purple and blue stems, are on each side of the butterfly. Stitched underneath the butterfly in blue is “migration Beautiful.”

A quilt block with a white background has a person standing looking at two brown doors in front of them. The person is an outline of the back of their head and the back of their shoulders and the outline is made out of a blue and purple tie-dyed like fabric with both colors oozing and collding throughout the fabric. Leading up to the two doors is a green-and-white checkered floor. On the door on the left is a white drawing of a person wearing pants. On the door on the right is a white drawing of a person wearing a skirt. Above the two doors “TRANS RIGHTS = HUMAN RIGHTS” is spelled out in blue and purple fabric and in all capital letters.

A quilt block with an orange fabric background. The phrase “WATER is finite” is written in blue fabric on the block. The word “water" is in all capital letters and light blue fabric and is at the top of the block. In the middle of the block is the word “is” in medium blue with a blue and white fish to the left of it and the neck and shoulders of a person with brown skin, white teeth and red lips and a blue tear coming out of their left eye to the right. The word “finite” is in dark blue fabric near the bottom of the block. Rippled blue fabric, to represent water, runs across the bottom of the block.

What Are SJSA Donations Used For?

$12 = buys one bottle of basting glue
- usually at least 10-15 bottles of basting glue are accessible to participants during workshops
$15 = buys one yard of solid cotton fabric to be used in workshops
- one workshop can use up to 10-15 yards of fabric
$75 = prints the SJSA curriculum used in longer workshops
- the curricula are referenced by participants during the workshop
$150 = buys food for participants of longer workshops
- SJSA aims to provide food for youth participants
$200-300 = buys fabric to combine 20 blocks into a full quilt
- this lets workshop participants show their work as a group
$200-500 = pays long-arm quilters to create a full quilt
- SJSA hires professional quilters to do this work
$2,000 = pays for completed quilts to be sent to exhibits and community events
- this is the minimum cost due to the weight and insurance that is added to ensure safe arrival

Community Quilt Examples

Want to learn more about the Social Justice Sewing Academy?

Read our interview with SJSA founder Sara Trail

Betsy Greer

43 Posts

Betsy is a writer and stitcher who joined the Brand Marketing team in July 2021. In her spare time, she talks to people about their choice to make things by hand and related lessons learned for her project Dear Textiles. She also aims to befriend all the dogs she meets and is forever looking for the perfect dress pattern with pockets.

More About Betsy Greer

A woman wearing a blue headband with pink flowers is turned to the right. She’s wearing dark blue glasses and a yellow hoodie. A lake, trees and a mountain are behind her.

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