Kat Van Bourgondien

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Kat Van Bourgondien Quilter, maker and planner of creative things. I design and handcraft useful, beautiful tools for quilters while sharing the process and the planning.
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Modern quilting, thoughtful making, creative practice, and making time for the things we want to make.

10/16/2026

My favorite stitching spot lately: a cup of tea, all the colors, and my 100 pound velcro dog who believes personal space is a team sport.

With the fall weather rolling in, this cozy spot is perfect for settling in and stitching away.

If you need me, you know where to find me.

I’ll be vending at the Richmond Quilters’ Guild Quilt Show & Sale this weekend!Come spend some time looking at beautiful...
10/16/2026

I’ll be vending at the Richmond Quilters’ Guild Quilt Show & Sale this weekend!

Come spend some time looking at beautiful quilts, shopping with vendors, and getting inspired by what other people are making. I’ll have my clappers, pin pucks, spool fools, and Hera markers. All the useful little things that make time in the sewing room a little easier and more beautiful.

Here are the details:
📍 ACCA Shrine Center
1712 Bellevue Avenue, Richmond, VA 23227
📅 Saturday, October 17 & Sunday, October 18
⏰ 10 AM–5 PM both days
🎟️ Admission: $10

Come say hello, check out the tools in person, and find a few new favorites for your sewing room. I’d love to see you there!

10/09/2026

I get a lot of satisfaction from hand quilting. The needle goes through, the thread follows, and for a second, the only thing I’m paying attention to is what my hands are doing.

Good things take the time they take. This one just happens to come with a very satisfying little shloop as the thread pulls through.

If you need me, I’ll be here, stitching my way toward QuiltCon one little shloop at a time.

10/08/2026

My hand stitching and quilting has a small and critical support staff.

First, the Clover USA ☘️ leather coin thimble — for pushing the needle through without slowly turning my fingertips into a collection of tiny pin cushions. Yes I love them so much that I repair them to keep them around.

Then the Little House needle gripper — because sometimes the needle has made its position clear, and I disagree. I get mine at SNUGGLY MONKEY | Craft Supplies for the Modern Stitcher

And finally, a milliner’s needle. Sharp and smooth, and long enough to stack several quilting stitches on before pulling it through, which is exactly how I like to quilt. ( Best recommendation ever from Heidi Parkes )

These three are my hand quilting necessities. The ones I use are looking a little more lived-in than the ones still in their packages. That seems like a pretty good review. I’ve tried quilting without them. I don’t recommend it.

Good tools don’t make the stitches for you, but the right ones can make a whole lot of difference in how your hands feel at the end of them.

10/06/2026

After the studio reset, it’s time to figure out what comes next.

I like having a rough outline for the month — what I want to make, what I’d like to spend some time on, and what I want to make room for.

It’s not a perfect plan, and it’s definitely not a list of rules. Just a few guardrails to keep me organized and help the creative work find its way into the month.
A little structure goes a long way when you have more ideas than hours.

This is a lot of what I’ll be talking about in my QuiltCon 2027 class, Making the Time — finding ways to make creative work fit into the life you actually have not the one you wish you had.



The Modern Quilt Guild

10/06/2026

38 seconds of me putting away 90 minutes of my own nonsense.

This is how I start my monthly planning: I clean my sewing room.

Before I decide what I want to work on next, I need to see what I’m actually working with. What needs finishing. What I’ve already started. What I forgot I had. And what has somehow migrated onto the wrong place.

Most surfaces get cleared and everything gets put back where it belongs.

It’s not glamorous, but it doesn’t feel great to finish.

Now I can make next month’s plan without having to conduct an archaeological dig first.

10/04/2026

I’ve settled into a pretty specific thimble combination for hand quilting.

I use a Little House thimble on my index finger for pulling the needle and a leather coin thimble on my middle finger for pushing the needle. I was partially inspired to try this combination by Heidi Parkes Parkes, and it has really become my favorite way to quilt.

There’s something very satisfying about that little push and pull—and that lovely thread through fabric sound you can hear in this clip.

10/02/2026

There’s something about hand quilting that just slows me down.
My brain gets to focus on one thing instead of seventeen, and I can sit with a quilt for a while without trying to get to the next thing.
This one has been coming together slowly, and I think that’s part of why it feels like itself.
Softness that holds its shape.

September in review BakingGorgeous weatherLots of shop timeHand stitching Time with my mini me Time with the critters Fi...
10/01/2026

September in review

Baking
Gorgeous weather
Lots of shop time
Hand stitching
Time with my mini me
Time with the critters
Figs, so many figs
A busy few weekends of markets
More baking

Just a bit of color from the garden to make your Friday bright.
07/11/2025

Just a bit of color from the garden to make your Friday bright.

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Quinton, VA

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