Seattle's own
Honey Girl Books & Gifts
est. 2018
HGBG Helps
The HGBG mission:
to sustain and nurture humanity through literature
and textile arts.
By hand, by people, in-person
I care about materials, restoring old quilts and making new ones of old fabrics, as well as producing style with distinctive cotton and satin from France, Ghana, Senegal, Japan, China, Sweden, and the USA.
When made of vintage linens, discarded clothing, and repurposed fabrics, the quilts provide one kind of sustainability. The toys you'll find at my art fair booth--Luxury Troll Boudoirs and Eek pet toys--are made of leftover quilt squares, batting, and vintage satins as well as artisanal wooden cigar boxes and used troll dolls.
But creative spirits need sustaining too. That is why, while on the faculty of the University of Notre Dame, in 2012 I created "Write YOUR Story": a semester-long writing workshop for people ages 7-12. I taught it for six years in South Bend, Indiana, and in 2018 WYS moved with me to Seattle, WA.
Write YOUR Story
Enrollment for Spring term 2026 is now open!
Classes will be held on Sundays, 4-5pm, at the University Heights
Community Center, 5031 University Way NE Seattle, WA 98105. We'll meet in room 104 (Dance Studio).
Class runs from February 22 to May 17, 2026. Enrollment is limited to ten.
Theme: SECRETS and their Undoing. We'll read Rumpelstiltskin and The Witch of Fife: tales of secrets coming undone... and what happens.
Email juliawsea@gmail.com to sign up.
WYS aims to inspire kids with the same love of reading and writing that has made our lives so rich and satisfying. I am planning to offer WYS in three sessions in 2026 and at three locations: Spring at UHeights; Summer at the International District / Chinatown Comm. Cntr (via the SEA Parks Dept),
and Fall in West Seattle at the Curious Kidstuff toy store.
The price for all classes, as it always was, is free.
Like Write YOUR Story, HGBG is a deliberately small, sustainable business run by a third generation Northwesterner. The products have integrity.
Many people enjoy giving me their fine fabrics, shirts and ties, and I love turning them into textile art. Sources also include Goodwill, thrift stores,
and today's most exciting designers.
Each of my products is slightly different.
All are sewn by hand and Juki machine in West Seattle, WA, USA.
Sandra with her book in
Write YOUR Story 2014
Grandma with her family in
White Salmon, WA circa 1915
(she’s front row, second from right)
A free, public, in-person book club on "Classic Novels (and Movies)" is another way to weave together literature and community.
West Seattle Classic Novels (and Movies) book club
March meeting:
Title: Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens (first published 1837-38).
Film: Oliver Twist starring Alec Guinness (1948) on YouTube
Or other adaptations
Sunday, March 29, 2026 at C & P Coffee on California Ave SW in West Seattle
Time: Discussion from 3-4pm; come at 2:30 to purchase beverages and join us for a chat
Place: at C&P Coffee on California Ave SW, we meet outside in back
All are welcome. Free and open to the public. Discussions begin with a fun trivia quiz, with prizes for the winners!
fyi: All the trivia quizzes since 2020 are posted here: https://nd.academia.edu/JuliaDouthwaite/Blogs
The "RARE" quilt initiative: I am making one or two quilts per year for recipients of the Roosevelt Alumni for Racial Equity (RARE) scholarships.
As an alumna of Roosevelt HS, I am grateful for my good education. The first went to Leah and Elsabeth in 2021; the third went to Elroe in 2022; the fourth and fifth went to Camila and Yuena in 2023, the sixth went to Aurora (2024; in photo), and the seventh--a "Wizard of Oz" quilt--was recently received by the 2025 winner, Hager. Go Roughriders!
A meet-up at local art fairs,
with vintage typewriters to inspire you!
Vintage typewriters available,
classy Crane stationery,
and books of poetry for inspiration
(Laptops okay too.)
Come write something beautiful!
Next event:
tba
P.S. All these activities cost money, of course. When you buy a handmade quilt or original children's book from Honey Girl Books and Gifts, you are helping underwrite an array of beneficial events in Seattle. And you are supporting our efforts at building community and combating loneliness for everyone, big and small. Thank you.
Donations gladly received to defray our many expenses (paper, printing, prizes, publishing, websites, art fair fees, taxes).
Venmo: @Julia-Viglione
P.S.S. All our items are handmade and conceived by humans.(The books are written and illustrated by people, published with an independent printer and sold by HGBG. The cloth goods are all made by me.)
