It is with infinite sadness to announce that Shirley Adams has passed away. Her gifts brought us great joy, and the industry a vehicle for the art of dressing well.
Shirley battled lymphoma since October of 2019. Ultimately the disease won, but not without a fight. Shirley was able to enjoy her “fourth” retirement which included gardening, her grandchildren, and Gallery on the Square.
If you have stories and memories, please share them. Shirley touched so many lives. I know she has gone to her Lord in peace, but we mourn her passing away from us.
Please visit https://www.lls.org/ for more information on this insidious killer. I must publicly thank Johnson and Johnson pharmaceuticals for their potent weapon that provided family and friends more quality time with Shirley. She doted on her kids, her grandkids, and was to be a great grandmother this October.
Shirley follows her husband, whom we lost in 2016. Shirl and Tut were glamorous and loving, devoted to each other, and generous to a fault. They built The Sewing Connection together, ran it together, “retired” it together! Three times! She is at peace and no longer in pain, safe in the loving arms of our Lord.
I will begin posting information again shortly. I, your humble admin, had the honor of being with Shirley these last several months, allowing her freedoms the stupid disease kept trying to take away, but I sadly neglected the “business” end of The Sewing Connection.
It was for all of you she started this crazy thing thirty years ago. There weren’t any programs promoting couture sewing, the “art of dressing well” kind of sewing. Her kids thought her mad, but her husband said “What the hell, let’s give it a try.” I’d say they did one heck of a good job.
Shirley came to the Pacific Northwest many times. I always took a class from her when I could. The South Puget Sound chapter of the American Sewing Guild had a delightful day with her also.
Truly a wonderful teacher who did put dressing well into home sewing. I did have a class with her, but would have enjoyed more. I saw her several times at shows and always took in as much as I could of what she offered.
She is missed by me and I send my sympathy to her family… a wonderful lady!
My sympathies to the entire family. I was blessed to take a few classes from Shirley. She was a lovely person, a wonderful teacher and a great resource for those of us trying to improve our sewing skills.
Shirley will surely me missed. She was an amazingly talented lady. I attended her workshop several years ago in Jacksonville, FL that the Jax America Sewing Guild which I am a member of, presented.
I still have some of her patterns and material here that I was looking at a few weeks ago. She will always be remembered.
May she rest in peace.
Rochelle Gross
Thank you, Rochelle. She was an inspiration to so many of us.