Congratulations to the 2026 Golden Scissors Awards Winners!
h+h americas proudly celebrates the 2026 Golden Scissors Awards winners!
The Golden Scissors Awards were announced live on the main stage at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center at h+h americas 2026. Created with Craft Industry Alliance to recognize excellence in the crafts industry, the Golden Scissors Awards highlights five outstanding craft professionals for their contributions to the industry.
The Golden Scissors Awards aims to represent and acknowledge the dynamic and diverse spectrum of the craft industry. From world-class corporations to small business owners to energetic entrepreneurs, each recipient represents noteworthy leadership and innovation that is moving the needle (pun intended) to elevate our industry. There were five categories of awards given this year: Emerging Leader, Innovation, Sustainability, Social Impact, and Lifetime Achievement.
The Golden Scissors Awards were adjudicated by a panel of seven judges nominated by the Craft Industry Alliance Board of Advisors. Judges for this year’s awards were Arianne Foulks, founder of Aeolidia; Omkari Williams, activist and author of Micro Activism: How You Can Make a Difference in the World (Without A Bullhorn); Julie Roehm, Founder and COO of SewShare; Brandy Maslowski, founder and host of Quilter on Fire Podcast; Britt Garber, owner of KnotBadBritt; Elizabeth Caven, venture investor; and Janine Vangool, publisher, editor and designer of UPPERCASE.
h+h americas and Craft Industry Alliance would like to thank the sponsors of this year’s Golden Scissors Awards program. Their sponsorship demonstrates the ongoing importance of elevating leadership in our community to further benefit the crafts industry as a whole. Thank you to knitCompanion, Fox Chapel Publishing, Universal Yarn, Bernina, Fabric Merchants, Michaels, Clover, Shannon Fabrics, and Famoré. Each Golden Scissors Award winner received an engraved pair of golden scissors, courtesy of Famoré, to honor their achievement.
Emerging Leader
Lexie Millikan
Congratulations to Lexie Millikan, this year’s recipient of the Emerging Leader Award. Lexie Millikan is a dedicated leader and arts professional with experience across administration, education, and creative practice. Lexie has directed major arts festivals, taught at the collegiate and secondary level, and represented U.S. craft internationally, collaborating within the UNESCO Creative Cities Network and presenting at global conferences. Lexie’s leadership and dedication consistently inspire and shape arts communities, both regionally and beyond.
Innovation
Andi Barney, Sewing Doc Academy
Congratulations to Andi Barney of Sewing Doc Academy, the recipient of this year’s Innovation Award! Andi founded the online training platform Sewing Doc Academy to teach people how to service, maintain, and understand sewing machines. She recognized a growing shortage of qualified sewing machine technicians and limited access to technical training, and created the academy to address an urgent need. Sewing Doc Academy makes professional-level education accessible to anyone who wants to learn these necessary, in-demand skills. Her work supports the broader Right-to-Repair movement in the sewing industry by equipping future independent technicians with skills traditionally limited to dealer service departments, while inspiring a collective effort to keep sewing machines out of landfills and in the hands of people and communities who need them.
Sustainability
Smart Art + Craft Supplies
Congratulations to Smart Art + Craft Supplies, the recipient of this year’s Sustainability Award. Smart Art + Craft Supplies aims to keep thousands of pounds of art supplies out of landfills, giving them a second life with artists, teachers, and students ready to create. In addition to promoting the reuse of materials, Smart Art + Craft employs adults with disabilities, helping them build job skills, gain confidence, and connect with the community.
Social Impact
Jayna Zweiman, Welcome Blanket
Congratulations to Jayna Zweiman of Welcome Blanket, the recipient of this year’s Social Impact Award! Jayna Zweiman created Welcome Blanket as a community project, calling on makers from around the world to create handmade textiles and messages of welcome for refugees and immigrants. Welcome Blankets are exhibited at museums and cultural institutions and then gifted through 30+ partner organizations. Jayna is also the co-creator of the Pussyhat Project, which helped bring craftivism into the cultural mainstream.
Lifetime Achievement
Torreah Washington
Congratulations to Torreah “Cookie” Washington, this year’s recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award! Torreah is a fourth-generation needleworker and nationally recognized fiber artist whose work centers on African American textile traditions, ancestral memory, and environmental responsibility through art quilts, Gullah rag rugs, basketry, and sculptural textile forms. Washington is a leading contemporary practitioner and teacher of Gullah Rag Quilting, a no-sew, utilitarian textile tradition rooted in the Lowcountry and passed down through generations of African American women. Her work has been featured in national exhibitions, museum collections, films, PBS’s Hidden Gems of Charleston with Peter Greenberg, and The Saturday Evening Post. Washington describes her practice as craftivism—transforming reclaimed textiles into objects of beauty, memory, and care. Every stitch, she says, is a prayer, a story, and a gift to the future.
Congratulations to all of the nominees and winners of this year’s Golden Scissors Awards! h+h americas returns to Chicago next year from May 4-7, 2027. The inaugural h+h americas Fall launches in Texas this year from September 30-October 2, 2026.
