Sewing, blogging, and creative business.
I’m very excited to have finished this patchwork Progress Pride Flag quilt. The pattern is by Bobbie Gentili from Geeky Bobbin. All of the fabrics are scraps from my stash.
This was a fun project and the finished quilt is really bright and colorful. As part of this process, I also enjoyed learning more about how the design of the Progress Pride flag came to be.
Photo by Christa Watson. On today’s episode of the While She Naps podcast we’re talking about fabric with my guest, Mickey Krueger. Mickey is the president of Windham Fabrics, one of the leading manufacturers serving the quilting industry today. I’m especially excited about this episode because we recorded it live at Sew Pro, a conventionRead More →
I started selling my work online in July of 2005. Etsy was brand new and I opened a shop as soon as I heard about it. In those early days Etsy was a lot clunkier than it is today – creating a new listing required entering information on five different pages – but it wasRead More →
I’ve just returned from a wonderful weekend at Sew Pro, a brand new conference for sewing professionals that took place in Chicago on September 16-17. The event was organized by Sara Lawson of Sew Sweetness and Brenda Ratliff of Pink Castle Fabrics. Between the two of them Sara and Brenda have designed fabric for twoRead More →
On today’s episode of the While She Naps podcast we’re talking about publishing craft books with my guests, Sara Bercholz and Jennifer Urban-Brown of Roost Books, an imprint of Shambhala. Sara is the Executive Vice President of Shambhala and the publisher of Roost Books. She started Roost Books with Jenn in 2012. Shambhala was startedRead More →
In July the quilting community was saddened to learn that Quilters Newsletter, the beloved magazine started by Bonnie Leman 47-years-ago, was being shut down by F+W Media. Leman founded Quilters Newsletter in 1969 and published the first issue in September of that year from her kitchen table. Quilt historians and experts agree that by researchingRead More →
My middle son Simon, loves to wear hats. All summer he wore a Spiderman baseball cap. When he gets dressed up he wears a fedora. And in the winter he likes to have a fleece animal hat to wear. Most of the winter animal hats in stores are for little kids and after lots ofRead More →
In the final post in the “Lessons from Your First Job” series we hear from Tara Swiger. I met Tara in person for the first time at Craftcation a few years ago and we’ve since connected at several crafty business conferences. Tara is a down-to-earth, warm, supportive friend and business coach. She helps dozens ofRead More →
On today’s episode of the While She Naps podcast we’re talking about diversity and inclusion in the quilting community with my guest, Maddie Kertay. Maddie Kertay is the mother of 6 children, the founder of BadAss Quilters Society, an industry consultant and a rabble-rouser. She’s bent on setting a bigger table, not building a higher fenceRead More →
When we look back at our lives and trace the path that brought us to the work we’re doing now often we see early signs of our talents and interests. Although our current job might be radically different from where we began, as it is for our guest today, there are lessons that we pickedRead More →
Very few people come right out of college saying, “I’m going to be a quilt designer!” and begin earning a living in the quilt industry right away. Most people who call quilting their profession started out doing something else – they worked in graphic design, or accounting, or marketing – and somewhere along the wayRead More →