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.
On today’s episode of the While She Naps podcast we’re talking about creativity and drawing and making art with my guest Alisa Burke. If she’s not making art in her Oregon Coast studio, you can find freelance painter and mixed media artist Alisa Burke blogging, teaching art workshops or crafting her handmade accessories. Whether it’sRead More →
One of the biggest advantages that self-publishing PDF patterns give us as designers is the ability to test the market in a very low-cost way. In June of 2009, almost seven years ago, I made a piece of pink patchwork, cut it apart, and sewed it into an elephant. You can see it here. EveryRead More →
“Market used to be a place to debut your new products to shop owners and pretty much only to shop owners and others in the trade,” says Linda Sullivan, owner of Linderella Quiltworks, an independent quilt shop in Southern Pines, North Carolina. “Excitement would build and then on the first day of Market a frenzyRead More →
On today’s episode of the While She Naps podcast we’re talking about natural dyes with my guest, Kristine Vejar. Kristine is a natural dyer and teacher. She is the founder of A Verb for Keeping Warm, a natural dyeing studio, yarn, and fabric shop located in Oakland, California. Her work is a culmination of knittingRead More →
When I made the pattern for the Asleep Awake Doll I cut out a several dolls to sew up. This little girl ended up all sewn, but sat on my work table waiting to be stuffed for a few months. This weekend it was time to give her some attention. On the awake side sheRead More →
In the late fall I was working on a really important story. It was a story that came to me, via an anonymous source, and I knew it had the potential to make an immediate difference in the lives of dozens of women in the quilting industry as well as a longer term implications forRead More →
On today’s episode of the While She Naps podcast we’re talking about fabric and fabric design with my guest, Kathy Phillips. Kathy is the Creative Director at Springs Creative, a textile company based in South Carolina that creates over the counter fabric by the yard for quilters and sewists. Springs Creative licenses dominant global brandsRead More →
Elizabeth Caven is the founder of UpCraft Club, a company she’s hoping to build into the leading online distributor of digital sewing patterns (in the same way that Audible is the leading distributor of audio books). In order to achieve this goal, she’s spending four months in a startup accelerator in Silicon Valley called 500Read More →
Podcasts are a thing you sorta stumble upon. Someone mentions one on Facebook or recommends one in a blog comment and maybe you note it down, or maybe you forget. You subscribe to few favorites, but then new shows come on the scene and you might be missing out on something you’d love. It’s hardRead More →
On Wednesday Etsy launched Pattern, a new ecommerce option for sellers. Pattern is a clone of your Etsy shop, but in the skin of a stand-alone online storefront. For $15/month sellers now have the option of quickly and easily adding a Pattern storefront to their Etsy shop and for an additional $16/year can purchase aRead More →