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.
image To protect their anonymity I’m not using the names of the designers I spoke with and I’ve changed any identifying details, although not in a way that affects their stories. Last fall I wrote a post explaining how much fabric designers earn. Several designers emailed me afterwards about various other issues, one of whichRead More →
I received this email from Jessie over the weekend and asked her if I might share it with you: I was wondering if you had any tips for making a patch where there was an injury to the lovie. This is Singer. She is 34 years old. She was injured in an incident involving aRead More →
In 2010 printmaker Andrea Lauren was putting her artwork on mirrors, calendars, buttons, and rings and selling them on Etsy. While browsing the Etsy forums one afternoon, a comment about the print-on-demand fabric company Spoonflower piqued her interest. She’d been searching for a way to print her art on fabric, and this seemed like theRead More →
On today’s episode of the podcast I’m talking about the art and craft of ceramics with my guest, Diana Fayt. Diana is a modern day scrimshander, whose chosen medium is clay rather than whalebone. Drawing on her background as a painter, sculptor, printmaker, and clayer, Diana’s clay surfaces are alive with strange and exotic stories,Read More →
People often say that blogging is dead, that Instagram is enough and nobody reads or comments on blogs anymore. Blogging is very much alive for me. This month While She Naps turns 10 and I feel devoted to blogging just as strongly as I ever did. It’s here, on my blog, that I’ve carved outRead More →
What’s the best time to post a new photo on Instagram? Should I update my Facebook page twice a day, or three times? If I send my email newsletter once a week, is that too frequently? Social media marketing experts spend a lot of time thinking about these questions. They do A/B testing on timingRead More →
Missouri Star Quilt Company was named the National Small Business of the Year by President Obama today. What an incredible honor. The rural one-stoplight downtown of Hamilton, Missouri was full of vacant buildings when the Doan family bought an abandoned antique shop in 2012 to start a fabric store. Today, Hamilton is a tourist destinationRead More →
A while ago I found this amazing store on etsy that makes these fun and funky pieces of shower art out of resin, glitter, and suction cups. My roommate and I bought several of their pieces, but as any DIY-er, I wanted to try making them myself! I love working with resin and glitter andRead More →
Today on the While She Naps podcast I’m talking with Stephen Fraser, co-founder of Spoonflower. Spoonflower is the largest marketplace of surface designs by independent artists all over the world. Through Spoonflower anyone can upload an image, tile it as a repeat, and have it printed on wrapping paper, wall paper, or over a dozenRead More →
I’m so excited to show you my new Simplicity pattern – #1131. This is a selection of under the sea softies. I haven’t seen the inside yet, but they asked permission to use my step-by-step photos and instructions for this one (which is the first time they’ve made this request). Perhaps it looks different fromRead More →