Sit & Sew Radio – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Welcome to Episode 48 of Sit & Sew Radio, a Quilt Addicts Anonymous podcast. This week our guest is pattern and fabric designer Jessica VanDenburgh of Sew Many Creations. I've known Jessica for a few years from meeting her at various quilting industry events, and I spoke with her at Quilt Market in Portland about her brand-new fabric line, Gypsy, for Windham Fabrics, which is due out in shops in October, including ours at shop.quiltaddictsanonymous.com.

Before we get to the interview, I wanted to let you all know what's been going on at Quilt Addicts Anonymous. We've been pumping out tons of great content in 2018, and the latest is our Hillside and Jelly Roll Rug video tutorials which have been big hits with the quilting community so far on YouTube. And if you missed it, be sure to check out my Free Online Beginner Quilting course which is great for first-timers as well as quilting veterans looking for a refresher course.

We've also been added a fun new Crafting With Kids video series in which myself and my cute little Future Quilter have fun with crafts in hopes of inspiring you and your little ones to get crafty! Check out all of our content at quiltaddictsanonymous.com and click on the tutorials tab. Also, be sure to subscribe to us on YouTube by clicking here.

Now on to the interview ...

Jessica VanDenburgh, pattern and fabric designer

I just love Jessica's work and have been wanting her as a guest on the podcast for awhile now, so I am super excited to get to share a bit of her story and passion with all of you.

Jessica has created many wonderful patterns through her Sew Many Creations brand, for quilts and bags. The idea of her own fabric line was always in the back of her mind, "but I didn’t think that it would ever actually happen because I don’t consider myself super artistic. I don’t think that I draw that well and I don’t have those computer skills either."

Nonetheless, she spoke with Windham about doing her own line and started sketching and coming up with concepts.

“It was an exciting process," Jessica said. "I got to pick all of the colors and make it what I wanted but they polished it up and made it even better than I could have imagined.”

A lot of fabric designers are not sewers, and they don't always understand how their art translates into cutting it up and using it in projects. That's what I love about Jessica's line. As a sewer and pattern designer, she really thought about her her line would be used when creating it and the end product is just beautiful. I just loved how her booth looked at quilt market, and her fabric looked great on large and small-scale projects.

In addition to her new fabric line, Jessica discusses her obsession with Cork fabric and more in our interview. Check out Jessica's website at sewmanycreationsny.com.

Welcome to Episode 47 of Sit & Sew Radio, a Quilt Addicts Anonymous podcast! We're so excited to be back with another episode after a break. We're back with an interview with Frank Bennett, the CEO of the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Kentucky.

We spoke with Frank while we were in Paducah for AQS QuiltWeek in April, and things have been a bit crazy over here at Quilt Addicts Anonymous ever since. As soon as I returned I had to hustle to finish multiple projects for Quilt Market in Portland. Check out my vlog that I did by clicking here to see all that went into getting ready for quilt market and the different projects I created.

Also during that time we were working on shooting photos for my first book, Simple Quilts for the Modern Home, which is available for preorder.

After that, we zeroed in on the launch of our FREE Beginner Quilting series sponsored by QT Fabrics. The series consists of 12 videos and teaches you everything you need to know about quilting from beginning to end. It has been great to see some of the responses to the videos and how it has been helpful for beginner and veteran quilters alike. Check out the videos at quiltaddictsanonymous.com/learntoquilt and download the FREE pattern to get a 20% off coupon for the supplies you'll need to get started!

Listen to the episode to hear more about what we've been up to and what's coming next at Quilt Addicts Anonymous.

Frank Bennett, CEO of the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Ky.

It was great to chat with Frank Bennett, CEO of the National Quilt Museum, who took some time out of his very busy schedule to meet with me during the week of the big quilt show. It was my first visit to Paducah, and it is clear this is a huge week for the town and the museum.

Frank and I chat about some of the exciting things going on in Paducah during show week as well as some of the exhibits at the museum. One of the big topics is the museum's Free Block of the Month Club which launched a few months ago. I am super excited to be one of the designers who will be doing a block for the club due out in April. Listen to the episode to hear what my block is and what I have planned. Learn more about the museum's free Block of the Month Club and sign up at the Facebook page by clicking here.

Thanks again for checking out Episode 47 of Sit & Sew Radio. Here's a link to the National Quilt Museum website if you want to learn more about what it has to offer.

Welcome to Episode 38 of Sit & Sew Radio, a Quilt Addicts Anonymous podcast.

This week we are excited to have quilt blogger and traveler Anna Bates on the show. We found Anna on YouTube when we came across her Quilt Roadies channel. More than a year ago Anna and her husband, G, bought a small motorhome and decided to hit the road with their dog, Enzo, to see the country – and, naturally, all of the quilt shops along the way!

The couple decided to document their quilt stops with videos on YouTube to promote all of the wonderful, and unique, brick and mortar quilt shops out there.

We are also excited here at Quilt Addicts Anonymous to announce that our limited edition Medallion Star quilt kits, in both Lyla Damask and Pixie Dots colorways, are ready to ship! We’ve talked about Medallion Star, the latest pattern by Stephanie Soebbing, on the podcast before. Just type in MEDALLION10 when you check out at shop.quiltaddictsanonymous.com to save 10 percent on your kit! The coupon expires on January 4, 2018.

 

Anna Bates, Quilt Blogger and Traveler

Anna and G are originally from Sisters, Oregon, recognized as the quilting capital of Oregon and home of the largest outdoor quilt show in the world each July – the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show.

Anna and G have been retired for about five years, and a couple years ago they bought a small motor home and decided to travel across the United States.

Anna, a quilt blogger of five years at wooliemammoth.blogspot.com, decided to document her travels by highlighting the many, and we do mean many, brick-and-mortar quilt shops her and her husband visit.

That led to the creation of Quilt Roadies YouTube channel, which has more than 5,000 subscribers in just over a year since they began. Anna also documents her travels for TheQuiltShow.com in a blog called Anna & G on the Road.

They’ve already been to California, Oregon, Washington, Utah, Idaho, Arizona, Nebraska and South Dakota. They are planning to get to Texas and Oklahoma soon and eventually the northern Midwestern states. But first, her and G are headed on a quilting cruise to begin 2018.

In the interview Anna talks about some of the joys, and pleasant surprises, of her travels.

“Each shop has its own personality, and that comes from the owner and the culture of the community,” Anna said.

Anna also gives some of her tips for sewing on the road, and talks about how she plans out her projects and fits in her sewing into her travels. She specifically mentions her cordless Panasonic iron she says she can’t live without.

Follow Anna on Instragram at wooliemammoth53 and also find her on Facebook.

Welcome to Episode 37 of Sit & Sew Radio, a Quilt Addicts Anonymous podcast.

This week we are thrilled to have Sit & Sew Radio alum Christa Watson back on the show for a third time. I interviewed Christa for this week’s episode here at Quilt Addicts Anonymous headquarters after she taught a class at our shop.

Also joining us on this week’s show is Tiffany Jawor-Smith, the Marketing Brand Manager at Ink & Arrow. We chat a bit about her background and then get into the Ink & Arrow brand, which is the modern arm of Quilting Treasures, and what’s next for the fabric company.

We are big fans of Ink & Arrow, because without them our latest pattern, Medallion Star, could not have happened! And speaking of Medallion Star, we have limited edition quilt kits available in two colorways with guaranteed Christmas delivery! Click here to order yours.

There is no coupon code for this week’s podcast, but be on the lookout for our upcoming 12 Days of Christmas deals beginning Friday at shop.quiltaddictsanonymous.com! If you’re not signed up for emails, make sure you click here to sign up so you can know about all the sales.

[caption id="attachment_334" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Christa Watson works with a student during her free motion quilting class at Quilt Addicts Anonymous headquarters in Rock Island, IL.[/caption]

Christa Watson, Quilting Triple Threat

Christa Watson has pretty much done it all in the quilting world. She’s written three books. She’s an expert in machine quilting and a talented pattern designer. She’s also a fabulous teacher, which the Quad-Cities quilting community found out first hand this past weekend.

And now, she has added fabric designer to the list. Last month Christa released her first fabric line, Modern Marks, through Benartex. In our interview, Christa and I chat about how she got started on her first fabric collection and the process to bring it to quilt shops near you.

We also chat about her third book, “Piece and Quilt with Precuts.” The book includes 11 projects, all made from precuts, that come with patterns to make the quilt tops as well as step-by-step instructions and diagrams to quilt them.

Christa also gives some of her top tips for machine quilting. No. 1? Practice, practice, practice.

Click here to check out all of Christa’s patterns, books and fabric at shop.quiltaddictsanonymous.com. And learn more about Christa at christaquilts.com. And check out her Craftsy class, Start Up Library: Quilting and The Quilter's Path.

Tiffany Jawor-Smith, Ink & Arrow Marketing Brand Manager

We’re getting a behind the scenes look at what it takes to bring fabric to market with Tiffany Jawor-Smith. Tiffany oversees the marketing and creative efforts at Ink & Arrow, which is the modern division of Quilting Treasures, now known as QT Fabrics.

I met Tiffany when she reached out to me about collaborating on some quilt patterns using Ink & Arrow fabrics. I have loved working with Tiffany and the Ink & Arrow team. So you can thank Tiffany for providing me the inspiration for our latest pattern, Medallion Star.

Tiffany worked as a fabric designer before moving into the marketing department. We talk about how that experience helps her do a better job getting Ink & Arrow fabrics out to the world and the company’s philosophy on how there are no rules, “Because fabric should be fun.”

Click here to shop Ink & Arrow Fabric and get a limited edition Medallion Star quilt kit using Ink & Arrow Fabric at shop.quiltaddictsanonymous.com.

You can learn more about Ink & Arrow at inkandarrowfabrics.com.

This post contains affiliate links.

Welcome to Episode 36 of Sit & Sew Radio, a Quilt Addicts Anonymous podcast. This episode is all about travel opportunities for quilters. I personally love checking out new quilt shops when I travel and we've got some really fun shop hops and fiber activities you can check out while you are on the go.

This week we don't have a coupon because we have already started our Black Friday madness over at shop.quiltaddictsanonymous.com. Our Black Friday Preview Sale is already live with nearly 100 fabrics and bundles on sale for 50% off. And we're about to announce a bunch more deals and pretty much everything in the store.

So make sure you sign up for emails so you will be the first to know about all the fabulous deals.

April Jouse, Director of Opperations, EVFAC

April Jouse works at a pretty cool place. The Espanola Valley Fiber Arts Center is a haven for fiber artists in northern New Mexico. The 7,000 square foot facility has classes for kids and adults on basically anything you would want to know involving fiber.

This weekend the EVFAC is hosting the Fall Fiber Fiesta in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The festival is filled with fiber creations from more than 50 artists in the Santa Fe area. You can find anything from woolen gloves to garments and home decor items.

They also host the New Mexico Fiber Crawl which offers opportunities for crafters to learn new skills in a variety of mediums at locations from Albuquerque to Taos, New Mexico. Listen to the interview to learn more about the Espanola Valley Fiber Arts Center, and check out its website evfac.org for info about visiting and upcoming classes.

[caption id="attachment_328" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Quilt shop owners from the Missouri Highway 36 Quilt Trail.[/caption]

Beth Carmichael, St. Joseph, MO Visitors Bureau

If road trips, quilting and shop hops get you excited, then check out the Missouri Highway 36 Quilt Trail in 2018.

A program organized by the Missouri Highway 36 Heritage Alliance, the Quilt Trail seeks to highlight the 16 shops located on Missouri's historic Highway 36, and the people who were born there. And they've got some famous names with connections to Highway 36. Walt Disney, J. C. Penny Mark Twain and Gen. John J. Pershing all have connections to the area. Plus it is where sliced bread and the Pony Express were invented.

The Quilt Trail opens on April 3, 2018. Participants can visit 16 shops along the highway, get the free pattern for that shop's block and get your passport stamped. Then you have until October 31, 2018 to finish your quilt top for a chance to win some awesome prizes. Listen to the interview with Beth Carmichael with the St. Joseph, MO Visitors Bureau to learn more about them.

To learn more about the Missouri Highway 36 Quilt Trail, check out their Facebook page facebook.com/MoHighway36. And keep scrolling to see all the shops that are participating in 2018.

• Bits & Pieces, Hannibal
• By The Yard, Rayville
• Cornerstone Fabric, Smithville
• Crossroads Quilting, Cameron
• Cuts & Bolts, Chillicothe
• Glenda's Sewing Cupboard, St. Joseph
• Hickory Stick Quilt Shop, Hannibal
• Midwest Quilt Co, Shelbina
• Missouri Star Quilt, Co., Hamilton
• Quilted Square, Kirksville
• Rosie's Quilt, Marceline,
• Sew Creative, Salisbury
• Shearwood Quilts & Crafts, Jamesport
• Sisters Fabric Farm, Lathrop
• The Quilt Shoppe, Wheeling
• Top Stitch Quilt Shop, Helena

Welcome to Episode 35 of Sit & Sew Radio, a Quilt Addicts Anonymous podcast.

This week we are thrilled to have renowned fabric designer Tula Pink as our guest. Tula, who just released her 25th fabric collection at Fall Quilt Market this past weekend, has withstood the test of time and remains a creative force in the industry.

Speaking of market, we just unveiled our own new pattern, Medallion Star, to glowing reviews in Houston. Use this week’s coupon code MEDALLION10 to save $2 on a Medallion Star pattern at shop.quiltaddictsanonymous.com.

It was so much fun to talk to Tula Pink, but this episode brought with it some new challenges.

I spoke to Tula the week before market about her fantastic new products, AND I COULDN’T SAY A WORD ABOUT IT TO ANYONE. Not even my husband.

In our interview, Tula discusses her great efforts ahead of this year’s market to keep her newest fabric collection top secret. In the past, word always seemed to creep out ahead of time. Now that market is over, I can’t wait to share this interview with you. Tula discusses her milestone 25th collection, Tula Pink All Stars, which is an incredible accomplishment that is not lost on Tula.

To commemorate the occasion, Tula’s All Stars collection recreates some of her most iconic and coveted prints from her archive and gives them a color makeover. That includes the original Owl from Full Moon Forest, which is from her very first collection and holds special meaning to Tula as she notes in the interview. There’s also the Bee from Flutterby, Tail Feathers from Plume, Squirrel from The Birds & the Bees, Raccoon from Acacia and Frog Prince from Prince Charming.

“With this 25th (collection) I wanted to really offer something special,” Tula said. “It felt like a big deal and I wanted to make it a big deal.”

We also talk about Tula's new book, Coloring with Thread: Stitching A Whimsical World With Hand Embroidery. In this book, which is available for pre-order at Amazon, Tula’s most memorable fabric designs are brought to life by needle and thread along with instructions so you can do it at home.

In our interview, Tula discusses the connection with her collaborators who stitched her designs featured in the book.

“It was just a really cool way to bring in my followers and the people I’ve connected to on social media into a project with me, to let them have some ownership of it, because that’s really what I do,” Tula said. “I create a raw material, but it’s everything that everyone else makes out of it that sort of completes the collaborative process.”

Also in the interview Tula opens up about her creative process, which is a fascinating listen coming from one of the most inventive creators in the business.

To learn more about Tula Pink please visit tulapink.com.

We hope you enjoy the episode!

Welcome to Episode 34 of Sit & Sew Radio, a Quilt Addicts Anonymous podcast. In this week’s episode we chat with Teresa Silva and Linda Pumphrey, two women who have carved out a career in the quilting industry and have recently released books.

We also introduce this week’s coupon code! Just type in STASHIN at checkout to receive 25% off your first month when you order a Stashin’ with Stephanie subscription. Each month Stephanie will send you 12 fat quarters for $29.99 plus shipping of her favorite, and often brand-new, fabrics in our shop. Read more about Stashin’ with Stephanie here.

Our first guest on this week’s episode of Sit & Sew Radio is Teresa Silva, who is a self-taught longarm quilter who recently released her first book, Longarm Quilting Workbook: Basic Skills, Techniques & Motifs for Modern Longarming. Teresa has been longarming for customers for six years and her clientele includes some of the biggest names in the industry, including Julie Herman of Jaybird Quilts, who wrote the foreword for Teresa’s book.

In the podcast interview Stephanie and Teresa discuss certain elements of her book as well as how she got to this point in her career. Visit Teresa’s website at quiltingismybliss.com to learn more and you can also find her on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

In the next segment, Stephanie chats with Linda Pumphrey, a fifth-generation quilter who has made quilting her life’s work. In addition to being an award-winning quilter and designer, Pumphrey is also a quilt historian who serves on many international and national quilting boards and for 20 years worked at Mountain Mist.

Her latest book, Red & White Quilting: An Iconic Tradition in 40 Blocks, focuses on the power and history of the classic colors in quiltmaking. Proceeds from the book go to support the International Quilt Study Center.

Find Linda on Facebook at facebook.com/linda.pumphrey.5.

 

 

For Episode 33 I hit the road to DeKalb, IL to check out the "Quilts and Human Rights" exhibit at Northern Illinois University's Pick Museum of Anthropology.

“Quilts and Human Rights” includes more than 50 quilts centered around themes of social justice from all over the world. These quilts were powerful, relevant and at times uncomfortable to look at while touching on important topics such as civil rights, sexual assault, immigration, race relations, apartheid and more.

Real quick before we get into some really important topics in the quilting world and in society today. We have a special coupon code for this episode so listeners can save 25 percent on any single regular priced item at shop.quiltaddictsanonymous.com. Just enter SEW33 at checkout to save.

Laura McDowell Hopper, textile curator

Back for her third appearance on the Sit & Sew Radio podcast is Laura McDowell Hopper. She is a curator at the Pick Museum by day and a quilt blogger at SonicStitchesQuilts.com by night. Laura takes Stephanie through the exhibit as they discuss their favorites and most eye-opening pieces on display.

With the visual element of this podcast so compelling, we decided to do an extended version of the podcast on YouTube so our listeners can look at pictures of the quilts as Stephanie and Laura discuss them in detail. You also will get an extra 19 minutes of content that just wouldn't fit in an hour long podcast episode.

Following the interview, listen to an excerpt from a speech given by Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. at the opening of the exhibit as he discusses his personal connection with quilts and their social relevance.

Check out our previous episodes featuring Laura!

Episode 8 - Sonic Stitches and Freddie's Friends

Episode 28 - The 2017 Quiltcon Edition

Watch the unabridged episode with photos

We at Quilt Addicts Anonymous are proud to announce the return of the Sit & Sew Radio podcast! Plus we have a special 25 percent off coupon code that you can use on products we sell over at shop.quiltaddictsanonymous.com by all of our previous guests!

It’s been awhile since we last spoke to you, April 21 to be exact. So much has happened since then, and we’ll tell you all about it in Episode 32! At the end of the episode, we'll give you the coupon code as a gift to all of our fans that missed the show while we were gone!

The sale covers more than 350 items including products from Kaffe Fasset, Alison Glass, Aurifil thread, batiks and much much more! But you’ll have to listen to Episode 32 to get the coupon code, which will be good for through 11:59 p.m. PST Saturday, September 23, 2017. Click here to browse all the great goodies that are included in the sale.

Quilt Addicts Anonymous husband Adam Soebbing returns as guest in Episode 32 to chat with me, QAA creator/designer/owner Stephanie Soebbing, about all that we’ve been up to since the last episode. Hint: Lots and lots (and lots) of sewing!

Things got so crazy there for awhile after opening up our shop that we had to put the podcast on the backburner for a bit. But going forward, we are committing to giving you a new episode every other week with the same awesome new guests and great interviews that you came to expect from the Sit & Sew Radio podcast.

Welcome to Episode 31 of Sit & Sew Radio, a Quilt Addicts Anonymous podcast. Today's episode features Amanda Murphy, Bernina spokesperson, author and fabric designer, and Rebecca Bryan, author, teacher and fourth generation quilter. Both interviews were recorded at QuiltCon and it was kind of fun to listen to them a couple months after they were initially recorded. At one point Rebecca Bryan and I were talking about the brick and mortar version of Quilt Addicts Anonymous, which at the time I was still considering an open studio. Now it is definitely a full blown quilt shop, complete with staff, a large class space and fabulous modern fabrics. That just shows you how much can change in a couple months. And speaking of the shop, the Spring Clearance Sale is happening right now. There are nearly 100 fabrics, bundles, thread packs and patterns that are on sale. Right now they are 25% off, but the price will continue to drop over the next two weeks as we move some of the items that have been around for a bit to make room for the new fabrics arriving in May. so click here to check it out and get a great deal. Bernina, Amanda Murphy Designs, Benartex, Amanda Murphy, Nordic Holiday, Amanda Murphy, fabric designer, author Bernina, Amanda Murphy Designs, Benartex, Amanda Murphy, Nordic Holiday, Amanda Murphy started her career in the quilting industry as a fabric designer for Benartex. With a background in graphic design, creating beautiful prints for fabrics was a natural starting point. From there she began authoring books on quilting, signed on as a spokesperson for Bernina and now travels the country teaching people to improve their quilting and let go of mistakes. In our interview Amanda shares some great tips on how to improve your free motion quilting (hint: it includes listening to podcasts like this one) and which comes first for her, the fabric design or the quilt she wants to make with the fabric. Amanda's new fabric line Nordic Holiday with Benartex is shipping to quilt shops this month. You can learn more about Amanda by visiting her website, amandamurphydesign.com. Rebecca Bryan, Modern Triangle Quilts, Bryan House Quilts Rebecca Bryan, author, teacher Rebecca Bryan, Modern Triangle Quilts, Bryan House QuiltsRebecca Bryan is a fourth generation quilter who became obsessed with quilting after discovering modern colors and fabrics. She started pursuing quilting as a career after her first book idea came to her in a dream. She took it as a sign that quilting was supposed to be more than a hobby and today she has published two books, is working on a series of online classes and is working on her first fabric line. In our interview we talk about how she developed a career for herself, developing her own sense of color and design from her traditional roots and how she balances career and being a mom to four kids. To learn more about Rebecca, visit her website bryanhousequilts.com.