Before we get to today's guest, I wanted to let you know that I will be taking a hiatus from the podcast after this episode. From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank you for your support. One hundred and forty episodes is a tremendous milestone and I am proud of the stories I have been able to share and hope it inspired you, the listener.  Living in Brazil, Sarah Watson is an illustrator, fabric designer for Cloud 9 Fabrics, author, mother and wife. She has a degree in textiles from the...

Today's podcast guest is Gillian Whitcombe of Crafting a Rainbow and the Sewcialists. Living in Canada, Gillian is a teacher, sewist, wife and community builder. She learned to sew at an early age and started her blog, Crafting a Rainbow, in 2011. After serving as an editor for the Curvy Sewing Collective, Gillian revitalized the Sewcialists website with collaboration from other sewists. During our conversation, we talk about her love for community building and teaching, the development of...

Today's podcast episode is a bit different than those of the past. I became interested in the Social Justice Sewing Academy  in April of last year while working on my "Make a Difference" series and highlighted their work in this post. Since then, I have watched their progress through social media and saw pieces of their work firsthand at Quilt Con. For this interview, I start with a segment from Colleen Haraden, who is their Operations Director. We recorded before Quilt Con and talked about...

Today's podcast guest is Kim Eichler-Messmer. Living in Kansas City, Kim is a teacher, author of Modern Color: An Illustrated Guide to Dyeing Fabric for Modern Quilts, fabric designer for Marcus Fabrics, owner of the Kansas City Textile Studio, textile artist and wife. Growing up in a creative household, Kim learned to sew from her father. She received her bachelor's degree in print making and master's degree in fine art/textiles. She has been an artist in residence at Arrowmont School of...

Today's guest is Freddy Moran. Living in northern California, Freddy is a fiber artist, author, teacher, matriarch of quilting and mother of five boys and grandmother to eight girls and five boys. During our discussion, we talk about her relationship with Gwen Marston, her passion for color, how she creates with macular degeneration and her three pieces of advice for quilters. Special thanks to Darling Rose, Jessica Darling's fabric store, for sponsoring this episode. Crafty Planner podcast...

Today's guest is Ellen Baker of the Long Thread. Living in Atlanta, Georgia, Ellen is a fabric designer for Kokka Fabrics, maker, author of 1,2, 3 Sew and 1, 2, 3 Quilt, as well as being a wife and mother. During our discussion, we talk about changes in the quilting and making community over the last decade, how she integrates imperfection in her design process, crafting as a feminist act and how she shares her passion in her work. I hope you enjoy the episode.   For more information...

Today's guest is Erin Burke Harris of House on Hill Road. Living in Louisville, Kentucky, Erin is a quilter, maker, author of Quilt Essential and Make Your Own Medallion as well as being a wife and mother. During our discussion, we talk about living with a visual impairment, why she initially held back on the publication of her second book, Make Your Own Medallion, when she heard about another potentially similar book, how her gratitude practice has influenced her daily perspective, why she...

Today's guest is Meg McElwee. Living in North Carolina, Meg is a garment maker and designer as well as author of the book Sew Liberated and Growing Up Sew Liberated, teacher, wife and mother. During our conversation, we talk about how Montessori led to her pattern business, the way her life changed after becoming a "heart Mom", pride versus bravery in clothing choices and so much more. I hope you enjoy the episode. For more information about this episode (including show notes), please check...

Today's guest is Rebecca Ringquist. Living in Portland, Oregon, Rebecca is a textile artist, author of the book Rebecca Ringquist's Embroidery Workshops, owner of Dropcloth Samplers, Bernina sewing machine ambassador, wife and mother. During our conversation, we talk about how her work began and has evolved through moves and motherhood, her best tips for thrifting and learning to embroider, why embroidery is her chosen medium and a few of our secret crushes. I hope you enjoy the episode. 

Today's guest is Kathryn Clark. Living in San Francisco and Sonoma, California, Kathryn is a textile artist, maker, wife and mother. During our conversation, we talk about her Foreclosure Quilt series, as seen in the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, how she connects her voice to her work, craft as a fine art medium and more. I hope you enjoy the episode.    For more information about this episode (including show notes), please check out my website craftyplanner.com.

Maritza Soto is today's guest. She is a maker, teacher, wife and mother. Her quilt, Go North, is on the cover of the newly released Modern Quilts book from the Modern Quilt Guild. During our conversation, we talk about the making of Go North, the reaction she received to her "I'm with Her" quilt block, how she approaches both her improv and structured work and more. I hope you enjoy the episode.    For more information about this episode (including show notes), please check out my website...

Today's guest is Tara Faughnan. Living in Oakland, California, Tara is a textile designer, quilter, teacher and wife. During our conversation, we talk about how she has developed her sense of color, her double wedding ring and Pine Burr quilts, the importance of valuing your work, and her upcoming role as a Quilt Con judge. I hope you enjoy this interview.  For more information about this episode (including show notes), please check out my website craftyplanner.com.

As the fourth guest in my Slow Making series, today's guest is Mark Lipinski of Pickle Road Studios. After a career in television production, including shows like Oprah, the View, Crossing Over and Sally Jesse Raphael, Mark decided to follow his creative passion and enter the quilting world. Never content to stay on the sidelines, Mark founded and edited Quilters Home magazine, was the co-host of Quilting Out Loud (a television show about quilting), hosted an internet radio station called...

Continuing October's mini series on the value of slow making, today's podcast guest is Katrina Rodabaugh. Living in New York, Katrina Rodabaugh is a writer, mender, natural dyer, teacher, wife, and mother. During our conversation, we talk about her five year Make Thrift Mend challenge and how one decision about sustainability can lead to a cascade of mindset changes. Being parents of younger children, we touch on how slow making decisions influence the decision making process we try to...

  Today's guest is Karen Templer of Fringe Supply Co. and Fringe Association. Living in Nashville, Karen is a garment maker, knitter, store owner, community builder and wife. We talk about her career revolving around her values of content, commerce and community, why she started Slow Fashion October and small changes people can make to create a more conscientious wardrobe. I hope you enjoy our conversation.   Special thanks to Plum Deluxe, a Portland, Oregon based tea company who hand...

Today's podcast is the first in a mini series about slow making and I am honored to present Samantha Lindgren of A Gathering of Stitches as my first guest. Living in Maine, Samantha is a teacher, garment sewist, quilter, community builder and hosts the Slow Stitching and Slow Fashion retreats. We talk about how experience is more satisfying than stuff, the importance of connection and meaning, the closing of her physical space and her evolving career. I hope you enjoy our...

Today's guest is Roderick Kiracofe. Living in San Francisco, Roderick is a former quilt dealer, quilt collector, and author of The American Quilt: A History of Cloth and Comfort, Cloth and Comfort: Pieces of Women's Lives from Their Quilts and Diaries as well as Unconventional and Unexpected: American Quilts Below the Radar. During our conversation we talk about the beginning of his quilt collecting, his passion for quilt history, why he took a break from the industry and how he overcame his...

Today's guest is Amy Milne, the Executive Director of the Quilt Alliance whose mission is to "document, preserve, and share our American quilt heritage by collecting the rich stories that historic and contemporary quilts, and their makers, tell about our nation’s diverse peoples and their communities." During our discussion, we delve into the importance of preserving quilt history through labels and story, the evolution of the Quilt Alliance's preservation programs including Quilters' Save...

For my second interview in a mini series on the historical role of quilts and their preservation, today's guest is Nancy Bavor. Nancy is a quilter, quilt appraiser, wife, mother and the Executive Director of the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, the world's oldest quilt museum. During our conversation, we talk about quilts as a form of creative expression, how museums decide what quilts are acquired along with which exhibits are shown, the idea of credit and derivation in art and more....

One of the aspects I love about hosting the podcast is the ability it gives me to explore topics of interest. Having spent hours working on a quilt, thinking about the connection we have to makers in the past and making individual decisions about the quilt, one aspect I haven't considered is what happens to the quilt in the long term. Bombarded with consumerist ideas, it seems like an endless cycle of making the latest and newest thing. But who decides what we preserve of this time in...

Today's guest is Tricia Royal of Bits and Bobbins. Living in Chicago, Tricia is a sewist, quilter, teacher, artist, wife and mother. She is the founder of the Flickr group, Wardrobe Remix, a DIY street fashion community with over 20,000 members and 88,000 pictures. While exploring textiles, she fell in love with quilting and won third place in the improvisation category at Quilt Con 2015 for her quilt, "This Way". During our conversation, we talk about starting Wardrobe Remix, why quilting is...

Today's podcast guest is Amy Butler. Living in Ohio, Amy is an artist, fabric designer for Free Spirit Fabrics, teacher, author, and wife. Considered to be one of the leaders and community builders in the modern quilt movement, we delve into her work style, what motivates her, how she met her husband and best friend, her decision to start Blossom Magazine and more. I hope you enjoy the episode.   For more information about this episode (including show notes), please check out my...

Rachel Clark is a wearable artist, pattern designer, lecturer, teacher, and mother. She began creating wearable art in 1973 and teaching on the national circuit in 199o. Known for her intuitive sense of color, Rachel mixes fabric types along with the story behind each piece. Her work has been in one woman shows along with magazines and in the Fairfield/Bernina Fashion Show.  During our conversation, we talk about her journey as a child from Louisiana to her home today in Watsonville,...

The third interview in my surface design podcast series is Ashley Nickels. Living in San Francisco, Ashley is a quilter, writer and teacher.  She grew up in the quilting community and is the daughter of Sue Nickels, an award winning long arm quilter/author/teacher. During our conversation, we talk about being the daughter of a quilter, the value of personal challenges, how living in Spain changed her perspective, her passion for teaching, and her life's theme song. Special thanks to Dharma...