Vicki McCarty, Pat Bravo, Mary Abreu, and Roseann Meehan Kermes chat with host Pat Sloan on the American Patchwork & Quilting podcast.
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Guest: Vicki McCarty of Calico Patch Quilt Shop

Topics: working with wool

She says: "There's nothing wrong with using your sewing machine to stitch your wool down with...I usually use a 50 weight, 100% cotton thread, but I like to use a double blanket-stitch. Not all the machines have them, but the one I use has a double blanket-stitch. I've had people come in and see it hanging on the wall and think that I did do it by hand with that big, heavy blanket-stitch."

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Guest: Pat Bravo

Topics: quilting inspiration

She says: "I also was a very tactile person. I loved to do everything with my hands. I actually started doing cross-stitch in elementary school. Luckily, my mom had the great mind to put me in home economics, so I used to do a lot of crafts in elementary school...It's the love of my life. And then at nine, I started sewing on my mother's sewing machine, and I loved to sew. And then at 13, I wanted to study tailoring and pattern drafting. I made it into an institute and I studied two year. So my first love in sewing. But for quilting, I fall in love when I moved to this country."

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Guest: Mary Abreu

Topics: sewing short cuts

She says: "I use washi tape on rulers. I like to use it to mark the line I'm cutting or marking. I had summer camp last week and I had the girls using the rulers to mark where they would be turning hems and making casings. And I would just use the washi tape to mark that, so they could get a consistent line. I like doing it for that and for when I'm squaring up blocks to trim like half-square triangles. That way I can make sure I end up with all the right size squares at the end."

[Listen for more SEWING HACKS from Mary and Pat.]

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Guest: Roseann Meehan Kermes

Topics: die-cutting tips

She says: "Every Sizzix die I makes works with each other, so the projects are all interchangeable. You can take a piece from one and piece from another and create something on your own...You can use just part of a die. So, I have some little skinny dies that I just three of the scallops to make a little mat for on a counter or an edge. So they have a lot of versatility."