Listen to host Pat Sloan chat with guests Kerry Goulder, Jessica Alexandrakis, Jera Brandvig, and Susan Beal on the American Patchwork & Quilting podcast.
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Guest: Kerry Goulder of Kid Giddy

Topics: quilting tools

She says: "No matter what size shape you're using, you need the right tools. When you go small you definitely have to have certain tools in order to make them most successfully. My most favorite and most important tool is my Dritz turning tube. Without my turning tubes I can't turn little tiny things inside out."

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Guest: Jessica Alexandrakis of Life Under Quilts

Topics: handwork

She says: "We started tracing out templates onto lightweight cardboard, cutting them out, drawing them on to the back of the fabric with pencil, cutting it out with scissors, and doing it all by hand. There was a deep appreciation for the process, for spending time sewing. Something about it just resonated with me and the type of quilts I wanted to be making and so I was hooked."

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Guest: Jera Brandvig of Quilting in the Rain

Topics: quilting inspiration

She says: "Fabric is what inspires me to create. I like to think of it as painting--the batting is my canvas and the fabric is the medium that I'm using. And I just love it, beacuse one day day I can be using modern gold prints and the next day I can be using whimsical, low-volume baby prints. And I could be doing the same pattern, but the quilt will have a completely different look to it."

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Guest: Susan Beal of West Coast Crafty

Topics: working with wool

She says: "One thing I love to do with wools that I'm using for a special project for a cozy scarf or to piece into a patchwork quilt, is you can lightly felt them in the washing machine. And it really is so individual. You can put them through once and they will just be soft, kind of felted, but not a heavy texture. And then if you put them through several times they'll really become more dense and more kind of structural."