October 21, 2013 Podcast
Guest: Janneken Smucker
Topics: quilt collecting
She says: "Lots of prominent and small collections have developed over the past 30 or 40 years as part of what we call the quilt revival, when people started paying attention to quilts. Time after time, I'd hear from these people who "discovered" the Amish by maybe visiting an Amish community as a tourist or had business there. Then they started to get to know Amish individuals, and then they became so attached to the quilts that they were making."
Guest: Kim Eichler-Messmer
Topics: dying fabric
She says: "There are actually two big first-time mistakes: One is that idea that you can get whatever color you want. That is sort of true eventually, but it takes a lot of practice to get to that point where you can mix that perfect orange. A lot of people go into it with a really specific end result in mind, and then they're disappointed when they don't get there. The other mistake is that people get seduced by mixing all these amazing colors, and they forget to write down what they did, so they can never make that fabric again."
Guest: Sara Lawson of Sew Sweetness
Topics: bag-making tips
She says: "I always change up the interfacing in my bags because there's always a different look and feel that I'm going for. Experimenting with and using a lot of different types of interfacings is something I would recommend to anybody that's interested in making bags because you never know what type you'll like the best."