Snippets from QuiltCon 2025

Join me at QuiltCon 2025 in Phoenix, Arizona! I had the pleasure to speak with vendors, attendees and teachers, and recorded them to share with you. Find out more about them below:

Hollyann of String and Story

• Website - https://www.stringandstory.com/

Kristin of Laurastar

• Website - https://www.laurastar.com/

Lorelai Kueker of Pigs in a Blanket Quilting

• Website - https://www.pigsinablanketquilting.com/

Cheryl Koranda - Longarm League

• Website - https://www.longarmleague.com/

Natalie of OESD

• Website - https://oesd.com/

Amy Chappell 

• Website - https://amerooniedesigns.com/

Karlee Porter 

• Website - https://www.karleeporter.com/

Elizabeth deMoo of Brown Bird Designs 

• Website - https://brownbirddesigns.com/

Enjoli Strait with BERNINA

• Website - https://www.doodlequiltingstudio.com/

Sew Becca - 

• Website - https://sewbecca.com/

Melissa Renfrey of Storyteller Stitchery

• Website - https://storytellerstitchery.com/

Chelsie of Pink Door Fabrics 

• Website - https://www.pinkdoorfabrics.com/

Blair Stocker 

• Website - https://wisecrafthandmade.com/

Brandy Maslowski 

• Website - https://quilteronfire.com/

Melody Miller 

• Website - https://www.rubystarsociety.com/designers/melody
• Ruby Star Society - https://www.rubystarsociety.com/

Claire of Aurifil Threads 

• Website - https://www.aurifil.com/

Calista of Wonderfil Threads 

• Website - https://shopwonderfil.com/

Erynn Truex with Innova 

• Website - https://www.truethreadsquilting.com/

Vince with BERNINA

• Website - https://www.bernina.com/en-US/Home-United-States

Carolina Oneto

• Website - https://www.carolinaoneto.com/

Chris Hanson

• Website - https://modernamericanvintage.com/

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Transcript

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welcome to Season 5 of Measure Twice, Cut Once. This whole season is an exploration into behind the scenes of not just quilting, but building a creative business that truly lights you up. As someone who's navigated the exciting, sometimes bumpy world of turning a passion into a profession, I'm excited to pull back the curtain and share my own experiences. Some episodes will be just me. Diving deep into my personal journey, while others will feature guests who are also navigating the world of creative entrepreneurship, will explore the nitty gritty of building a creative business, the lessons learned and the unexpected challenges that come with transforming your craft. Into a thriving enterprise. And don't worry, I'm not leaving storytelling behind. Instead, I'll be weaving them into the conversations about what it takes to grow a business while staying true to your creative spirit. So whether you're dreaming of starting your own business, or you just love hearing about creative entrepreneurship, this season is for you. Today's episode is a bonus, 99.5, and also a little departure from my normal. I was fortunate to be able to attend Quilt Con, the show in Phoenix, Arizona this year. And so I tried something which was new to me, and that was lurking about on the floor, meeting attendees and vendors and faculty and asking them for brief little snippets of their thoughts about Quilt Con and. Their business is there, and so I'm sharing some of those interviews with you today. I hope you enjoy them. I'm with Hollyann of String and Story. How are you loving QuiltCon? I love QuiltCon! It's so good to see you! Okay, this is not your first time to this radio, right? No, this is not my first. It's not even my first time to Phoenix with QuiltCon. Oh, really? Yeah, so we then did QuiltCon for the first time when it was here before here in Phoenix. And it's really fun to be back and see the way that the energy has grown. And I hear everyone coming in. It's so exciting! I know. The doors are opening as we're talking, so we'll try and keep going as the noise level ramps up. What is your very most favorite thing about QuiltCon? from other quilt shows? This is the hardest question because how do I pick one thing? Quilt Con? It's all the things. The energy at Quilt Con is very different. It's a high energy show. I think it sits at a really beautiful intersection of getting to interact with our customers and our students, but also getting to engage as folks who are in the industry. And the bright color and vibe of it all just sets Quilt Con apart in a lot of different ways. You nailed it. This is my first time. Oh my gosh. Welcome. It's the best. And I'm largely getting that same answer from both attendees and vendors. Energy. Yes. Vibes are impeccable every year. Absolutely. Yes. String and Story is a quilting education company based in Duluth, Georgia. It is my job to guide everyone to quilt with confidence. I want folks finishing the dang quilts on whatever machine you already have. And String and Story opened the shop in support of that. We have a brick and mortar in downtown Duluth, Georgia. We put the whole thing together. and drove it here to Phoenix for the show. But we have paintbrush studio solids, Ruby star society, fable ism, Aurifil thread, brunette sewing machines. We really try to do it all so that folks can have a complete experience and feel like rock stars the whole time. So good. So good. Thanks for taking time to chat. Absolutely. Great to chat. I'm standing in the Laura Star booth talking to Kristen. Kristen, what brings you to QuiltCon? I'm actually here representing Laura Star and we're working with 35th Ave today. Cool. Yeah. This is your first QuiltCon? This is my first QuiltCon ever. Me too. Me too. We're newbies. Do I understand correctly then that you're not a quilter? I am not a quilter. But I've had a lot of fun talking to all the quilters and sewists throughout the show and actually getting to see a lot of really amazing quilters. I would tell you that I think there's so many modern quilts here, and I think they're so beautiful. Emily has definitely been trying to get me more into quilting, and so we took a walk this morning to go see maybe what my first quilt pattern could be. There you go. So Emily is your colleague here. Yeah. And maybe tell our listeners for a second what Laura Star is, in case they maybe don't even know. Yeah, so Laura Star is a ironing company. And so we have a 45 years of experience in ironing. We're Swiss designed and European built. We have had great success in the U. S. Especially with our quilting and sewing community. And we have a great opportunity with both portable options as well as full systems. And, We have a great dry microfine steam, not going to shrink or distort your quilt blocks. And you're able to press and continue on quilting and sewing without any worries for shrinking, distortion, or wet blocks. All true. Now you packed a whole bunch into those couple of sentences. Yeah. I drive a LauraStar at home too, and it is so helpful. And it does such a beautiful job. of pressing. It's not just a one note wonder. I don't know what I want to say. Yeah! Iron's just iron, and you still need a clapper, or you still need steam, or you still need accessories to get that perfect flat seam. The LauraStar system is just one press from one side, and you're good. Absolutely. And on top of it you can also use it to refresh your garments and disinfect throughout the home. So you can use that steam, that great dry. My confined steam is going to allow you to disinfect those high touch surfaces throughout your house and refresh garments because it's going to kill that order causing bacteria. And it is Okay, so what do you have a favorite in the ribbon wringing quilts? Did you get an opportunity to look at those? I didn't get to walk through those this morning yet. Oh, okay. Yes, you got to. There's some really great ones up there. Yeah. Are you drawn to the super modern feel, the contemporary feel with the more solid colors and space and those sorts of things? Absolutely. Yeah. Good to know. Okay I look forward to seeing your first quilt. Maybe next year. Yeah, maybe next year. Thanks for chatting. All right. Thank you. I am standing here in front of a gorgeous quilt and a young lady in a gorgeous quilted coat. Would you introduce yourself? Yes, so my name is Lorelei, I'm with Pigs in a Blanket Quilty, and my quilt is magnetized. I'm a 15 year old quilter. Ha! Which, and you're definitely attracting a crowd. I would like to know your top tips for a quilter getting started. Tell me first, because I suspect they'll be different. What you would say to a young quilter and what you would say to someone my age, more middle aged that's just getting started and is a bit fearful. You'd be surprised how similar it is. Sometimes the young quilters pick things up faster because they have no fear. And I think that's just awesome. I've taught some, I've taught some youth classes. And I think that quilters that are older or quilters that are adults could learn a lot from youth quilters as far as, just don't be fearful. If you mess up, you can pour fabric, you can use your scraps. There's always a way to practice. But my very first advice would be to do a lot of YouTube research. There's so much free resources out there that people just are using. I completely agree. Especially about the don't be fearful part. Yes. You can always figure out a project as you go. Don't wait till you know how to start. There's almost always a fix. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Have you found it beneficial to come to quilt shows like this and learn from other people, go to their lectures or classes or even viewing their quilts? Oh, 100%. 100%. I've gotten so many ideas from walking around these quilts. Walking around with quilts at Houston. That was so much fun. I've taken a lot of garment fitting classes in Houston. So I learned a ton, like how to fit my body. How to fit others bodies, how to draft a pattern, all kinds of things. That's awesome. What does your business look like now? Yes, so my business began as client quilts, longarm mean for clients, as I was trying to pay off my longarm. But now it's morphed into influencing, slash show quilts, slash just quilts. I've gotten to make a ton of outfits, I get to walk around these show floors and talk to so many new quilters, talk to so many seasoned quilters, experienced quilters, everybody. It's been so awesome. So much to learn. Okay, tell us once again your website. My name is Pigzena, my name is Lorelei, I'm from Pigzena Blanket Quilting. I'm on Facebook, Instagram, and then I do have a website as well. Beautiful. Thanks so much. Thank you. I'm here with Cheryl Karanda at the Long Arm League booth. How is QuiltCon going? It is going really well. A little slower and more spaced out than, um, probably last year. But still busy and super fun. And I'm really excited about all the new new vendors here this year. Um, that's been really fun to just see new people and get to meet some riders I haven't met. And we've had pretty good traffic at the booth, and the couches are still very popular. The Sierra Solana Lake booth. So that is another win. Our viewers, of course, can't see them, but the League booth has a couple of couches, and if you've ever walked a quilt show, you know how welcoming a couch to sit on can be. So for me, this is first QuiltCon. How many have you guys been to? Um, so this is my third one. I know that Jess has gone to more before. So awesome, so awesome. What is your very favorite thing about QuiltCon? Seeing people. And just the excitement. Everybody is just happy to be here and excited, and it's so fun getting to meet people in real life that you, Only talk to online 3D people. Am I right? We're so used to knowing each other in virtual spaces and it's lovely to get to meet face to face. It is. It's great. That's definitely. Thanks Cheryl. Yeah. Thank you. I'm here with Natalie of OESD and how are you enjoying QuiltCon this year? Oh, it is a wonderful, wonderful show. It's the happiest show. Is this the first time for you or many times? Many times. Yeah. It's a highlight of the year for sure. Awesome. So tell me a little bit about what OESD is. OESD, we have been around for about 30 years selling home embroidery designs for home embroidery systems. And about five years ago, we released a wonderful collection of longarm designs through, with Amanda Murphy. Right. And, um, from there, we just kept growing. We got a great response from them and wanted to continue to grow that category. Uh, we had longarmers coming to the site, though, and they were seeing it was very embroidery forward. So, this year we made a sister site at quilting. oesd. com. Oh, perfect. And we're expanding it. We have, uh, about a thousand designs currently. A lot of We have the Amanda collection, we have wonderful in house artwork, but what we're starting with here at QuokKon this year is amazing collaborations with Tula Pink, Carolyn Friedlander, and Ruby Star Society, translating their fabric, their most beloved fabrics and appliqués into edge to edge Oh, that's gonna be an amazing resource for long armors how exciting So if you're a fan of one of these ladies, you can totally fangirl on them from start to finish. I love that. Well, thanks for taking the time to chat with me. Oh, So, I've met a new friend, Amy, at QuiltCon. Amy, is this your first one, or one of many? This is my first. I haven't been to QuiltCon before. I have been loving it. It has been so delightful to meet so many people. It really has been so much fun. Oh yes. All the time. Yeah. I mean, and I did buy quite a bit of fabric, and also being inspired by the quilts, like walking through the show. It's just magnificent to see all of the talent that is out there. It's so fun to watch people. So I have a business pattern, designing patterns. It's Amaruni Designs, and I specialize in small quilts. Table toppers, table runners, pillows, and things like that. I love projects that you can do in a short amount of time. Because when I first started quilting, I couldn't afford to do a big quilt. And so, I started designing the patterns I could afford to make as a young mom. And I could do it in a nap time, work on it on a weekend. And then it would be done in a reasonable amount of time. Because there's nothing like the satisfaction of holding up a project that's finished. And you look at it and you're like, I did that. And I love it. Yes. And as a mom, you know that those things are few and far between. Well, I am standing with Karlee Porter in front of her booth, first time ever, yes? Yes, hi, uh, so okay, it's my third year trifecta. First year, I taught the whole time. Second year, I floated around like a butterfly and did nothing productive except for hang out with people and give them tattoos. So my third year at QuiltCon, I'm having a booth. So now I've kind of done all the experiences of QuiltCon. You have, I guess I was just thinking the booth, but you're right. Yes, my first time with the booth. Those were very significant things at QuiltCon. So what do you think? I love it, it's so fun. I'm grateful to have my husband here. He, I thought, I could do a booth by myself, and then I was like, wait, no I can't. So, luckily he's here with me, and I have a great squad of people behind me that are just helping me keep things going, but it's been so fun. It's been great. You guys will see, you'll see my big eyes over, I could do a booth by myself. Yeah, yeah, I'm such a dummy. I have no idea what that entails. Karlee's booth is full of her samplers, wall of tiny quilts. Yeah. Those are the ones we see pictures of all the time on your feed, so that is so awesome. So awesome. Yeah. What is your favorite thing about quilt con the show as a whole? Oh my gosh, I think this the community. So this year being my first booth, I just finished my 10 year anniversary graffiti quilting class last fall and it's been so fun to have students from my class come up to me and be like, I'm so inspired. So, and put a face to a name and give them a hug and have like the real human connection that you kind of miss with online classes. It's been so great and I've made a lot of new friends and a lot of new quilters who are starting my online class and that's been fun to have that crossover and really connect with people. So, I think my favorite thing is eye contact, like, yeah, yeah, thanks for having me. I'm in a lovely little shop called Brown Bird Designs. Do you want to introduce yourself to our listeners? I write under Elizabeth DeMoux. I'm a pattern designer. And I have multiple patterns hanging, um, multiple kits of my patterns. hanging in the booth and I released Drift, um, here at QuiltCon. It's a bird pattern. It's beautiful. And you definitely have a Ruby Star esque. I do. I do have lots and lots of their fabrics. This is, um, Bird is the Word, one of their new lines and Love it. Are you a regular attender at QuiltCon? Have you been? Only on this side. So I love QuiltCon. Yeah, so I've gone to California and Phoenix QuiltCons. What is your favorite thing about the show as a whole? It is just amazing. The modern quilts are inspiring. The people are so much fun and it's just wonderful seeing Quilty friends from around the world because it's a national show. It's amazing. Thanks for taking time to chat with us. I'm with Kelly on the floor of QuiltCon. Kelly, how are you loving the show? Love it. I'm really inspired by a lot of things this year, but I'm happy to meet you because you're really a huge inspiration to me in quilting. We met a few years ago. I think you did the owl quilt. Yes. I loved it. Yes. And so, it's fun to see you again. Well, it is very fun to meet you in person. Your quilting's awesome. What do you love the very best about coming to QuiltCon? Well, I haven't even been able to walk all the way around yet because I'm here at the booth, but um, So, I love the bright, colorful Well, if I stand at the booth and quilt, could you go take a five minute break? Oh yeah, I'd love to see you quilt. Okay, maybe that would work. Let's do it. a try. Okay. Okay, thanks for chatting. Okay. I'm standing with Enjoli in the Bernina booth. Enjoli, tell our listeners where you're from. Hi Susan, I'm from Anchorage, Alaska. Enjoli drove a long, long way to be here at QuiltCon. What do you think of QuiltCon? Oh, I love it. This is my, gosh, I've been to a few. So I probably, I have attended a few just, you know, for fun. And then I have worked, I think, three or four times, so. So you're currently working in the Bernina Longarm booth, right? Yes. What does that entail? Um, so we're here to demo machines, sell machines, talk about machines, talk about longarm leaves. So it's a lot of fun. And this is something you do for a business as well, right? So you bring that into your knowledge base, basically? Yes, yes. What does your business look like in Anchorage, Alaska? Yeah, my business at home, my everyday job is what I tell people, is a quilting studio that I run with five Bernina Longarms. Four of them are automated, one is just for custom work. And um, so that's what I do when I'm not traveling. Cool. Um, do, like what, is it similar in Anchorage? Like similar volume of quilters? If you have five machines, clearly there's a demand for it. Or are there in fact a lot of longarmers up there, and I just don't know it. Um, well there are a decent amount of longarmers to other places in the world. Like probably Utah has a much higher concentration of longarm quilters than Anchorage, Alaska. Um, but yeah, there, I have the benefit of being in a location right next to um, a quilt shop. So my twin sister owns two. A local quilt shop and Bernina dealership, and we happen to be in the same building, so Well, that's perfect, isn't it? Well, thanks for taking the time to chat. Appreciate it. Of course. Good to see you, Susan. I'm sitting with Becca of Sew Becca. How are you enjoying the show? I'm good. I've had a Thursday and Friday. I was in classes today, Saturday. And it's kind of my first chance to get out and actually see the vendors and all the quilts. So, so far loving it, but haven't seen even a quarter of it. It's only an hour in. Oh gosh, well I won't keep you long. Oh, no worries. Do you, have you come to many quilt cons? I, my first one was in Atlanta in 2023. Wasn't a lot of people there, we were just getting over the pandemic. I went to Raleigh last year, so this will be my third. No, the people. I just, I love being around so many people that share the same passion that I do. I like being around like minded individuals, people that share the same passion for quilting. And it's just, it's just nice to get away and have that common interest. Yes. So, Becca, you're a YouTuber like I am. So, is there just this refreshing, do you feel the same that I do, when you just see what other people are doing and others are thinking, and just this opportunity to soak in some others work instead of producing, producing, which is kind of what we do on a daily basis? Yeah, so, it's a little, so I try, my tip, Go to culture in the future. I don't take the quotes in all on one day because it's too much and you're just going to get information and creativity overload So I like to break it down and I'll do a few aisles each day so that I can really spend some time That's a great tip. Well, thanks for taking time to chat with me. Appreciate it Yeah. So I create hand dyed yarns, fiber, um, silk floss and everything. All of my colorways are inspired by stories. So characters and adventures in places from books. Um, and then all hand dyed here in Arizona. Yes, I'm so inspired. I've been recently on couching at her quilting machine. So that's something I desperately want to try. So I'm going to go home with one of your skeins and play with it. Um, what are your thoughts about QuiltCon? Have you been here many times, or is this the first time? This is the first time here. It's actually my first time at a quilt event at all. And so, yeah, most of the events we do are more of the yarn, kind of knitting, crochet, fiber arts events. Um, so I am local to QuiltCon, to Phoenix area, decided to come to QuiltCon, and it has been a fantastic experience. It is Next question. One of the possibly the best event I've ever been to. But definitely right up there. Just it's so well organized. Um, the people are wonderful. And then it's been really fun seeing the different projects that people are working on and kind of seeing different ways that quilting and textile artists use some of the products like the, you know, the wool roving and the silk floss. And it's a little bit different to the, you know, knitting and crochet. community. Um, so it's been really interesting kind of seeing people's projects and chatting with them a little bit. Um, so yeah, a lot, a lot of fun. Really, really glad we came. Yes, we are on, um, most of the social media platforms and storyteller stitchery. Um, and then the website is storytellerstitchery. com. Yeah. Thank you so much. I'm with Chelsea of Pink Door Fabrics and Renaissance Ribbons in her booth. She's got these bags hanging in several places which say, measure twice, cut once. So of course I had to stop and say hello. How are you loving QuiltCon? We are having so much fun. We're so excited to see everyone. Is this a first time for you or are you a regular? We have done, this is our third QuiltCon, but our first with Renaissance Ribbons, so It's fun. So tell me a little more about Renaissance Ribbons. Renaissance Ribbons was previously owned by Edith Minnie, Adit Minnie and she was looking to retire and go live her best life and so often, or roll off into the sewing sunset and so I acquired that company about a year and a half ago and so it's been just a great ride since. So what would you use these kind of elaborate, woven, gorgeous ribbons for? I'm seeing them on Incredible bags. I'm seeing Tula Pink ribbons, am I right? Yes, yes. Tula Pink and Ruby Star Society and CAFE Facet are all designers of ours. And so we, um, license all of their designs for our ribbons. And so they're really a huge wide array of things that they can be used on. We primarily use them on bags, but you could use them for dog leashes, or adornments on jean jackets, or clothing, or all sorts of different things. So if you really want to bling up the latest sewing project, come for one of these, right? Yes, yes. What is your very most favorite thing about the quilt? Oh, I love that we get to see so many, we're primarily an online shop. We have a brick and mortar just north of Denver and Frederick, but I really love being able to see all of our customers in person. So many people come up and say, Oh, I did your block of the month, or I did your, you know, queen of diamonds, or I buy online from you. And so it's fun to put a face with a name and it's just such a joyous atmosphere. Nobody's having a bad day here at QuiltCon. That's wonderful. Thanks for taking the time to chat with me. Thanks so much for having me. I'm sitting at a table with Sarah, who's attending QuiltCon. Sarah, what brings you all the way from California to QuiltCon? I'm at QuiltCon. It's a great chance to see artists and um, 30 members from our guild, the Silicon Valley Modern Quilt Guild, who are here and that's really exciting. And I also volunteered and did white glove for two days. So I, I really enjoyed it. I love the energy. I love seeing everybody wear their me made things. Um, it's been a very A real joy and a bright spark, um, in this, in this time where things are kind of challenging, so I'm very grateful for that. So was volunteering kind of your way of getting to know people? Getting introduced to people? Yeah, that was a little bit of it. Um, you know, it's been a really nice thing, and I have my name, my guild, my social media handle. And I think it's a really nice swap item. People can put it on their lanyards or on their bags, and so that's something really fun. Everyone I've met so far has been really nice, and it's just, it's so incredible to see all of us who are passionate about the same thing coming together and getting excited about fiber arts. So I wasn't able to take any of the classes, but um, I've been enjoying some of the make it takes. Cotton and Steel, they have a bookmark, Make and Take, uh, other people have made things, uh, and so that's been Make and Take, just being in case our listeners don't know, just a tiny project that you can sit in and in just a few minutes make it, take it with you. Yeah, but it's interesting because, for me, as someone who's involved in our Silicon Valley Modern Cook Guild, and our group ends up planning retreats and such, these are really great ideas for us to take back home to our guild. For, um, for little make and takes for activities, that sort of thing. So I, I'm very inspired by everything I see around me and seeing the clothes and seeing the quilts. And just, it makes me want to be a better sewist, a better quilter. I love all that. Thanks for taking time to chat with me. My pleasure, my pleasure. Thank you for talking to me. Taylor's joining me. Let me have your quick top, top three or top highlights of QuiltCon. Putting you on the spot. Um, let's see. Last year I absolutely loved seeing all the quilts on Instagram. But, I mean, this is their side and seeing other people's response to these quilts in person. There's nothing. I mean, Instagram is great, but like Oh, I couldn't agree more. This is my first QuiltCon, too. So, yeah, I do the same thing. Just get right up close and personal to those quilts. And then, also, step back from them about 20 feet. And that gives you a whole other perspective, too, doesn't it? Any other highlights for you? Something you're looking forward to taking home with you? What type of workshops have you done? I just didn't know how to do that partial seam. And now I'm like, ooh, I have options now. I have skills. Um, so I'm excited about that. The teacher did a great job explaining, um, the actual techniques for how to do that. And then I took a few, um, did a few seminars on color, which were so exciting. Cause I never got any art classes in high school and like, just learning about actually how colors work and how they respond to each other has been so fantastic. And I'm just, the whole thing is just, I'm overwhelmed with how amazing it is to be here. I'm so, so glad that I made the choice to, to come. Good. Well I look forward to seeing your future quilts. very much. Thanks for stopping and chatting. Am here with Blair. We're on the quilt floor. The doors have just opened for the final day of QuiltCon. What are you finding you love best about the show this year? So, I would have to say, I love the hand stitching that I see. It seems like people are more and more interested in learning about it. I teach a lot of chicken scratch embroidery, so. I love hand stitching myself. I love seeing it on the quilts. I love seeing it as texture and used as a design component in these. And yeah, it's just been fun to talk to people about hand stitched components, whether it be embroidery, whether it be chicken scratch, cross stitch, and just kind of talk together through all these different ways that we're seeing it displayed on these quilts this year. And what kind of is your background, or what are you doing at the show here? So I am a vendor. I am sort of sharing a space with Denise Schmidt. And this is the first time I've vended at QuiltCon. It's been fantastic. Um, and I do, uh, I come from an apparel background and what I do is mainly Color value based, very scrappy patchwork. And then this whole component of chicken scratch embroidery sort of emerged in my business. Well, it, it, it was a personal obsession that sort of, um, emerged into like this whole other side of my business. So it's two arms under Wisecraft handmade and yeah, we're having a blast. Brainstorm behind that. Is it the ruby ruler? Yes. Tell me a little bit about that. I find that so fascinating and then we can take it to your vendor booth and get it. Look at a group of fabrics, or look at a group of blocks on your wall, on your design wall, and it distorts the color of the individual fabrics just enough that you can focus on the value. And I find that if we look at our stash, we often look at it for color, like I need a blue, and you go through your stash, but if we look at the whole stash, Through the lens of a color value concept that it sort of reignites our inspiration and so I, um, over the years have Developed some tricks and things to sort of help us reimagine what our stash could be I mean we bought all that fabric we chose it I feel like we should use it. We all have more than we'll ever need So true it because I love scrappy quilts, too It makes such a difference in how I view them and how I arrange them It just makes an enormous difference. I can't overstate that. It really does. And a lot of times I think we, we feel a design barrier, a personal design barrier, of breaking up things like a curated fat quarter set or things like that. But when you break it up and you mix it in with fabric you've already lovingly purchased and chosen, it really becomes your aesthetic. And sometimes it takes You know, a little work to get there, you know, trial and error. But once you get there, and once it clicks, I love seeing that in my students. Once it clicks, they're like, I get it now. I understand. It's great. It's really fun. So good. Well, thanks for taking a few minutes to chat with us. I'm with Brandi Maslowski in her own little podcast booth corner in the Oliso Iron booth. Um, have you been here for the whole quilt show, Brandy? Yes, so this is my fourth year at QuiltCon with the Podcast Lounge, and it's actually called the Oliso Story Space. So we're asking quilters who stop by just to give us a two, two minute snippet, tell us a little bit about their quilting story, what they love about QuiltCon. And then of course we're getting all these influencers and amazing creators coming in there, so I'm trying to talk about their biz, share their Instagram handle, and lift them up as a creator. I just love that. For people who can't physically come to QuiltCon, this is such a great way to get a little sampling of the people that are there and feel like you've met some of those people and had a chance to sit down and chat with them, honestly. So, I love that you do that. Yeah, and this time I did it in a different way. I chose to be here 9 a. m. to noon every day, so people can find me at a specific time. And then the rest of the day I am doing lives in the show, showing the quilts, meeting the vendors. I'm doing stuff for people who just can't come to QuiltCon. It's just not feasible for them, and I'm getting some good love in the comments. They're like, oh, thanks for showing the show, and you know, thanks for showing my quilt from Canada, and those kind of things. So it's been a lot of fun. That's so nice, because of course there are many, many, many people. Yeah. That can't make it worse. Yes, absolutely. And so, to be able to give them a little of that flavor and that feel is just very, very good. Thanks for being so generous. It's my pleasure. I am having a blast. All right. Well, till next time. Catch you at the next quilt show. Take care. I'm sitting with Melody, who is one of the designers for Ruby Star Society. I, well I'm such a fan of course, but this is my first QuiltCon, so I want to hear about the genius that's behind the fashion shows every day. Hi, We spend a lot of time in our studio and in our weekly meetings with our designers who are kind of spread out all across the country, talking about what we can bring to this show. This is such a big show for us. So, along the way, we just try to collect ideas and then we, we kind of have this policy of coming up with as many crazy ideas as possible. Weird ideas, bad ideas, especially bad ideas. And then over time we narrow them down and pick our favorites. I think last year we realized that people love to dress up for the show. I wore a jumpsuit last year, some, some of the attendees had them, and we were like, oh yeah, that, that looks like a great thing, let's do that. And we've always loved caftan, so that was a no brainer. So yeah, that's just some of our favorite things, and we'll see what we do. We'll go home and compare notes and see what we do for next year. What does that look like on the floor? One day was jumpsuit day, is that right? That's right, so first day we called it spirit day, and that was sort of like, wear your ruby star. garments, whatever they are, anything goes. The second day was jumpsuit day and people were wearing, variations on jumpsuits, but a lot of coveralls with patches and, little quilted pieces sewn on. They were just amazing, like so much creativity. The third day was caftan day. And so there were a lot of women wandering around in these lovely, flowy, comfy dresses. It was great. Around it all. It does. Yeah. Like, which is just lovely. Thank you. And I'm sure QuiltCon appreciates you bringing that too. Thanks for taking the time to chat with me. Appreciate it. Thank you. I'm in the Auroville booth with Claire, and I've confessed to Claire that I am a quiltmaker and a long arm bra. I'm going to try my best. So, um, Aurifil's the thread. I'm a quilter myself and I switched to Aurifil and I've never looked back. And that's before I worked with the company. It is just a dream to work with. It works on every machine. It just slides through. There's never any problems. There's 270 colors to choose from as well. So there's a massive variety. There's different weights. So you can get different definition in your quilting. It's just the perfect. I totally understand the appeal of having different weights for different effects. But one of my big old questions is, when I use 100 percent quality thread, I get super low lint and I love that because I do a lot of remotes. That matters to me. So kind of, how does it measure up and where's that sort of tipping point? The way that the thread is actually produced is, um, it goes through a whole process and it's actually like seared and, um, like a burning process. So it actually gets rid of all the lint. So there's very, very little lint with our cotton thread. Um, if you look up, do you see anything? Ladies are showing me how beautifully smooth it is. Do you see that? Yeah. So when you look at, you can't see any fuzz coming off of that. So everyone does think there's a lot of lint that comes off our threads, but there really isn't. And that it's never been an issue. And, um, it's. You know, once people start using it, they tend to never look back, so. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I mean, you love it. Thank you. I'm taking a little walking break with Calista Wonderfill threads. Calista has a long armor. I know my favorite of your products is the Depobob bobbins with the 80 way thread because I feel like they last forever. What's one of your favorite threads? So, I've been really into hand sewing recently, and specifically hand embroidery. So, I'm always reaching for eleganza, but when I want to add a little bit of like sparkle, and like a little bit accent of a special area, I like to use the dazzle. I love dazzle too. I agree, that's such a pretty decorative. If you, if someone was a beginner to hand stitching, are those threads that they would want? I think I would definitely recommend the eleganza. It's like a really nice and easy to use thread. And I think a lot of people when they think about hand sewing or like hand stitching or like hand embroidery, they think about like floss and things like that. And while that's Perfectly fine to use as well. I actually prefer like the pearl cotton, which is what eleganza is because you don't have to split it so and the other the plies especially and also because when you have um Floss, it's actually a little flatter than a pearl cotton, which is more round in shape So when you're doing especially things like bullions or even just like a running stitch It's got more definition to it and I really love how it like sits on the fabric and everything So it's definitely my go to and it's super easy to use like even if you're like the most beginner of beginner You cannot mess up using that thread And she was showing how to make labels. Would that be a suitable thread making quilt labels? Yes, absolutely. So that is the one that she was using to make labels and, and she was actually using, um, 50 weight thread and doubling up before. But then when I saw her using it, I was like, wait, why don't you use the elgan? And actually showed her and, and that's actually what she switched to now That's perfect. And it's like got more dimension to it. So I really love it. And it's nice that she's used it for this application as well. I think that's awesome. Thanks for taking a minute to chat with me. No problem, it was great talking to you. I'm standing with Erin at the Innova booth, and we're chatting about all the different ways that you can load quilts on long arm rails. What's your opinion about the right way to load a quilt? Well, first of all, I try and always tell people there is no right. Just kind of knowing what you do and why you do it. Make this reach up or reach for it. So at home in my studio, I use the Sewtypes. I really love the way that they are. Great because they're so fast to load. I love that they're a little bit more So I typically load the bottom of the Red Top Bar. I get to grab from that canvas. As I'm pulling, making sure things are straight. And then just about as that fabric gets to the bottom side of the dead bar, I have enough. I know I have enough if I go around to the back of the machine, to then pull it under the dead bar and up right on top of the edge of that um, up to the bottom. And that's when I put my serpents in. And even just one of your colleagues was standing here and we were talking about, you know, red snappers versus so tights versus pins, all the ways that you can attach to a leader, right? That too just depends as so many things do on, on your budget, on your wrist strength, all those things. And so find the way that works for you, ask your friends and see what options are out there. That's a good idea. I agree with that. And perhaps even at shows such as QuiltCon, where we're standing now, there might be dealers that have a set, right, where you can get a feel for them and like, how are you with that magnet strength and does that work for you? So, yep, that's perfect. Good way to try things out before you commit. All right. Thanks for taking the time to chat. I am in the Bernina booth with Vince, who's the Q Series head of sales. Am I right? Yes. In the U. S. And lots of you listeners will know Stella, my long arm, but Stella has brand new twin sisters, which have just broken out in the last week or so at Quilt Shows. Tell me more about those. Yes, we actually are now introducing the, uh, therefore the Q 16, uh, Q 16 plus would fit on one. It's a Q Series hoop frame and we have a domestic hoop, seven series for the Berninas. Uh, that you can put on there and you can actually sew your quilt on a hoop. They're 5 foot frames and they, you can actually sew a king size quilt on them because they're a hoop. They don't roll, they are hooped in. So this is a great new product that Bernina has and I think you're going to love it. The huge advantage is that small footprint. So for people who have space challenged homes, or um, yeah, basically small spaces. But also the domestic machine, the frame can be lowered so low that you can actually sit at it as well, if standing is an issue for you. It is, yes. So, we actually have it set up here at the show that we're at, and we have one that is up so you can stand up, and the other, we have it lowered and then you sit at it so it's comfortable. So there's so many options. I just feel like this has hit so many midpoints between that, um, the long arm that is a sit down machine on a table and the long arm that is on a frame. This is hitting all the points in between. that want to move to a frame you can put your domestic machine on the frame and then if you want to go bigger you can actually add the Q 16 to the same frame later down the road or you can come and get a look at that or you have a sit down which you want to move to a frame and this gives you that opportunity. You don't have the space. So good. Well, I look forward to seeing these come into more common use over the next few months. Thanks for chatting with me. Thank you. I appreciate it. Okay. I'm standing with Carolina and it was hard to get close to you. You have such a loyal fan club which is awesome to see. Thank you. Thank you so much. To start with, will you say your whole name with your last name so I'm sure to get it right. Oneto. Perfect. Carolina Oneto. Lovely. Well we have just come, I've just sat through a lecture of yours on color composition. You did a fantastic job of laying out some very complex and a lot of concepts in small manageable bites. I am not a trained artist in any way, but I came away from that thinking, I can do this, I can apply this. Absolutely. So is, I'm curious, what came first for you, making quilts or the passion for color? I think that was I always like art. I have been always like before being a quilter as a hobby. I started watercolor painting. So I think color is being always something that I love, right? Yeah. And now and once I started quilting, it was so. clear to me that okay color is the thing that I want to use. I love that. Yeah. Being here at QuiltCon really highlights how in North America we have All the fabric, all the tools, all the gadgets at our fingertips, almost no matter where you live, it's one online order away. How different is that living in Mexico now and does that influence the type of work that you do? Yeah, I think, well now I'm just there the last So before that we live in Brazil and in Brazil it wasn't easy to get the materials, right? So commonly what I do is when I travel I buy all my fabrics, but you know what that means? That I can't buy everything. Yards, I just buy a small amount of each color and in some way I think That makes me create the quilts in the way that I create with small pieces Creating many color transitions because I never have more than a half a yard in one color Right, right. Yeah, so that's definitely influence. Absolutely. Yeah Absolutely, I just I so appreciated that your presentation was full of pictures not only of quilts But of artwork. Yeah. You know, illustrating know because that, uh, we all can go also with mu to museums and, and there we can apply this concept and understand better what we are seeing. Right. Uh, trying to bring what we see there. To your quilts. To your compositions. Because these are principles that are not new. No, no. And they are in as they are a bit, yeah. Yes, exactly. Thank you very much. Okay. Thank you. I'm standing with Chris in front of his booth Modern American Vintage and Chris makes the most incredible wooden quilters tools. What got you started in this? Okay, so my mom is the quilter of the family. Um, she had a little chopstick that she was using as a point turner. Right. And, uh, it snapped on her while she was using it one day. Splintered. And, yeah, and, uh, so I had cobbled together just a small smattering of, um, tools from Facebook Marketplace and, uh, garage sales to, uh, You know, kind of give my son and I the same experience that I had growing up with my grandpa making, you know, wooden toys and stuff like that. I love that. And then, uh, so, her point turner snapped on her, and I, uh, I just made something quickly out of, uh, quilted maple and spalted Hawaiian koa, and she showed it to the, uh, her bosses at the quilt studio that she was working at, and they did a de stash video of some, uh, some, uh, Just simple point turners, and they sold out right away, and it's just snowballed since then, so. What a great story. So I was by your booth yesterday, and I got a thread holder that's got a houndstooth kind of design in it. It is incredibly intricate. So if you were doing that, let's say a clapper with houndstooth, like, how many pieces are in that? Hundreds. Absolutely hundreds. But the good thing about it is I, I do it in phases. Like a lot of quilters, you know, you, you, uh, sew together, you strip piecing. But with wood and glue instead of, uh, you know, fabric and thread, so. So there's something to be learned between the crafts. Right. How cool is that? So is this your first QuiltCon or is this one of many? This Your third already. Yep, and we would not miss another QuiltCon for anything. What's your favorite thing about QuiltCon? The energy and the people that come here are some of the most just friendly, happiest people to be here. Uh, the creativity that you get to, uh, you know, talk about with everybody just kind of fills the tank for the rest of the year. So it's very, very inspiring. Well, thanks very much for joining me. It's been a pleasure. Absolutely. Thank you. My friend. I hope that those snippets made you feel like you had a small chance to be present at Quilt Con as well. So thanks so much for listening and let me know what you thought of the interviews and if you'd like to hear more of this style of what I call little snippet interviews. So until next time, may your sorrows be patched and your joys be quilted.