Meet Erynn Truexx: The Creative Mind Behind The Panto Shop Revival

In this episode, I speak with Erynn Truexx, the creative force behind True Threads Quilting and The Panto Shop. The conversation explores Erynn's journey as a quilter and entrepreneur, focusing on her experience with longarm quilting and her recent acquisition of the Panto Shop, a digital pantograph marketplace.

Key Topics Discussed

• Erynn's introduction to quilting through the Modern Quilt Guild and QuiltCon
• Her experience working with Innova at quilt shows
• The acquisition and revitalization of the Panto Shop
• Explanation of pantographs and digital quilting designs
• The challenges and benefits of different pantograph designs
• Erynn's vision for elevating edge-to-edge quilting designs
• Her experience creating a Chicago jacket from a quilted project
• Organization systems for quilting materials and projects

Special Offer

Erynn is offering podcast listeners 20% off their entire order at the Panto Shop. Use code SBS20 at thepantoshop.com

Pearls of Wisdom

Erynn shared two important pieces of advice:

1. "Take imperfect action" - Don't wait for things to be perfect before moving forward
2. "Perfection doesn't exist" - Focus on the journey and continuous improvement rather than an unattainable perfect state

Additional Resources

• The Panto Shop - Digital pantograph mark

Want to try free motion quilting but don't know where to start? Here's 3 simple steps to get going.

Are you looking to ADVANCE your machine quilting skills?

Machine quilting can be very solitary, especially on a longarm. It's just not that easy to pack up your machine and head to a friend's house for the day, right? But it's important to have that community - that sharing of ideas and tips, encouragement and motivation.

For more information and to sign up, visit our website.  

Transcript

Susan Mic: 0:48

Welcome to season five 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 and sometimes bumpy world of turning a passion into a profession, I'm excited to pull back the curtain and share my own experiences. So 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, we'll 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 I'm thrilled to be joined by Erynn Truexx. She's the creative force behind True Threads, quilting and the Panto Shop. Erynn's not only a talented quilter machine, quilter known for her wearable art like her Chicago jacket, but also an entrepreneur who's made it her mission to provide quilters with easy access to digital photographs from really talented designers. And we'll talk about her practical approach to organization too. To me, Erynn exemplifies the modern quilter who embraces both tradition and innovation. So I'm excited to dive into her creative journey.

Susan: 2:21

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Susan Mic: 3:11

Welcome Erynn, to the podcast.

Erynn Mic: 3:15

Introduction. I appreciate it.

Susan Mic: 3:17

I first met you actually fairly recently in person At Quilt Con in Phoenix, Arizona, which is put on by the Modern Quilt Guild. And at the time you were working in the Inova booth, so is that kind of where you got your start or is that something lately in your world?

Erynn Mic: 3:33

No. So partnering with Inova is something that I picked up along the way. I came to quilting actually through the Modern Quilt Guild a number of years ago, probably like eight or nine years. And, after stumbling through it for a bit, I got into long arming and my husband and I at the time were looking, to start a small business as a family. It kind of felt like the next. The right next step for us. And I had a couple of quilts to take to the longarmer, and she and I got talking about things and I. To kind of present him with the idea and, and to start to talk about things. So I was, long running professionally, probably about six months. When I met Inova, we were at a show. I just kind of stopped. I was there with another quilting friend and I just kind of paused at the booth. I said, Hey, this is the machine that I have a lot of people gonna actually make it back. The studio it says, this is what it's like. and the first time somebody sees a long arm and sort of realizes how big the frame is, how big the machine is, all the, the technology and the robotics, their eyes turned into saucers. And so we were just chatting about it and they, someone in the booth came up to me and said, oh, where you interested? You know, long arm, oh no, I actually already have this one. And so then the conversation kind of took a turn from there. Oh, you know, how do you like it? How have. How do you like it, et cetera, et cetera. And at the time, they were kind of looking for, um, some folks to do just that, to work in the booth as quilters, who have the machines to talk about their experience, and why they chose Innova, what makes it different from some of the other brands. and to just sort of be able to talk about my business and, and really put color to a story

Susan Mic: 5:02

a good way of, that's a great way of putting it, Erynn. Putting color to a story.'cause I've seen this, I've worked with BERNINA in the same kind of capacity and I think genius for marketing because. A dealership, and I'm putting little air quotes around that. A dealer can only go so far in the sense that they know sort of mechanically about all the features and you know, the machine and how to put it together, but in fact, they don't quilt on it day to day to day. Right. And so to someone who does do that, showing it off is ideal. Okay. Keep going with your

Erynn Mic: 5:36

Yeah. So, no. So they just kind of said, uh, at the time there, you know, we're, we're kind of starting to look for quilters. We're starting to build a team. This something you'd be interested in going to a few shows a year. I'm sorry, excuse me. I'm gonna get to go to a quilt show for work and talk about. My business that I love and what I get to do every day and just share this with other people and talk to other quilters, and you're gonna pay me to do this. Uh, so it was, it was really a no brainer. And it's been, it's been an awesome experience because I actually got to go through the same training that they do with their dealers. So really getting in nitty gritty and, I've gotten to test some things, give feedback on things. And so, I've really enjoyed that front seat that I've gotten, to have just, a happenstance, for meeting them. So I did, I think last year I did maybe eight shows, which is a lot. In the beginning we kind of thought it was gonna be, two or maybe four. And then I've done, just a couple so far this year.

Susan Mic: 6:30

That's so awesome. So, shifting gears a little bit, the, the capacity in which I ran across your name was, through the panto shop, which maybe people don't know what that is, but it's a small business that was formed by several ladies who developed Digital Pantograph Designs a couple of years ago. And because I don't buy a lot of them, I didn't really keep up on what it was doing and realize that it had kind of paused, had a hiatus. But now you've taken over that business. Is that right? And have chosen to continue it and grow it.

Erynn Mic: 7:01

Yes. So the Panto Shop was formed a number of years ago, like you said, by, uh, three women in the business, Shelly and Ante quilting, of textiles Caitlin of non thread. And they came together as, modern quilters, digital quilters, and said, Hey, we. Don't love the experience of some of the existing Pantograph websites. They're a little bit dated. They don't come great on your phone. You know, what can we do to, to improve this? And when they launched, it was one of those ideas. I think a lot of cultures are like, oh, the best idea. Why didn't I think of that? And it just truly was a, a beautiful website, super sleek, super mobile friendly, great filters, all of those things as quilters that we care about. You know, are these things, are, is there a backtracking, is it beginner friendly things? And the shop was, was super popular, kind of in the more modern digital quilter niche of the industry. And, then they announced maybe six months ago at this point, that they, their. Their other businesses were just kind of moving in different directions and, their heart wasn't really in the panto shop anymore, but you know, for me it was such a good space to, to go and see. They'd brought together, I think at this point, probably 16 different designers, all was sort of that modern lean to their aesthetic. Not all a hundred percent modern, but just sort of, Segment of the industry. And and it just broke my heart a little bit to hear that the shop was going away.'cause it was such a great marketplace for what I wanted, to go shop for. And, I kind of thought about it for a few days and decided to reach out and say, Hey, is there any chance, if you guys are just closing up, is there any chance you would sell the business to me? and so they did. We started, we had a couple conversations. They were all, it was very amicable. And just talked about, what it took to run the shop and what was going on behind the scenes, how did their relationships work with the other designers? All that stuff that, the rubber meets the road before you as the consumer by design at the end. And, yeah, so in the end we came to an agreement and I took over the shop. They formally closed up at the end of last year. And then I, took over and had been working to get as of, uh. And, um, now it's kind of carrying on that torch. And so we've signed, one new designer. I've got a couple other ones in the works, and just, uh, kind of figuring out now how to balance all of that. All of everything that it takes to run the panto shop. Along with, uh, I'm still quilting as well, so that's a fun new challenge.

Susan Mic: 9:15

It certainly is, and I have a high level of respect for doing that because I know what a different skillset it takes to, for example, update a website as opposed to quilt. A It's two very, very different things. Um

Erynn Mic: 9:28

It is, And it's funny, it's a totally different tool set than what I'm used to for my own business. So it's a platform on Shopify and I'm used to Wix and so now there's all of these other, I think I've got probably I'll probably same as you, you know, 10 or 15 different technologies behind the scenes that kind of connect everything together and it's um, it's different. It's a different skillset than quilting, that's for sure.

Susan Mic: 9:49

It really is. I mean, they're complimentary obviously, but. I'm kind of in the same boat myself. And this is kind of the nature of a, a business that has a, an online component is that you must have these, for example, third party payment processors and you know, the website design and things like that. And. There it is. Just that constant, I, for me, anyways, that's that constant balancing act of, you know, here's this new app that has this great new feature, but you know, how well does it integrate and, and what's the advantage of having several apps over having it all under one roof, even if it doesn't have every feature known to man. All those things. So I bet you're dealing with all of those, um, nitty gritty decisions too.

Erynn Mic: 10:28

Yes. Yeah. So right now I think my biggest issue is sort content management, um, on the, on the quilting side of things, right? I have my library of designs that I like to, you know, show clients and talk about. And then I also have to keep track of, you know, which design is going on, which quilt and, uh, which designs may be do I not want to do again? Were they, you know, particularly Fus or just didn't the. And then now with this new, uh, venture with the Panto shop, I also have all of those designs to manage and all of those files and all of those pictures. And so, um, luckily in my sort of career before this, I was, uh, kind of in the technology industry or technology adjacent. So, uh, I had a few tools in my belt. Right now I'm leveraging, uh, Airtable, which is kind of a database, an online database. Uh. Pretty much is my world. I absolutely love it where I've got kind of records of everything. And so through that, I kind of have this, this network of linking, you know, quilts to pictures, to files, to clients, to threads, to, to things. And that's been a, just a, a complete lifesaver, uh, of a technology. That's my one. You know, if, if that one went away tomorrow, I would be, uh, upstream without a paddle.

Susan Mic: 11:43

You're mixing metaphors there, but that's pretty funny. I feel like, I feel like that could be a whole other episode because I think there are quite a few machine quilters out there who do it for hire, and that's a huge component is tracking, you know, the intakes and the, and the notes from each one and the clients and all the things as you say. And that can be a big. Big job and there's a multitude of ways to do it, you know, that suits your, your personality and what have you. But anyway, that could be a whole other episode. I want to backtrack for a second, if you would, to talking about what panter graphs are in case there are podcast who may be quilt on their domestic sewing machine and, and haven't got a clue really what we're talking about now. So define one for us and kind of how it works. And a few of the things you mentioned in passing, like what if it has a ton of backtracking, like why does that matter? The computer's running it

Erynn Mic: 12:31

right. Sure. So, so a pantograph, uh, at its core is a design. Um, traditionally before machines were automated, uh, there would be some sort of paper pantograph that Longear quilters would put on the backside of the machine, on the table, and then they would have a laser or some sort of other device. On the machine to sort of follow the dotted line and trace the design. Now, it could be anything from a block to a border and a corner component, or it could be, um, an edge to edge or an all over design. And so edge to edge designs have a start and stop point on the same horizontal plane so that you can connect them. You know, when you get to the end of one design, you're ready to roll into the next. And so then that would be done, uh, basically all the way down the length of the quilt and the qui row. When, um, computers and robotics were introduced to long arms, now that is what's driving the machine instead of the quilter. And so taking those paper panto graphs and digitizing them as a file on these machines, now we have the ability to resize. And so you could buy something that was, you know, say for example, a six inch block or a six inch high. You can transform machine. Machine is going, then you are, uh, of course a, the quilt. And depending on if there's fullness in the quilt, lofty bating, then you're starting with things like, uh, you and. Working in some fullness for that quilt. So having designs that can, help take care of some of that fullness, uh, can be very helpful. Anything that's very dense or kind of comes around your circle helps draw that fullness. And then on the other end of the spectrum, if you have designs that are very. Precisely aligned. So think for example, um, a clamshell, you need that point of one clamshell to end up perfectly on the center of the clamshell that you did, in the previous row. And so that would, that's sort of the other end of the spectrum, I would say, a very highly precise design. So thinking all of, all of those components together, you know, pairing the quilt top, not only aesthetically with the design, but also one's functionally help you deal with some of that. Properties of a, of a fabric surface, right? Like it moves. And so, um, so having some of these filters, you know, beginner friendly designs that you don't have to worry about nesting. Um, backtracking is important for anyone who quilts. Uh, unfortunately sometimes we have to quilt. And so the more backtracking a design has. To me, the more painful the UN quilting becomes. Um, and, or you can have, you know, thread buildup and things like that. So just kind of being aware of how much backtracking something has, um, is important. And then again, we talked that alignment. Does this have to be perfectly nested or is there a little bit of forgiveness? Uh, and so kind of being able to pick and choose designs that are, you know, the level that you want to be quilting, you know, do I. Forget that's important when you're not

Susan Mic: 15:49

Yes, it's, it's all too easy to think. The computer's driving it. You just push a button and away it goes. But it's, it's actually not like that very much like the computer does have the design in its memory, but because as you said, you're working on a fabric surface and it is never perfectly flat and never perfectly square, and it can change as you're working. All of that has to be managed by the quilter and this knowledge of what features help you with that or what makes a design. More intricate. I learned the hard way that designs that have a lot of points to them take a very, very, very long time. I got a great idea of doing a quilt for a client for Christmas, and I got a design that was pine trees. Can you imagine? Yeah. I quilted about mm, 10 inches of it and I thought, Nope, no, no. I am not doing a whole lap quilt that way. I'll be here for a month of Sundays. So yes, that knowledge comes though simply with experience. So I love that you filter your designs then so that the beginner can find something that's manageable and doable. And as they're learning these intricacies, they don't get overwhelmed by the first one that they try.

Erynn Mic: 16:58

right. Because we all sort of wanna feel successful as we're doing this, right. And, and work up to, you know, some of those more challenging designs.

Susan Mic: 17:05

Absolutely. Absolutely. Um, you, I had one question, and you've kind of answered it already, but it was, you know, how does the panto shop kind of jive? How do your two, the two aspects of your business work together? Do they compliment each other? Well, do you find that the panto shop is giving you lots of new ideas and maybe understanding of what quilters are looking for? You know, and the fact that you are a quilter, that those two compliment each other well.

Erynn Mic: 17:32

Yes. So definitely as a consumer, I have lots of opinions on things that I like to shop for. And so now as a shop owner, kind of trying to make those come to life, um. What is gonna be interesting, I think the next iteration for us with the Panto shop is not just having edge to edge designs, but figuring out how to kind of take them to the next level. Um, my heart is really in digital custom quilting. And so, you know, doing more, not just putting the edge, I don't know, quilt, but really doing something to kind enhance the piecing and be that really awesome, you know, supporting force to make the quilt talk more than the some of its parts. And so I've started to work with a couple of the designers to. To, to build sets of designs or, or, um, collections of designs that can be combined in ways to be more interesting than just one design on the entire quilt. And so that was when I was thinking about buying the panto shop, that was kind of where my head was. It was a few steps down the line of, you know, what can we do to kind elevate modern digital quilting to the next level to get more people doing the next step beyond edge to edge? And I loved that was already a. An established audience. I love that. Um, sort of these more modern, more digital quilters are not afraid of technology and not afraid of playing on their machines and trying new things. And so it's gonna be interesting to see when some of these designs, uh, start to come to life, how they are, uh, what quilts they end up on, and then what people do with them. I think it's gonna be a really neat chapter to see, to see how edge to edge designs can evolve in the next you.

Susan Mic: 20:31

I love hearing your vision on that and what. Excites you because I am in a different place. My aesthetic is different. I absolutely love edge to edge and I'm predominantly a freehand quilter. So my courses,'cause I teach courses on it, online courses, um, tend to teach that idea of creating something beautiful but also edge to edge. So it's super functional, um, and super economical in time. But it's so interesting to me to, to see your aesthetic because I can see your viewpoint. The interest that putting something different in blocks or borders can really bring to a quilt. So I made a social media post the other day. Quilting is like a charcuterie board, right? There's something for everyone and try something new. You might find that you love it. So I love that there is this, this vast array of ways to approach quilting and whatever you love the look of or you want to try, you absolutely should.

Erynn Mic: 21:28

Absolutely. And I think to me as a business owner, right, so time is money and I'm looking for ways to figure out how to do these kind of elevated edge to edge things in a way that's still economical, right? And I think there's gonna be a very. Interesting intersection that we're gonna start to see with a little bit more, maybe a little bit more customization on the design front end of the quilt, but then still being able to execute it like an edge to edge design and still, you know, kind of keeping that overall time that you're spending on a quilt top down, um, I think is gonna be, it's gonna be exciting. I think there's a lot of opportunity in That space,

Susan Mic: 22:03

a

Erynn Mic: 22:04

what we can do.

22:06

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Susan Mic: 22:59

So I do wanna hear, because I saw a picture of your Chicago jacket. Is Chicago jacket the name of the pattern? Am I saying that right?

Erynn Mic: 23:06

Yes, that's correct. So, um, the sewing workshop is the kind of business, Lee is the owner of that, uh, and the Chicago jacket is the.

Susan Mic: 23:17

and is it made, like, did you quilt yardage first or is it made from something that was like already a quilt? Does that make

Erynn Mic: 23:24

Uh, I guess it was, so a little bit of both. Um, that was a quilt top that came from a kit. Uh, I did it on retreat one weekend, and, uh, then I got it out and I quilted it. It was kind of at the beginning when I had my long arm, so I picked a design, I quilted it. Luckily I hadn't trimmed and bound it yet. I laid it out. on our bed in our bedroom, and I kinda looked at the quilt and I looked at the rest of the decor in the bedroom and I was like, this doesn't go at all. What on earth was I thinking when I picked this out? And so he's like, well, I don't wanna finish it because, you know, why would I put the time to turn and bind it if I'm not even gonna use it in this room? And I was sitting and thinking, and sitting and thinking. It's like, these quilted jackets are really popular. I mean, I already don't like it, so might as well cut it up and try something else. You know, I've got nothing to lose at this point. And so I was looking for a jacket. I knew I needed something, um, that wasn't lined, and where the seams, you know, were gonna kind of come together easily. I wanted a raglin sleeve that a lot of the jackets that you see right now, especially the quilted ones, have a set sleeve. I just, I knew I wanted that raglin look. Uh, and I wanted pockets, but I didn't want patch pocket. I wanted some kind of, uh, in pocket. I don't. I didn't want like, patchwork on patchwork. And so, um, if you, if you can't tell, I have dabbled a bit in garment sewing. And so, uh, kind of going back through all the patterns and designers that I liked, I found the Chicago jacket and, um, it sort of ticked all those boxes for me. So I, I laid out the quilt, I traced out the pieces, I cut it, uh, cut it up, and then I sewed it. Gosh, it probably took. Maybe a day or two. It was not a complicated jacket by any means. Um, and that was it. That was the birth of, of that jacket. And, uh, I laugh now because I probably have gotten more use out of that jacket than any quilt I've ever sewn, ever, just because it gets worn. Uh, you know, it thrown on in the morning when it's a little bit chilly. I wear it at shows, I wear it out. Uh, and I've gotten, you know, stopped by more quilters with compliments things and, and here it was just a quilt that I thought I was never gonna use.

Susan Mic: 25:25

That's awesome. Okay, so you said you did an in scene pocket. Have you done a welded pocket? Do you welded

Erynn Mic: 25:32

I have done welded pockets. I don't think, with all of those layers, I would wanna do a welded pocket

Susan Mic: 25:37

Actually, it's not too bad. I've made a couple

Erynn Mic: 25:40

it

Susan Mic: 25:41

No, and it wasn't bad. In, in some ways it was easier because there's more structure, more heft to a quilted piece, the three layers. Um, yeah. I didn't find it too bad. Anyway, that was my choice of, pocket.'cause I did the

Erynn Mic: 25:55

I will have to,

Susan Mic: 25:57

I,

Erynn Mic: 25:57

yeah, I'll have to try one, maybe with some, uh, some scraps and but no, it's just got, and it's got nice big pockets, like you can fit your whole hand or your whole phone. It's got those nice, nice good pockets.

Susan Mic: 26:08

Deep pockets is good. Yes. But I've done the same thing. Take, you know, I have this vision in my head for a quilted coat, and then I run back through the garment patterns that I have and say, will this sleeve work? Will that collar work? Because some them don't work with quilted fabric. It's true. It's true.

Erynn Mic: 26:23

Yes. Yeah. Very good.

Susan Mic: 26:25

Okay. I wanna talk for a second about. The making process of quilts. You had a social media post that was super cute. It was maybe your little girl sitting beside a stack, a tower of bins and your, your organizational system. And clearly do love technology because you have a spreadsheet.

Erynn Mic: 26:43

yes.

Susan Mic: 26:43

You have a spreadsheet that labels all your bins. How, how do you do that? And I know everyone has a different organizational preference, but like, how do you like to store By color, by size, by use, by project. What's the thing?

Erynn Mic: 26:56

Oof, uh, all of the above. Uh, so that was actually kind of born out of necessity when I, uh, when I had her, my sewing room turned into the nursery, and so I got downsized and I got downsizes and I got downsized. And so eventually everything made it into these bins, and then I would go to find something and it was a shell game, and which bin is it in? then the bins got numbers, and then. It was kind of at that point, a lot of my garment fabric was kind of by substrate, so like all the linens were in one bin, kind of the thicker things were in one bin, lighter weights. Quilting Cotton, you know, was sort of in its own bin. And then I can distinctly remember once pulling out, I had two pieces of black knit, and I knew one of them was just plain cotton, nothing special. And I knew one of'em was like, fancy bamboo, expensive. And I was which, which one is which? And so that's where the spreadsheet kind of came from. And to be able to have that spreadsheet at the store and know, you know, you had so many yards of something and then you comparing it. And so it just kind of snowballed from there. So, so that's where the bins came from and they are, uh, very easy to move and very easy to stack. I think I can get'em like six high. And, uh, so that's my, my stash. what was the rest of the question?

Susan Mic: 28:06

well, I just wondered kind of how you organized your things. Like, I tend to organize by color, but I chiefly just have quilting cotton anymore. I don't do a lot of garment sewing, so the substrates, for example, does not massively apply to me. I like to organize by color, but some people prefer to organize by. Especially their scrappy stuff by, you know, size. You know, it's the, these are the long trippy things. These are the less than a fat quarter things, that kind of thing.

Erynn Mic: 28:33

So, so your question is very timely because I'm currently reorganizing my quilting stash. It was previously behind my long arm, but I could never get to it when the long arm was running. And that the 15 minutes or so that I would wanna get in and pull out for a project. So I just pulled it out yesterday. I'm putting into a different set of cabinets. Uh, I've got right now all of my pre-cut together because those typically, you know, I wanna do something with an entire collection and then I'm gonna keep all of my yard. In a separate spot. I'm gonna do the comic book boards, I think, so then I can kind of leaf through it easier. and I'm not sure yet in terms of color versus yardage, I've started to stash half yards instead of fat quarters because I feel like it's a little bit more economical and then you can kind of do whatever you need with it. Um, so we will see, I also have project bins set aside where it's, you know, an entire curation for a particular quilt. but then I've sort of run out of project bins and, I have too many, too many projects in the wings, so, so we will

Susan Mic: 29:34

surely not quilters. Don't do that.

Erynn Mic: 29:36

never, never. So, you know, I feel like I'm a, you know, this year I'm really finally down my, the long.

Susan Mic: 29:52

I too have multiple projects going at once and I've stopped apologizing for that. I I know I do get bored with things. And I love to work on something else. I also know I'm a finisher, so I do get them done eventually, but I do not try to limit myself to one or two or five. I just freely fly at it. My limit that I put on myself was my fabric. Stash has a finite space, and I won't let it get bigger. When it starts getting full, then I've got to sew for a while before I accumulate more, so that's my only limitation on myself. Project bins are a wonderful invention. Yay. And when I die, someone else can deal with what's left.

Erynn Mic: 30:33

It'll all be by then, right?

Susan Mic: 30:35

I have a few kids, they can figure it out. Okay. Before we go, I'm kind of springing this on you, Erynn, but I wonder if you have a little gem of wisdom to offer. It could be about like life or crafting in general, or it might be for the entrepreneur who's considErynng starting a business. Like is there something. Particular you would have to say to them That would be a place to start, or a point of encouragement. We'd love to hear it.

Erynn Mic: 31:00

Yes, absolutely. So there's kind of two things and I, I think they're sort of saying the same thing in, in different ways. Um. One thing that we talk a lot about, so I'm a member of, uh, the Long Arm League, which is a sort of a professional organization for people running long arm businesses. One thing that Jess always says is, uh, think about taking imperfect action. So don't wait around until things are absolutely ready to keep going, just because I start taking steps and you can keep pivoting and changing things along the way. And the other thing that I try and tell myself kind of in concert with that is that perfection doesn't exist. It is a. It's a state of mind and it's not necessarily. A finite that you can achieve. And it's a little bit more about the journey and about taking those steps and, and constantly working and constantly improving. And so whether that's, you know, oh, this quilt top and this quilting is or isn't perfect, or you know, this website or this email or what have you. Um, there is no such thing as perfect, and that's all kind of relevant to who's judging it. And so letting that go and just saying, okay, it might not be right the first time, but we can always kind of change it and tweak it and learn and, and do better next time. Um, has really kind of helped me calm some of those, uh, you know, that self critic in my head. Uh, and just, just constantly moving forward and constantly, you know, thinking and, and knowing that it's okay to not be perfect the first time is, is important.

Susan Mic: 32:23

It absolutely is. Thank you for joining me. This has been a great conversation and hopefully I'll meet up with you at some more quilt shows in the future.

Erynn Mic: 32:30

Thanks. Yeah.

Susan Mic: 32:31

Looking forward

Erynn Mic: 32:31

to it.

Susan Mic: 32:32

A huge thank you to Erynn Truex for joining me on the podcast today. What I find particularly inspiring about Erynn's journey is how she's managing to blend her artistic creativity and clearly her love of quilts and quilting designs. With business acumen, and in this way, she's creating solutions both for her own creative process and for us quilters. I so appreciate that, and I look forward to seeing what she does with her businesses in the future. Okay. Erynn has a gift for all of you today at the Panto shop, she is offering 20% off. An entire order. So to get that discount, just go to the panto shop.com and use the code SBS 20 for stitched by Susan. So SBS 20 is the code and we will put the link to the shop and the code so you can copy and paste it in the show notes. So check that out if that is easier. Well my friends, thanks for listening. And until next time, may your sorrows be patched and your joys be quilted.