Re-launching my podcast

I’m in it now, up to my neck. I’ve re-launched my podcast—you’ll find it posted in the “Podcast” section of this website. I’m still working on updating all my feeds that had gone inert during my time away so be patient—it’ll eventually show up in iTunes and Google and Spotify and all those good places. meanwhile, I discovered that Podbean (my podcast host site) now has badges available so I’m posting them here as my own motivation. (“Yay. Lookie what I did. Now keep doing it, sister.”) Meanwhile, please ignore all the links in the sidebar as they’re not currently working. They should be soon.

Here’s the thing—I’ll have no problem podcasting over the next couple of weeks but in January I have a fair amount of personal and work travel that I’ll need to work around, and then February and beyond is completely unpredictable due to Omicron—my county is already maxed out on hospital beds and they’re predicting January/February will be even worse so I’m preparing myself mentally for yet another shut-down. I had three churches in my region have to cancel in-person worship last Sunday because people had tested positive in the congregations. Please be safe, people.

Winners of My 5th Podcastaversary Giveaway

Thanks so much to all y'all for being part of my celebration!

I've had a lot of fun reading your comments and will probably do a summary on an upcoming podcast episode.

The winners were:

• $25 Fat Quarter Gift Certficate: Carole Ann W.
• Aurifil Thread: Jeanie C.
• Scrapitude pattern: Jeanne B.
• PRO Chemical and Dye gift certificate: Carole D.
• Craftsy class: Helle S.

(I've already emailed all five winners so if your name/last initial matches one of the above, check your email. If you don't have an email from me, that means your Doppelgänger is the winner--sorry!)

I wish I could give all my listeners out there gifts to say "Thank you!" Thanks so much for making these past five years fun, creative, and interesting. Part of the benefit for us podcasters to doing a podcast is that we try to stay on top of our projects knowing we need to have something to talk about! I know I've been much more productive these last few years because I knew I had people waiting to hear about my progress. Accountability, donchaknow.

Also, for me, knowing that I have listeners who enjoy learning new things pushes me to learn new things myself. I likely would have ended up doing art quilting and hand-dyeing and working with fibers eventually one way or the other, but I strongly suspect that having you all sending me encouraging comments, asking questions, and sharing your own experience with me has propelled me forward more effectively than I'd have done on my own. And I know my family is very happy that I have other people to talk about all this with, so I'm not constantly bending their ears about color schemes, accurate 1/4" seams, and struggles with fiddly bits! (They're none too sure about the Mad Quilt Scientist, either, but the less said about her, the better.)

So, thank you, thank you, thank you. And thank you again. 

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming...

It's My Fifth Podcastaversary--and a HUGE Giveaway! Woo Woo Woo Woo!

"It's my podcastaversary, it's my podcastaversary, it's my podcastaversary..."

Okay, so that doesn't have quite as much groove to it as the birthday chant, but hey, it's still a big deal! Five whole years of podcasting--woo woo! 

I've heard from several new listeners in the last few weeks that they've gone back to start listening from my very first episodes. Even I'm not that brave. We've come a long way, baby.

It's been five years of learning, experimenting, messing up, but having a ball. It's also been five years of talking to some very, very interesting people.

There's been Jaye of www.artquiltmaker.com, of course, for a lot of episodes. She helped me and--I know from comments--a lot of you learn a lot more about design principles and elements. Thanks so much, Jaye!

The roll call of the rest of the people I've interviewed? It's a long one! Let's see, there's: Tara Thom (long-arm quilter); Anne Sayuri Fujiwara Clausen (Hawaiian quilter); Beth Davis (quilt appraiser); several members of my guild--some of whom I had to twist their arms a bit; Charlotte Hawkes (Scrapitude designer, now of www.scrapitudequilts.com);  E. Aminata Brown of BabaBlanket.com; Amy Milne, executive director of the Alliance for American Quilts; Hollis Chatelain (www.hollisart.com); Kim Templin, designer of the Double Diamond Ruler; Erin Rissberger of Quilting Acres (hand-dyed wool); Lauren Sgranfetto (threadpainter); the meet-up during the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival in Hampton, VA (can you believe that was 3 years ago?); Karen Lee Carter, quilt artist (here's her Facebook page); Tiffany Sherman of Quilter's Corner; AJ of the Quilting Pot podcast; Kimberly Einmo (www.kimberlyeinmo.com); Wendy Butler Berns (www.wendybutlerberns.com); Jane Dunnewold (www.janedunnewold.com); Carol Ann Waugh (www.carolannwaugh.com); Valerie Goodwin (www.quiltsbyvalerie.com); and Ami Simms (www.amisimms.com).(Did I miss anyone? I sure hope not!) I haven't been doing so many interviews lately because my schedule went all haywire, but I love doing them so you're likely going to hear more in the future! 

But, forasmuch as I love talking about quilting, and forasmuch as I love doing interviews, what I really, really love is the conversation with listeners. That's why I always keep listener feedback as a part of my episodes--I think you've got some great stuff to say and I want to make sure you can all learn from each other. So keep those comments going!

The Giveaway

In thanks to all of my listeners, in honor of my fifth podcastaversary I have FIVE great birthday presents to give away. Lots of really, really great ones! I wish I could enter my own giveaway!

There's a $25 gift certificate from the Fat Quarter Shop for one lucky winner! Thanks, Fat Quarter Shop, for being a sponsor of my birthday party!

Ooh, I bet you can't wait to go shopping! If you win this one, I'll send your email address to our friends at the Fat Quarter Shop and they'll email you the gift certificate so you can start shopping in your jammies right away.

There's a really beautiful collection of Aurifil thread for one lucky winner! Thanks so much, Aurifil, for being a sponsor of my birthday! We all know I'm an Aurifil girl!

This Reel Time collection of 12 50-wt large spools goes for $130 in the wild. It could possibly be yours for the low, low price of having listened to 179 episodes of me. (Well, okay, maybe you've not listened to any episodes and you've just stumbled across this giveaway and want to take your chances. That's okay too! The more, the merrier!)

One very fortunate person will win a free copy of Charlotte's Scrapitude pattern! Thanks, friend Charlotte, for sponsoring my birthday party!

Remember Scrapitude, the mystery quilt I posted on my blog in 2013-2014? Charlotte is giving one lucky winner a free copy of the pattern she has now published and has for sale.

The picture is my completed Scrapitude quilt, aka ScrapiBonzaTude. To see other people's completed Scrapitudes, visit the Scrapitude Flickr group. To see what Charlotte is up to these days, or to get the clues for her 2015 mystery quilt, Scrap-in-a-box, visit her website at www.scrapitudequilts.com. It's going on right now--the reveal will be in another month or two so you'll want to catch up!

And one person will be the lucky winner of a $10 gift certificate to PRO Chemical & Dye at www.prochemical.com. Thanks, PRO Chemical & Dye, for sponsoring my birthday party!

Haven't you always wanted to be able to create gorgeous, one-of-a-kind fabrics? C'mon, you know you do. (See one of my own faves at left.) PRO Chem also has fabric paints, fabric markers, stamps and molding mats, Shiva paintsticks, tie-dye supplies, PFD fabrics and yarns, plus lots of books and videos on how to use all this great stuff. If none of that appeals to you, they sell collections of hand-dyed gradation fabrics (already dyed for you!) in beautiful colors.

And, finally, it wouldn't be a Sandy Giveaway without...drumroll please...a Craftsy class to give away! Thank you, Craftsy, for sponsoring my fifth birthday!

Yes, one lucky winner will win a free Craftsy class of their choice! If you win this one, I'll send you a special link for you to use to go to Craftsy's site to choose your class. If you don't already have a free Craftsy account, you'll be prompted to set one up when you use the link. (If you've been a blog or podcast follower of mine for any length of time, you'll definitely know how valuable I think their classes are!)

Use this Rafflecopter widget to enter in the giveaway. Five winners total!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway ends at midnight, Eastern time, on Sunday, April 4th, here in the United States. 

(Remember, just leaving a comment below will not enter you in the giveaway. You must use the Rafflecopter widget.)

Have fun!

Happy Fourth Podcastaversary! And There's Presents! (Giveaway)

(If you've already read this blog, note that the Craftsy class giveaway information has been updated!)

This is the closest I can get to sharing a cake with y'all, but I can give you presents!

Following quickly on the heels of the 2014 Quilty Resolutions First Quarter Check-in Giveaway and Linky Party that just ended at midnight last night (I'll announce the winner on my podcast episode this afternoon), it's time to celebrate my fourth podcastaversary with a HUGE giveaway!

With thanks to sponsors the Fat Quarter Shop and Craftsy, I have two big prizes to give away!

You could win...

... a $30 gift certificate to the Fat Quarter Shop!

Start dreaming now. What wonderful, beautiful, funky, pet-able fabric could you buy from the Fat Quarter Shop for $30? Wheeee!

To enter this giveaway, use this Rafflecopter widget to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

But wait...there's more!

You could win...

One Craftsy Class, Winner's Choice, for Free!

(Please note: updated information!) The winner will be able to choose which Craftsy class s/he wins!

To enter this giveaway, just click here.

If you're already registered for Craftsy, you'll just log into your account; if you're not already on Craftsy, you'll be prompted to create a Craftsy account (for free). Once you do so, you'll be entered into the giveaway! Craftsy will choose the winner using Random.org. Craftsy will let me know who the winner is and Craftsy will email the free class link to the winner.

I posted my first episode of Quilting...for the Rest of Us on March 28, 2010. It's been four great years of making new friends, learning a lot of new skills, and (of course) messing up a few times along the way. But I've had fun, and I'm looking forward to the next...however many...years! So come in, have a seat or hang out by the kitchen island like most of my guests do, and join me in my celebration, won't you?

Fiskars Fingertip Rotary Cutter photos

In episode 141 "In Which I Get Started on 2014," which I just posted yesterday (Sunday), I reviewed several things--most of which really don't need any pictures to explain them.

However, if you've not seen this one, my description on the podcast may not have been sufficient. Here are the photos to accompany my review of the Fiskars Fingertip Rotary Cutter.

The Fiskars Fingertip Rotary Cutter

It has a removable cover on the 18mm blade.

It fits very nicely on your finger--even more comfortable than holding a pencil.

Here's a close-up of the grip--it really is like holding a pencil. (Sorry for the blurriness. Hard to hold a rotary cutter in one hand and a phone in the other and get a decent picture!)

And here's a close-up of me actually cutting with it. Yes, that turned into a real piece on a project I'm working on. Although the piece later got removed again but that had nothing to do with the rotary cutter....

I really do like this little gadget--I can easily see myself using it often in the future.

Seam Ripper Review Episode (with photos)

The podcast episode I just posted tonight (Episode 135 In Which We Rip It) is all about seam rippers. I do a quick pro-and-con about the three styles of seam rippers I now own. Here are some quick pics to go along with the episode.

First, the three seam rippers side-by-side (left to right): a traditional seam ripper, the Olfa Rotary Point Cutter, and Havel's Ultra Pro Seam Ripper.

All are certainly up to the task, but they each have their benefits and draw-backs. You'll just have to listen to the episode to know (in my opinion, anyway) what those pros and cons are!

A traditional seam ripper at work... (pardon the bad fingernail--it's that time of year when dryness abounds!)

There are actually a couple methods to using this one--sliding it under individual stitches, or sliding it between threads in the seam between fabrics. I just have more problems using it the second way because the pushing motion tends to push the fabric out of whack.

The Olfa Rotary Point Cutter at work. This has been my preferred seam ripper for many years.

It was really hard for me to properly demonstrate this with one hand while holding my phone to take a picture in the other. But you get the basic idea: you simply cut the threads with the blade. When the blade is sharp--and it stays sharp for a very long time (again, listen to the episode to hear how old my blade is!)--all it takes is a little tap on the thread with the blade and it slices cleanly, Very fast and easy, and no stretching of the fabrics. And nope--no cuts! No cuts on fabric or on fingers!

Finally, Havel's Ultra Pro seam ripper at work. This will take a little getting used to but I have high hopes.

Again with the problems of ripping a seam one-handed with a phone-camera in the other hand...and this time, being positive I was going to slice off an appendage in the process.

It's the same basic concept as the Olfa ripper. But with surgical precision. This one could clearly get into tighter corners to rip seams than the Olfa could. I also mention a few other particular types of sewing it would be useful for in the episode.

Hope this is useful information to you! Links to the items are in the show notes to the podcast episode at the link in the first paragraph.

Past Podcast Episodes about Scraps

I'll be talking about scraps again in this week's podcast episode (coming soon!), but meanwhile, I thought it would be worth re-posting some of the past episodes I've done on scrap quilts. Unfortunately, with the move to the new website last spring there's not an easy way for me to do older episodes here. If I repost them into my podcast feed, it'll suddenly confuse the heck of out things to see a bunch of random old episodes appearing out of order. And links just redirect back to this website where the podcast files don't exist. But what I can do is embed players for each of them in this blog post. You can listen from your computer, but you can't download. Sorry! I'm also going to copy the original show notes from each episode above it, so you'll be reminded what was in it.

 EPISODE 7: In Which We Get Scrappy (April 7, 2010)

I really want to get better at using my scraps, so I decided to do some research on scraps and scrap quilts. I found so much, though, that I'm having to use two episodes to cover it! So, in this first episode, after doing some catching up with listener comments and contributions, I share with you my experience, my research, and some listener suggestions, as we talk about a glossary of scrap-related terms, a little history of scrap quilting, how to collect scraps, getting yourself used to doing scrap quilts, what the best sizes are to cut your scraps into, and a little bit about storing and organizing scraps. (In episode 8, I'll share ideas for using your scraps!) 

EPISODE 8: In Which We Revisit Scraps (May 2, 2010)

Welcome to the second episode on scraps! In this episode, we get right down to business and I talk about specialty rulers for scraps, and share a lot of ideas about how to use scraps, including some books.

 EPISODE 51: In Which We Get Scrappy Again (May 30, 2011)

Charlotte Hawkes is our local Queen of Scrap Quilts. A quilter for 10 years, Charlotte's very first quilt was scrappy and she never looked back. In this episode, I interview Charlotte about her system for cutting and saving scraps, choosing quilts, and keeping track of all the projects she's got going on at once. I got a lot of great ideas from her, and I'm sure you will too!

I haven't been able to dig up a picture of the blue and white quilt she made that I referenced in the episode yet, but here is one of Charlotte with one of her more recent scrap projects.

Also in this episode: Sandy Update, Listener Comments, and many, many thanks!

 EPISODE 92: In Which We Talk Scraps with Charlotte (May 24, 2012)

Charlotte's back! Woot woot! You may recall meeting Charlotte Hawkes, the scrap quilter from my guild, from episode 51 In Which We Get Scrappy Again. Some of you asked for more detail, so I invited myself over to her house and set up cameras and all sorts of equipment to go step-by-step through her process. As I mention in the episode, the originally-planned video episode didn't quite work out, so after listening to this audio podcast, please go to my blog for pictures of her system and her quilts. Educational, and eye-candy to boot!

My third podcastaversary giveaway begins!

Be sure to check out episode 121 In Which I Turn Three, and leave your comments on the show notes to that episode in order to be entered for a fantastic giveaway courtesy Aurifil Threads! Thanks so much to Aurifil for sponsoring my third podcastaversary giveaway. Having these threads to giveaway is like having a basket of candy on my cutting table--so yummy to look at and oh so tempting!

Please don't leave your comments here to enter the giveaway--I won't be able to track them. Make sure you leave your comments on the show notes to episode 121 by April 30th to be entered! Thanks--and thanks for listening for the last three years (or however long you've listened....)!