Homemaking Deep Dive | Quilting 101 with Jessica Clark

I am so excited to be bringing you our first deep dive into the world of quilting, with homemaker, quilter, and teacher, Jessica Clark of thelarklife.com and the Handmade Happiness Podcast. 

Jessica didn’t grow up with quilts but she did have fond memories of her grandmother’s quilt collection and decided to pursue learning to quilt herself. With hardly any sewing experience she wandered into a local quilt shop’s class and began her lifelong love affair with quilts. Now and avid quilter, Jennifer is passionate about giving others the skills they need to practice the art of quiltmaking. 

In This Episode:

• Quilting as Community Building and Stewardship
• How Quilts Unite Through Storytelling 
• Benefits to Embracing the Slowness of Quilting 
• How to Shop for Vintage or Antique Quilts
• Quilt Care
• Getting Started with Quilting—tools, skills, & where to look for solid instruction
• Jessica's Top 5 Quilting Tips

SHOW NOTES

All links and resources for this episode will be on the blog. Click the link below or go to theartofhomepodcast.com/blog and search "Quilting 101".

https://www.theartofhomepodcast.com/post/quilting-101-a-homemaking-deep-dive-with-jessica-clark

CONNECT WITH JESSICA

Website: www.thelarklife.com

Handmade Happiness Podcast:  Apple | Spotify

Instagram/ Facebook: @The_Lark_Life

YouTube: @TheLarkLife

Direct Links to Classes:

- Homeschool Quilting Class: https://thelarklife.com/foundations-in-quilting

- Beginner Quilter Lab:https://beginner-quilt-lab.teachery.co/

- Quilted Slipper: https://quilted-slipper-course.teachery.co/

- Sewing Machine Basics: https://sewing-machine-basics.teachery.co/

20% off COUPON CODE FOR AOH LISTENERS: artofhome

Transcript

Allison 0:02

Hello, homemakers, and welcome to the Art of Home Podcast, where we are exploring how homemakers cultivate a place to belong. I'm your host, Alison Weeks. I'm a wife, a mom, a granny, and I have been practicing the Art of Home since 1992. Welcome, all of you listeners. Whether you are brand new here or you've been around for a while, I'm so glad that you are here today, and I'm honored that you're gonna trust me with some of your very valuable time. We do have a brand new deep dive episode today, but before we get to that, I have some updates for you. This is the part of the show where I tell you some fun and exciting news about the art of home and or what is happening in my own homemaking, such as products that I'm loving or projects that I'm working on. This update is brought to you by listeners who support the art of home through Buy Me a Coffee. Buy Me a Coffee is a virtual tip jar where you can show your appreciation and support for the show by giving a one-time tip or by becoming a Titus 2 Woman supporter and setting up a recurring tip of $5 per month. Titus 2 Women supporters receive my undying gratitude and the occasional perk, such as free printables and free registration for the recipe exchange and a discount on the magazine and other fun things. Whichever way you choose to give, I am grateful for your support. Several of you reached out to say how much you enjoyed my spring ramble with Jessica Fisher, and I thank you for that feedback. Tara left a comment over on Spotify to share a resource for Bible transcribing, which was one of Jessica's new favorite things. Here, Tara writes, For transcribing the Bible, there is a book called Journibles. That's hard to say, but it's J-O-U-R-N-I-B-L-E-S, the 17 colon 18 series. It gives you the chapter and the verse slots, and you can write them out on the lined paper. Also on the right side of the page, there are occasional questions to prompt thought as you are meditating on the verse. So I took a look at these, and they are exactly as she describes. They are published by Reformation Heritage Books. You could also use the ESV Illuminated Scripture Journals for a similar experience. There's one for every book of the Bible with beautiful foil embossed design on the covers. There's text on the left side of the page, and then there's dotted or lined space on the right facing page where you could transcribe. I have linked both of those resources in this episode's show notes as well as on the blog post for the spring ramble. Thank you so much, Tara, for that tip. The yogurt segment on the ramble was a big hit, so I have posted my crockpot yogurt recipe over on the blog post for that episode. I will link that post below, or you can just hop over to the Artof Home Podcast.com slash blog and search Spring Ramble 26. Also, I have linked several of the products and the books that we discussed, as well as a few other recipes from me and from Jessica. So there's a lot of resources available for the Ramble on its corresponding blog post. Be sure to go check those out. Magazine news. I am still waiting on printers, but we are getting close and I'm praying that we can launch by mid-May. Please pray with me. And finally, applications and nominations for the summer season are open. Apply or nominate today because spots are very limited. I would love the chance to hear and to share your story of home. Click the link in the show notes or go to the Artof Home Podcast.com slash guest. Now, on to today's episode. I'm so excited to be bringing you our first deep dive into the world of quilting with homemaker, quilter, and teacher Jessica Clark of thelarklife.com and the Handmade Happiness Podcast. Jessica did not grow up with quilts, but she did have fond memories of her grandmother's quilt collection and decided to pursue learning to quilt herself. With hardly any sewing experience, she wandered into a local quilt shop's class and began her lifelong love affair with quilts. Now an avid quilter, Jennifer is passionate about giving others the skills they need to practice the art of quilt making. We discuss the value of quilting as a community-building and resource stewardship activity, as well as the power of quilts to unite generations through storytelling. We discuss why the slow craft of quilting is so valuable for the modern homemaker. Jessica shares tips on how to shop for thrifted and antique quilts and how to care for your quilts, whether inherited or picked up at a local estate sale. Then she gives us some pointers on getting started with quilting, the tools and the skills you will need, where to look for solid instruction and projects for beginners to advance, as well as her top five quilting tips. This is a packed hour, and whether you are interested in learning to quilt or in collecting quilts, there is something for you in this conversation. Thank you again for trusting me with your time today. I will be back at the end with some closing thoughts and reminders and the long haul listener emoji code for this episode. Whatever you are applying your hands to as you listen, I know you will enjoy this deep dive into quilting 101 with Jessica Clark. Welcome to the Art of Home. I am here for our very first deep dive of this season with Jessica Clark. And Jessica is the creator behind The Lark Life, where she shares about homesteading, homemade skills, and living more intentionally at home. She and her husband Thomas have been married for 21 years and they're raising their four children on a five-acre homestead in southern Missouri. Jessica is a former special education teacher and pastor who recently stepped away from full-time ministry to focus more fully on family life and the rhythms of home. I love that. So, Jessica, first, I would love to hear how did you get started with quilting? What interested you about it? And just tell us your quilting origin story.

SPEAKER_00 6:32

Yeah, so uh, unlike a lot of quilters, I did not grow up in a home or a family of quilters, uh, but my grandmother did have quite a collection of quilts that she would um lay out on all of the beds. So when you would go stay at grandma's house, you got the best night's sleep ever under those cozy quilts that she had. And so when my husband and I started having our own children, I wanted to bring some of that into our home for them, um, but couldn't really find what I wanted that I could afford because they can be kind of pricey. And so I decided, why not? I can do this. Like, why not just learn for myself? So I watched some YouTube videos. Uh, there was a quilt shop a little over an hour from where we were living at the time, and I found that they had some classes. So I signed up for their block of the month, uh, a class to go and learn how to make a quilt block. And at that point, really didn't have much experience sewing at all. Uh, but walked into this room full of uh older ladies who had been quilting forever, um, who just expected, I guess, that I knew what I was doing. And I sat down feeling like a fish out of water, but left that day feeling so refreshed. And I got back with my family and showed them what I had created. I was so proud. And I told my husband that was the most like refreshing way to spend my time. Like I feel energized and ready to spend the rest of the day with our family doing the things. And so that's kind of how it got started. And then I just I fell in love with it and decided, uh, discovered I really liked the design of the quilt. So I started writing patterns and doing all of those things, and the rest is kind of history, but that's how it got started. I just wanted to bring some of that cozy comfort for my own, my own family.

Allison 8:24

Oh, I love that. So you do have a history with quilts, remembering your grandmother's quilts, and that is just such a special memory. I my grandmother also had a few quilts in her home, and my cousin was actually had the foresight when she passed. She passed about 30 years ago, my grandma. Um, my cousin who I used to play with, uh, with those quilts at my grandma's house, we would make forts out of them. And she had two in particular. They were probably made, I I would guess in the 40s because based on the the fabrics um and the pattern. And she had the the foresight to say, you know what, I think um Allison and I should get those two quilts because we always played with them, you know, made forts and all kinds of stuff with those quilts. And so I was just so thankful for that because then so she inherited one and I inherited the other. Um, but I know that a lot of people now, quilt quilts are very chic again, as far as design in the home, and they're very coveted. Like people love, I see this all the time on reels and stuff, finding quilts at antique stores or estate sales and all that, that kind of thing. And people are just loving using them as part of the day the day core, which is what I'm hearing you say was a bit of your desire too, was to bring it into your home, but yet you couldn't find what you wanted without having to spend a fortune because they can be really, really pricey. Right.

SPEAKER_00 9:47

Yeah. So that that's definitely kind of what what drew me into it. And then, you know, you get into it and you realize it's a very deep, well, it is there's there's a lot there that I did, I didn't realize what I was getting myself into really when I started, but but it's the best. It's the best ever.

Allison 10:04

Yeah, I think there's multiple hobbies related to quilting. There's what did you say? I mean, there's there's the quilting itself, there's the collection of fabric for quilts.

SPEAKER_00 10:14

Oh, yes. Yeah, that is uh known among all quilters, like you don't talk about what happens at the fabric shops, right? And you never have enough, no matter how much you have.

Allison 10:26

Yes, fabric hoarding, it is a um, it's a by it's a byproduct of quilting. Um, okay, so I would like to talk a little bit about the value of quilting because somebody might be listening and saying, well, I don't necessarily, you know, I don't know. It seems like a lot of work. And why would I want to do this? Or um just why is it valuable? So let's talk for a bit. I I've seen this on in your resources, and I just thought this was so fascinating and important to talk about, like how quilts connect us over generations and how has quilting changed over time. So let's start with that. That how has quilting changed over time going from a communal activity to more of an individual activity? And do you think that was a good change or a bad change?

SPEAKER_00 11:12

Yeah, so really the origins of quilting started with people, homemakers being resourceful with the things that they had. And they would take little scraps and bits that they had and piece them together to make these larger items that then could be used to keep their family warm during the cold winter. And a lot of times this happened. Uh, the ladies in the community would get together and everybody would kind of throw their pile of scraps together and share and um ended up with these, you know, exquisite patchworks of what a lot of people may have considered just trash uh remnants, but they were able to really be resourceful and use those things. Uh, and it was a way that that brought people together. Um, and now we have oh gosh, there's so many tools. Uh, when I got into quilting, I realized, oh my goodness, like there are so many different styles and techniques and the tools you can spend a fortune on fabric and machines and rulers and I mean all the little gadgets that come along with it. And um so that can be it's it's awesome that we have all of these things available to us, but it can also be uh a little bit of a trap and making you feel like you have to have all of those things. And so if you can't afford those things, maybe that this isn't the hobby for you. Right. Um, but that's not really the case because again, we can go back to its roots and use what we have. I've seen so many ladies who trying to save money on fabric. Uh, for those who maybe don't aren't aware, a lot of times quilting fabrics now are $12 and $15 a yard, and that's kind of the basic price for them. And so if you're making a bed size quilt, you might need four yards of fabric just for the back of that quilt. Right. Um, and so a lot of ladies, instead of spending that much for the back of their quilt, will thrift a sheet, a bed sheet that they think is really beautiful, and they'll use that instead. And so they save a lot of money. So there's there's a lot of ways that you you can spend a lot of money, but you also can be very thrifty about how you go about it. And um and then, like you mentioned, uh, it was very community oriented. Everything was done by hand. So people were sitting literally with the the quilt on top of them as they stitched and talked, and now um they're going on big machines, and a lot of it happens in people's sewing rooms by themselves. But there is still this community aspect of it that I've seen in local quilt shops and in little church groups where ladies are still using this as a way to connect uh with each other. And something that's been interesting to me is that first quilt shop that I went in, uh, I was in my 30s at the time and was the youngest person in the room. And they all looked at me kind of like I was a unicorn because um most of the ladies that were in the classes and would go to these shops were older, retired grandmothers. And so I kind of stuck out, but it was it made this great environment where we can all sit around the same table and talk about what's going on in our life and really have that multi-generational connection with people that you don't always get in other circles.

SPEAKER_02 14:42

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 14:43

Yeah.

Allison 14:44

I was gonna ask you about that because you mentioned having that feeling when you went to that first shop as this is this is a group of like-minded women, and I you you felt like an outsider initially, but you left there feeling like you were part of a group who has joined something.

SPEAKER_00 14:59

The quilting community is one of the most uh supportive and encouraging. I was a little bit intimidated when I got started because you walk into a quilt show and you see these incredible heirloom pieces of art that belong in a museum. And you can feel a little bit intimidated. And I even remember the first quilt show that I actually attended as a vendor, feeling a little of that imposter syndrome. Like, I I don't know if I'm good enough to actually be here selling my patterns and my things to people because these people are so much more experienced or so much better than I am at these things. And um really just feeling the the warmth of that community and just the support and the really everybody cheers each other on and helps each other. And again, seeing multiple generations come together. Some of the classes I teach now, I had a class just last night that I was teaching, and in the class I had three generations mother, daughter, granddaughter, that all came together to learn together. And um, I'm seeing that more and more where you know multi-generations are able to come and do this together and have the benefit of teaching one another and learning from one another and just sharing life together. Yes.

Allison 16:19

Um, so oh, I love that so much. How do you think that quilts do connect generations through storytelling and preserving memories?

SPEAKER_00 16:30

Yeah, so I shared on uh a podcast episode. Uh this past year, I was a vendor at the International Quilt Festival that takes place in Houston, Texas, every year. Um, if you ever have the opportunity to go, that's an amazing, amazing show. And one of the displays they had this year was a display of quilts from World War World War II. And they had these on display, and it was Salvation Army quilts. So the Salvation Army would uh uh have this fabric and they would have local quilters in the community kind of help them piece together these blankets that then could be used um for part of the relief effort to be able to give as people were coming into the hospitals and doing these different things. And so there were quilts on display and they were not um show worthy by any means. And as I stood there looking at them, I couldn't help but think about the woman who made that all those years ago, and knowing that she had no idea that one day, many, many, many years later, almost a hundred years later, that her quilt that she made just as an act of service and love and kindness to someone would end up being displayed for thousands and thousands of people to see and admire. And uh just thinking about the stories uh behind those quilts, when you walk through places like that, all the quilts have placards. And so you can kind of read where this quilt was inspired by uh the maker's daughter, or you know, they took this trip and they had this experience and you brought back these fabrics, and that's how they kind of commemorated that. And then more commonly, I think, just you see more and more memory quilts being made where someone passes, and then you're able to take some of their favorite shirts or things that that you really connect and attach to that person and have memories of that person using, and you're able to repurpose them and create something that can still be useful and and be honoring for that person and help those that are still here remember that person and their legacy and be able to kind of share stories around those things. Yes.

Allison 18:47

Can you think of any other ways that you might use a quilt for storytelling? I'm just thinking like um some people will maybe build a quilt throughout the lifetime of a child and you know, do a square per year or something with something meaningful from that year. I don't know if you have any other examples like that.

SPEAKER_00 19:07

Um, so I have seen that, or where they'll they'll take kind of some of the like the iconic, the favorite outfit of the year, and they take that fabric from that outfit and turn it into one of the blocks so that they kind of have those memories together. Um people record the I don't know if you've seen the weather, weather quilts and things where people will take basically the year of weather and they take the average temperature for each day, and each day is represented by a different block, and so they kind of color code it so like really, really dark blues and whites are like super cold, and then as it gets yellow and orange and red, you get into the hotter tomb, and so they have like this guide or scale, uh-huh. And so you look at this quilt and it just looks like this beautiful mosaic with all of these kind of colors that have this ombre effect, and but it's a recording of that year's weather. Oh wow, there's a a girl that that I met recently, she's actually making one, but she the one that she's making, she chose her her mother was ill and passed away in 1997, and so she took that year 1997, and that's the year that she's using to make this quilt. So again, it it there's a lot of uh personal connections that you can yeah, like like how healing that would be for her. Oh, yeah, yeah.

Allison 20:27

You know, to work through the grief process through a quilt project like that. That's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 20:33

Yeah. Um, there's so many wedding wedding quilts. So people will have their guests write on little squares. So instead of having a guest book, you have like a guest quilt. Oh, I love it. Take all of these squares, and so again, you you have this piece in your home that you can use, but it also you get to see all the loving messages or the advice or things that people have given. I've seen where um ladies will in a in a group and a club will all get together and kind of do a similar thing where they write something encouraging or a word of wisdom, and then you have this quilt that's just filled with um the wisdom of of the whole entire group. They'll um hand stitch their names, like that they write their signature on a quilt block, and then they stitch that. So you basically have the person's handwriting captured and stitching on a quilt. Um that is so cool. So special things like that that you know that are really memorable and again, like you said, healing, that you can go back and and hold those things and and look at those things. And um, but it's not just something that's sitting on a shelf collecting dust or you know, tucked away somewhere. It's something that's prominent and is useful and functional for every day.

Allison 21:51

Oh, absolutely. And I know there's there's even like um, I think my daughter I think my daughter in law has one of these. It's a a quilt for a baby. And it's made of um it's meant to like stimulate them when they're on tummy time, you know, so it's got like different objects in them for for them to look at. And but you could do something similar even as the child gets older if they had a quilt that told Bible story, you know, like the the basic overall story of the Bible. You could even have meaningful blocks that tell um uh any story, really the child's the hit the family history, the story of the Bible, and that child could it could be a learning aid, I guess is what I'm trying to say.

SPEAKER_00 22:34

Yeah. And one of the great things about the quilts is that you're the creator. So you whatever is if your family is one that goes to all the national parks and you're working your way through or you're working your way through the 50 states, like you can kind of track those memories and each summer vacation, you make a block around that thing that you did together as a family. And so yeah, totally customizable and personal that's brings meaning to to your family that your kids will look at and be like, oh, remember this.

Allison 23:03

So oh, you can get so creative with what you use in the block for sure. I love the national park idea, you know, or the states. That's great. You could find a textile while you're traveling, and that could be the focal point of that block or something. Um, oh, goodness, so many fun ideas. I love it. Okay, so quilting is a slow craft, even if you're using the machine, it's still a slower craft. It's it's not something you're gonna turn out overnight, it's gonna take some time. Why is this valuable for the modern homemaker?

SPEAKER_00 23:36

So it is so easy for us now to be in such a hurry. And we have this to-do list, and we're just trying to cross all the things off the list and it's go, go, go, go, go. And when I start a quilt, it is something that requires me to intentionally slow myself down and focus on that thing that I'm working on. And then I'm gonna have to put that down and then come back to it later. So having the discipline to see it through to the end. Um, but again, it's it's kind of counterculture to the way that we live so much of our day in our life, and it's this opportunity for us to take a step back and slow down and be really focused on the task at hand and that thing and and pour our creativity into that without uh a lot of times for me, it's not even uh about getting to the end. It's it the joy is in the journey. And so really and enjoying those when I have the time to be able to go sit in the evening and work on a block that's a piece of something, or to work on some of the quilting or whatever part of the project I'm working on, really enjoying those moments and just not racing through it because it's not a task to cross off my list, but just kind of savoring the the process of it because that is yes, it's nice to have the quilt finished and to be able to enjoy it, but quilting isn't the finished quilt, quilting is the process, and so really enjoying intentionally enjoying that process and not being in a hurry about it. Amen.

Allison 25:21

I agree 100%. Um, and there's so many steps in the process that I feel like it's best to approach quilting, like you said, as a process and enjoy each step and and realize that some people might be overwhelmed by the enormity of the whole task. But I I feel the same way about sewing in general, is you can sew or quilt in five-minute pockets, and you've got a little bit of time here and a little bit of time there. Now it requires that you be organized and you know, and have a process because you, you know, quilting is mathematical, it's analytical as far as the design, and you have to use all the different parts of your brain. So you can't really approach it haphazardly, although there is crazy quilting, and that's kind of a whole other thing. Yes. Well, we won't talk about that today. But for the purposes of this discussion, talking about a traditional quilt that has a, you know, distinct design in each pattern and in each block, um, there is a method, and and that method can very easily be broken down into very bite-sized pieces. So don't be overwhelmed by the enormity, is what I'm trying to say. And each of those pieces of the process has its own beauty in doing it slowly. That's why I love hand quilting so much. You know, I I even like to hand piece if I'm gonna put a put a quilt together. I don't love to hand piece because my stitching is not small enough. So I feel like my seams aren't that strong. Um, but if I get a piece, a quilt that was pieced by somebody else, which I'll talk about that later, um, because I've I have found them, I have thrifted them before and they are a treasure. But to be able to hand quilt it myself is slow and meditative, and I just enjoy the process, it's it calms my soul when I'm feeling anxious. If I sit down and put the needle in my hand and just even if I just do 10 or 12 stitches, it just has an impact on how I feel.

SPEAKER_00 27:23

And for me, I find that when I'm in those moments where I've just allowed myself to be slow and I'm focusing on this task, something happens in my brain where maybe I was, you know, it's been racing a million miles an hour and I've been trying to come up with solutions to problems. And I just feel like I keep hitting a brick wall and I can't come up with the solutions to those problems. And as I sit there and I just focus on my work, it switches my brain to a different part of my brain. And and all of a sudden, this thought pops up, and I'm like, there's the solution that I've been waiting for. And I didn't have to work hard to think about it, it just came as I relaxed and focused on the task at hand and let my mind wander a little bit. And as it did, it came up with its, you know, the creativity kind of flows in those moments when we when we are not trying to make it happen, but we just let our brain wander a little bit.

Allison 28:21

Yes, I completely agree. So we've already alluded to this a little bit, but how can quilting help us repurpose or give new life to old things?

SPEAKER_00 28:31

This has become one of my favorite parts of quilting. So when I started quilting, you realize how much effort and time and energy goes into creating a quilt. So there were times after I first started quilting that I would walk into a quilt shop or a thrift shop, and I would find in this thrift shop a quilt on the shelf. Yeah. Um, and so a couple of them, one, I I found this beautiful um lone star pattern quilt, and it's got this uh yellow border with a creamy background, and it's got all the primary colors red and yellow and green and blue and purple. Um, and it looks kind of like uh a traditional Mexican piñata, the the star-shaped. That's kind of what it reminded me of. But the pieces are like tiny little one-inch diamonds, and they I don't know if it was pieced by hand or machine pieced, but the quilting of it was all hand done. And I saw it sitting there, and I thought somebody put a lot of energy and thought, and for whatever reason, however it happened, here it is sitting in the shop, and I think it was like $12. Oh no, and so oh you're kidding me. That that came home with me. That's on my head. I've used that ever since because it's just I'm like, this is priceless. I mean, I've seen quilts that look like it hanging on display in shows, and um, this is incredible. There was another um that it was just the top, and I could tell it had been hand pieced since it was just the top, and it was sitting on uh like a hanger in a thrift store for $4. And so I picked it up. I was like, this, and my intention was I'm gonna repair it. It was kind of falling apart. So I was like, I can repair the pieces, the seams that are coming apart, and then I'm gonna quilt it and turn it, you know, somebody's project never got finished. I'm gonna finish it and we're gonna get to use it as a blanket. And um before I actually got all the way to those that process, I had saw all these quilted coats, and I was like, I am gonna turn this into a quilted coat, not into a jacket. And so that became a coat. So there's um, those are kind of two of my favorite finds, but there you see them in lots of different places. My daughter, I have a 14-year-old daughter who um she's recently started sewing. She took an interest in it. We got her a machine. Um, and so she even will go in and find pieces and not even necessarily um like handmade quilts, but she'll see something that she likes that catches her eye.

Allison 31:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:13

And she's brought it home and made a vest out of it. She's working on her own coat right now.

SPEAKER_02 31:18

Oh, cute.

SPEAKER_00 31:19

So there's different different little things that you can use, uh, different ways. You can turn them into bags and you can repurpose cut little scraps and turn them into placemats for your table, or just when you see that that fabric, that pattern that really catches your eye, and it's those colors are the colors of your home. There's lots of ways that you can bring that in and and reuse it. Uh, even if it's maybe not in the best condition to be used as an actual blanket anymore, if but if you can salvage little pieces of it that you can use for smaller projects.

Allison 31:51

Oh, this is so wonderful. So um, so when we when we opened the conversation, we were talking about how traditionally quilts were uh a way to use worn-out clothing, um, other worn-out textiles that were worn out beyond what their original intent was for, but there was still usable pieces of that textile because you just didn't, you wouldn't just throw a good fabric away. So they would cut it up and either make a smaller piece of clothing for a child or use the remnants and the little pieces for making a quilt. Um, and we still do that today with certain things, and we've already discussed that in that talking about making memories and things like that. But I love this approach you've taken to this question of when we find quilts in the wild, yes, we can either take them straight home and we're gonna talk in a little bit about how to care for them and make sure they're clean and all of that, but we can put them to use as a quilt um on the bed or hang it on the wall as art, or we can actually use them for other things, which is so creative and very trendy right now, the whole quilt jacket thing. I see them everywhere. Um, I like the idea of doing a vest too, but you could do bags, you could make a pillow out of a quilt top, you could make a tablecloth, a table runner, like you said, placemat, all sorts of things that you could do. Really, just your imagination can just run wild and you can think of all sorts of ways.

SPEAKER_00 33:19

Yeah.

Allison 33:20

Yeah. So don't, if you come across one, I think it's probably becoming when did you find that? I'm curious to know when did you find those? Before they were trendy.

SPEAKER_00 33:27

Yeah, before they were trendy. Now, now if you go in, it's really hard to find anything because as soon as it hits the shelf, somebody's picking it up because it is such a trendy thing.

Allison 33:38

If it hits the shelf, if it hits the shelf, one of my favorite places to find quilts is estate sales. Um, but I the estate sale companies have gotten wise to the fact that quilts are trendy and valuable, um, and they price them as such. But you can still find some deals. You just have to, you just have to search and be diligent in that. But um, let's talk for just a little bit about uh the care of those quilts. So, say we find a quilt. Um, well, first of all, what should we look for? Okay, before we get into the care, somebody who hasn't really started collecting them yet, whether they're collecting them to use as a quilt or they want to start finding things that they can repurpose and make into other items. What should they look for? Like, how can you tell the difference between a quilt that's been handmade by somebody and a quilt that's been made, you know, in a factory somewhere? Right.

SPEAKER_00 34:31

So one of the biggest tells, one of the biggest indicators is if you look at the edge of the quilt, that the edge is where they have the binding. That's kind of the place where they finish it. Because traditionally, when you quilt it, it's three layers that you're quilting together with stitches, and then you have to find a way to make that edge pretty. So they add another strip of fabric, that's the binding. And so that's one big tail tell because most of the time things that are made for a big box store aren't gonna be bound that way. They're not gonna have that nice edge. Um, you can also look um just at the the way the stitching is done. Um, most quilts that you're gonna want are gonna be made of uh like a cotton fabric. Uh, you want to look at the the batting, which is that the layer in between that makes it fluffy. Yep. And kind of make sure that that's even, that you don't have places where it as sometimes as it ages, it kind of comes apart and gets uh lumpy and bumpy. Or if it was made in a factory and it wasn't, you know, stitched the way that a quilter would actually stitch it, it naturally can get kind of lumpy and bumpy. Um, so look for that. But ultimately, I mean I've had I've had people bring me quilts that they found because they loved the the pattern on it, they loved the design of it, and they wanted me to turn it into something for them.

Allison 36:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:06

And when I started looking at it, I realized it wasn't a handmade quilt. It was made by a machine somewhere. But they loved it. They wanted, they liked the pattern, they enjoyed the pattern. So if you find it and you love it and you want to turn it into something useful, yeah, um, then go ahead and use it um for that. Um, as far as if you're wanting an actual quilt, though, and you can tell if you just take your time and look at um how that is stitched together, how those pieces, you know, is it a bunch of little pieces or is it just a design that's printed on top of the fabric? Oh, that's good. That's a good tell. Yeah. And again, the the edge, the edge of that blanket will really tell you a lot uh if that was stitched and made by by someone or or not.

Allison 36:53

Yeah, those are great, those are great things to look for. It can be hard because there are some really high quality, um there are manufactured, I guess that's the word I'm gonna use, manufactured um for big box stores or whatever quilts out there that are that can be really pricey, you know. Um, but if you're looking for something that was handmade by somebody's grandma, um, do look at those things.

SPEAKER_00 37:15

And I guess we didn't even define a lot of times the stitching will be a little uneven. Yes, a machine is gonna perfectly stitch everything. The the big lone star quilt I was talking about, I knew it was hand stitched because I could see the stitching, the threads on top of the quilt, and I could see that they were not even. Yeah. That some were a little bit longer or a little bit shorter than the others. The line wasn't perfectly straight. Um, most human-made quilts, you're gonna find slight imperfections in how the pieces came together and in how the stitching was done on the quilting itself. Um, whereas a machine-made quilt is going to look more uniform and perfect.

Allison 37:55

Yeah. Yeah. No, that's a great point. And I didn't even really, we probably should have begun this conversation with the definition of what we mean by a quilt. I assumed everybody knows what we're talking about, but just, you know, for definitional purposes, a quilt is usually three layers sandwiched together. And you've got on the bottom layer, you've got the backing, and then in the middle you have what's called the batting, and then on top, you have the quilt top. And that top piece is what is usually made up of lots of small little pieces of fabrics uh sewn together in some sort of pattern or design. So what you said earlier about looking at the top, is it actual little pieces of fabric sewn together, or is it just a printed quilt design? That's a big tell right there.

SPEAKER_00 38:41

Because you're seeing a lot of that now, especially in um a lot of manufacturers are trying to make the the quilted clothing because it is so trendy, and most of those are just printed and stitched over. Um and so those are kind of things to to look for.

Allison 38:58

Yeah. So look for the binding, which is the way that they finish off the all those, that hamburger edge. They enclose it in a binding, and usually that's often that's hand stitched on as well. So um look at the type of fabric most quilts are going to be made out of out of cotton, I would say.

SPEAKER_00 39:16

For the most part. One's that I prefer to use are made out of cotton just because it's breathable, and you will see some that have been made out of some other other fabrics.

Allison 39:26

Well, some of the some of the older ones, especially ones made like in the Depression, they might have because that was at that point they were starting to produce um early like blends at that point. So you might have some sort of polyester blend or something because they were literally using old clothing and whatever they had. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Well, um, do you have any tips on how to tell the age of a quilt? Speaking of the fabric I just I just alluded to the 1940s.

SPEAKER_00 39:54

So um professionals have a way to age quilts. When you there's um, I can't think of what we call them now. The when you go to a quilt show, an appraiser, that's what it's called. There are appraisers of quilts that kind of assess the value of a quilt. And they are masters in textile history. So they know this kind of pattern and design in these colors is you know standard for this time period. Um, what gets tricky for people like you and I is that so many companies now are reproducing those older fabrics. And so you may have a fabric that looks very similar to something from the 40s, yeah. Um, but it's actually a modern print made to look like a 40s print. So it can be a little bit hard to tell um the exact age of a quilt. Um, the stitching, the threads have come a long way. Um, so the quality of thread now is is much better than what it used to be. And so a lot of times the thread in the quilt will start to degrade with age. And so you may have some stitching that's coming undone just because of the age of that quilt. Um, obviously, sometimes there's a little bit of discoloration with age. And um then some of the patterns, there's some very traditional patterns, but again, it can be hard to use that as a judge because people are still making those traditional patterns today. Yeah. So there are patterns that were sort of popular at certain times in history. Yes, yeah. Okay, yeah. Um, but again, there I I have never I haven't really given much uh energy into like learning all of the different like this is specifically this is a 1920s quilt because you know, XYZ. Um when I go in and I see something, if I love it because I love the colors, I love the design, yeah. It doesn't necessarily matter to me if it was made in, you know, 1890 or 1990. If I love it and it fits, then then that's something that I want.

Allison 41:57

Yeah. Well, that's a good, that's a good um rule of thumb. And I think I asked the question just with the the uh listener in mind who maybe wants to invest in an antique quilt and is looking, maybe they stumbled upon something in their local little antique mall and they're wondering if the price being asked is, you know, is this worth a hundred dollars? You know, how do I know if I'm actually getting an old quilt or am I am I getting something that was just made a couple years ago?

SPEAKER_00 42:25

And a lot of times one of the best ways is just um if if you're very concerned about the authenticity of it, going to a place where they already have had somebody kind of appraise it and look at it, you're gonna pay more money for it. But if it's important that that be the, you know, that you know exactly what it is, yeah, um, then that's kind of the way to go. A lot of times local quilt shows will have uh kind of historical quilts or older quilts that they'll have at the show for sale. And so sometimes you can get a deal on one, uh, even at a place like that, and then you know it's going to be something that it's not just somebody told you that, oh, this is a quilt made in the 40s because it has this floral fabric and really it was made in a factory in 1980.

Allison 43:13

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 43:14

So um okay.

Allison 43:17

Well, so let's say we get our hands on a thrifted, we thrifted one, we inherited one, dug one out of grandma's attic. What how do we take care of that quilt? How do we make sure, how do we clean it? And then, you know, how do we continually take good care of the quilt so it lasts for another generation?

SPEAKER_00 43:35

Right. So when I give quilts to people that I've made, I make sure to tell them, please use this. Don't just put it on the shelf and have it sitting somewhere. But a lot of people don't know you don't have to wash your quilt very often. Okay. Even if you're using it regularly, it's kind of like a, you know, a good pair of blue jeans or denim jacket. Like you're not gonna wash it every single time that you wear it or use it. So um probably you're gonna Wash it much less frequently than you think you might like, you're not going to throw it in every week or two when you're washing your sheets. Right. Um if you're going to store it long term, um, when you have things folded, those creases can end up causing problems. And at those creases, you can end up causing damage where the quilt will kind of wear out faster or break down in those areas. So if you do have it folded, uh, it's a good idea to periodically unfold it and fold it in a different direction so that you're not permanently creasing those things. Like, say, for example, if you had one from a great-grandmother and it's not one that you're gonna use, right? Um having it folded, a lot of times they'll roll them rather than folding them so that you don't get creases and then storing it in some sort of um cotton bag. It could even be a cotton pillowcase, just to kind of keep the dust off of it. Sure. And um, but the cotton is still breathable. If you put it in a plastic, like a plastic zipper bag that blankets sometimes come in, it's not breathable. If it ends up with condensation or moisture in there, it could end up causing mold to grow. So having it in something breathable like cotton is good. And then if they are on display, like I have some out on a ladder in my house, uh like a blanket ladder, but um kind of keeping them out of the sunlight uh so that they're not getting faded from the sun. And for long-term long-term storage, having them folded in a cotton bag, kind of in a cool, dry place, okay, will help preserve them. And then as far as washing them, uh, when you do choose to wash them, depending on the age of the quilt, you may want to uh just test a small area. I know sometimes people end up inheriting quilts that have been in an attic or a uh closet and maybe it has a little bit of a musty odor. And so vinegar, just soaking it in uh vinegar water solution can help eliminate that odor, but you may want to test a small little corner of the blanket first before you just douse the whole thing in this. Why would you want to do that? Why would we want to test it first? Yeah, just so depending on the age of the quilt and the fabrics that it was made of, um, we want to make sure that what we're using is not gonna cause the dyes in those fabrics to bleed into the quilt. And then we end up destroying the quilt or giving it a dyed top that we didn't intend to. So testing just to color test that little that little piece to make sure that it's not gonna cause something to bleed or or fade that we don't intend to. Oh, most of the time, most of the time you're fine. And then just um you can throw it in your machine on the gentle cycle and just with a very mild detergent, kind of give it a wash, and then that should eliminate any any odors that that were there and give you kind of a fresh, clean start. Okay, great.

Allison 47:10

I know some people have talked about, I've heard this about just textiles in general that you maybe thrifted. Um I've I don't know if this would work for quilts, but you put it in a in a bag, in a plastic bag, and you put it in your freezer to kill any bugs. Because some people are would be concerned about bugs, and especially if it's a much older quilt, you know, and you don't know where it's coming, you don't know where it's been, yeah. And so you would want to get rid of any of that.

SPEAKER_00 47:38

Um that shouldn't, I mean, obviously I wouldn't put it in there and leave it for a year, but if it's in there just short term week or something, yeah, it doesn't take long, just a couple of days should be enough to do the job.

Allison 47:52

Kill anything that might be in there. Yeah, okay, cool. Well, that that is really good information. So um we've talked about acquiring quilts and and perhaps you you have an eye for things that are well outside of your price range because now that we have talked all about you know what goes into making a really good quilt, it's a lot of labor. And so really high quality, well-made quilts can be very pricey. Well, you know, thousands of dollars.

SPEAKER_00 48:23

Yeah. Because it's the materials are expensive and the time invested weeks of time into that project.

Allison 48:30

Yes, yes. So um, let's talk about learning the skill yourself, saving some money a little bit. Yes, yeah. Um, by learning the skill yourself. And I I'd like to move into talking about quilting basics now. So getting started with quilting. Um, what kind of sewing skills are needed for basic quilting, would you say?

SPEAKER_00 48:53

So, like I said in the beginning, I started with virtually no sewing skills. Uh, I had I knew how to sew on a button. There's a few little things I could sew a straight line, sort of. Um, but you don't have to have a lot of previous skill. Uh, you can learn it as you start, and we'll talk through some of the like beginner-friendly things that you can start with to kind of help build those skills. But you can definitely develop and build if you've never quilted, never sewn anything, but you have a desire in your heart to try it out, um, you can start. Even if you, you know, didn't grow up in a house where anybody sewed, you've never picked up a needle, you don't know how to use a machine. There's definitely you can start from ground zero and learn how to quilt.

Allison 49:39

Okay. So speaking of a machine, what equipment and supplies would someone need for basic quilting? Do you have to have a machine?

SPEAKER_00 49:49

So you don't have to have a machine. Uh, you can just have a needle and thread and put those pieces together if you have the patience to do that. A lot of people don't have the patience to do that. So you can get a machine, but as you start looking at machines, they're quite a range of prices that machines come in. And so, yes, there are phenomenal quilting machines, but you do not have to have uh one of those phenomenal machines that cost thousands of dollars to be able to quilt. You can a lot of the ladies that come to the classes I teach have sewing machines that they picked up at the thrift store for just a few dollars, and that's that's what they're using to do their quilting on. So um, while some of the nicer machines have features that are nice, it's absolutely not necessary to have that to begin. Basically, just one that will sew a straight line. One that will sew a straight line. It doesn't have to have fancy features. And then as far as the tools, when I started quilting, I you go into a shop or you just look on a website and there are so many, and you're like, what? I don't even know what I need. Where do I start? And then it's like, can I even afford to start because it's so expensive?

Allison 51:06

So collect collecting tools is the other hobby that comes along with quilting.

SPEAKER_00 51:10

So kind of the kind of the basics that I would start with. So if you are going to be using a machine, buying a quarter-inch presser foot uh is very, very helpful. Most quilt patterns are written for a quarter inch seam allowance, and most sewing machines don't have a foot that kind of measures that yourself. There's different ways you can learn how to measure that on your machine. Um, but to really get accurate quilting, to be happy with what you've got at the end result, that everything lines up and looks nice. Uh that quarter-inch foot, you can find one for just a few dollars. I a lady told me in my class last night she just picked one up for $6. So they're not expensive. Um, but it will save you so much time and make your quilting um so much more uh precise, which is gonna save you a lot of frustration in the learning process. So that is one thing that I would invest in. And then a lot of our, if your grandmothers, great-grandmothers are were quilters and you learned how to quilt from them, most of them cut out their fabric. They would draw little paper pieces and pin it to the fabric and cut the fabric out with scissors. Now they have uh cutting mats and rotary cutters. That's the way that I learned how to cut all of the pieces that I use. I can cut a lot of pieces very quickly. It's very efficient and very precise. And again, not something that's terribly expensive. So those are kind of my my go-to. If you don't have a lot of money and you want to get started, having a rotary cutter and a mat, having a quarter inch foot if you're gonna use a machine uh and starting, starting there. Okay.

Allison 52:53

Um, do you recommend a particular size of rotary cutter? Because I know they come in different dimensions, like the wheel is either really big or medium or small.

SPEAKER_00 53:02

Right. So um this the one that I use that I've seen mostly used in uh a lot of the shops is a 45 millimeter rotary cutter. Okay. It's kind of the medium size. Uh, that's great for most the majority of your cuts are gonna be straight, and so that's great for that. Uh, if you're gonna get into curved piecing, I have a smaller rotary cutter wheel. I'm not, I don't even remember the exact size of it, but it's it's pretty small. It's maybe an inch for the whole entire wheel. So you can maneuver it more easily. It's much better to maneuver curves. Yeah. So if you're wanting to do curves, the tiny ones are are good. Um, if you're just gonna be cutting out squares and triangles and rectangles and strips, uh, a 45 millimeter is a good a good place to start.

Allison 53:47

Okay. All right. So a cutting mat and a rotary cutter. And if you're gonna do it by machine, then um a quarter inch presser foot. Yes. Okay. How about an iron?

SPEAKER_00 53:58

Yeah, so you can buy a really nice expensive iron. Um, or you can just use a regular. So what I what I use, I've never owned one of the nice expensive quilting irons. Um, I started just by using the iron that we had in our house for ironing our clothing. And um, as I got into it more, I found it very convenient to have an iron right beside me in my workstation where I sew. So I have a very small handheld one with a small wool mat that sits right beside me so that as I'm sewing at my machine, I don't have to get up to go press my pieces. I can just press them right there and then continue on with my sewing. Okay. But I didn't start with that, I just started with my ironing board. Just a regular iron, regular household iron.

unknown 54:44

Yeah.

Allison 54:45

I always like to bring irons up when we're talking about sewing because I think it's an important sewing tool.

SPEAKER_00 54:51

It's a very important, and you're not gonna have very precise quilting if you're not ironing those pieces. That's right.

Allison 54:58

Yeah, you gotta iron those pieces, iron those seams out. Um, all right. What type of project would you recommend for a beginner?

SPEAKER_00 55:06

Yes. So for beginners, um, starting with something small. So again, I started with a block of the month class. We were making a 12-inch block. Uh, it gave me the practice in piecing some of those things. Um, the other added benefit of starting with something about that size is you can also practice your quilting. So when you're putting together all the pieces for that top of your quilt, that's called piecing. And then quilting is actually putting all of those layers together. So if you have a 12-inch block that you've pieced, and then you get a little 12-inch square of batting and a 12-inch square of backing fabric, then you can learn how to either hand quilt that or quilt that with the stitches that your machine has available. And it's much more manageable to work with and learn that skill at a small scale than trying to do, you know, a full-size blanket for your bedroom. Yes, yes. Um, so one of my projects that I did very early on because my my son at the time he was maybe five when I when I endeavored this project. He's 10 now, but he um asked me to make him a quilt for his bed. And I was, you know, daily, mom, when is my quilt going to be done? When is my quilt gonna be done? So I I took on a very large size quilt very early on. And I remember when I walked into the quilt shop to show some of the ladies, they were like, You made a quilt that big. You haven't been quilting that long. What are you what were you thinking? That's crazy. Um, so again, you can do you can do that if you want, but it is helpful to get the the skills and the practice down, starting with something small like a quilt block, which also can turn into placemats for your table or a tabletop or a little mug rug that you can use to set your coffee or tea on. So smaller projects that let you practice all of the steps from beginning to end, where you're piecing it, you're making that quilt sandwich, you're actually doing the quilting, and then you're practicing finishing the edge with the binding, but doing it on a smaller scale so that you have um quicker results and you're you're finishing something, and so you get that like confidence boost of look what I did and look what I made. Yeah. It kind of helps carry you into the next project.

Allison 57:27

Yes, I love that. And thank you for clarifying the steps. Probably should have done that at the beginning too, but that the difference between what you do on the top, the piecing is when you're actually piecing together those top pieces to make that design. And then the quilting is when you are doing the stitches that hold that um fabric sandwich together. That fabric sandwich together. Yes. Thank you. That was good. Um, and those are excellent examples for first-time quilters to do, I I second that, do something small so that you can feel like you've achieved something and then you before you move on to something bigger. So, what about um an intermediate type level project? What would you say?

SPEAKER_00 58:07

Um, so once you kind of get the the hang of those smaller things, if you can make one block, you can make 12 of those blocks and then you can join them together. And now suddenly you have this quilt top. Yeah. Um, and so those are great ways. If I know some quilters who they only piece their tops, uh, that's the part that they love. Yeah. They hate the actual quilting part. And so they will pay a long arm quilter or someone else to actually do the quilting work for them because they just enjoy the piecing. So that's something that you can totally do, or you can take it on yourself. And again, you don't have to have uh a large quilting machine to be able to quilt your own quilts at home. I've always quilted everything I've made on just my domestic sewing machine that I have. Yes. So it's totally doable. You don't it's nice to have some of those other things, but you absolutely don't need it. Yes, for sure.

Allison 59:06

Um, okay, what about an advanced project?

SPEAKER_00 59:09

Whew. So there are all sorts of styles and techniques for quilting. So the more you get into it, if you start with some of the basic traditional blocks, um, maybe intermediate, you kind of start adding in some curves. Yeah. Um advanced, there's all kinds of very intricate paper piecing and collage, collage quilting, where you have to really understand color value uh and tones and temperatures of things so that you can put these different scraps of different colored fabrics together and end up with a mosaic that looks like a person's face. Um there's it, there's a wide range of skills and techniques that you can kind of, as you naturally advance, if you start with those beginner things, you'll kind of discover over time the styles that you're drawn to, the techniques that you're drawn to. And that can lead you in that direction where you start kind of building that set of skills. Um, applique, where you're cutting pieces and you're stitching them on top of a piece of fabric. There, there's so many different styles and techniques and ways that you can kind of grow, grow your skills.

Allison 1:00:21

Oh, yeah. I think it's pretty endless the different things that you can do and just continue to grow and master the skill of quilting. So, where should a novice go for some reliable instruction?

SPEAKER_00 1:00:34

Yes. So um there is an abundance of information on quilting out there. Um and not all of it is good. That's right. So there are a lot of websites and blog posts that I've encountered that I started reading through and I could tell because I've been doing this for a little while. That person didn't actually make this thing. Um, I think AI wrote the instructions for this because this doesn't make sense. Um, so it really helps if you have someone, if there is a quilt shop near you, that is a fabulous place to start. Um, not only are you supporting a small local business, but you're connecting with a community of people there who are doing what you want to learn to do. And they are always so willing to teach. Many of them have classes or they can connect you with uh local quilt guilds or quilt bees, which is just groups of people who get together and share their quilts and ideas and do different community projects together. So a quilt shop is a great place to start. Um, again, when I started, I didn't have access to that very nearby. I wasn't able to do that. So I did look around uh and find some people online that I could learn for from. But the best was when I found in-person people to kind of sit beside me, see what I was doing, and kind of tips and techniques. For one example, one story. One of the classes I went to, I sat down and I was working on a block and I was fairly new. I had only been to a few classes. And the lady sitting across from me, who I had met in previous classes, looked at my fabric and looked at my machine, and she said, Are you using that thread? And I was like, Um, of course I'm like, I guess so. I can you tell me why I shouldn't be using this thread? And it's I was using a very dark fabric and I still had my white thread because pretty much most of the things I had done had white backgrounds. And so she was like, You don't want to use a light thread with that dark fabric. You need to find a dark thread that's gonna kind of hide in that fabric. So again, I could have learned a lot of things from watching a video online, but there was nobody in the room with me to look at the thread I was using. Versus being in person, people are able to kind of see and that's part of how we learn. They they can kind of catch some of those things that maybe nobody else knows to say because they're not in the room with us. Um so if you can find someone locally, that's really the best, the best place to start. Yeah, absolutely.

Allison 1:03:12

If you if you can find a quilt shop that's offering uh classes, wonderful. If you have a friend, maybe somebody at church, maybe your best girlfriend's mom or grandma, or you know, just ask around and there are quilters out there. They might be hiding, but they're there. Um so just put out a call to find somebody local. I think that's the very best thing you can do. Also, um, a lot of community uh organizations like libraries might offer a quilting class free to the community often. You just have to provide your own supplies or other community, maybe a community college might have something for the community that you don't have to be a student there to enroll. But what do you have on offer? Because you have some classes. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:53

So I'd love to hear about that. I do, I do have some classes. So again, because of my previous experience, I know that it was hard, even though I had a quilt class uh about an hour, a little more than an hour away, finding the time to drive. If I drove an hour and 15 minutes there and an hour and 15 minutes back, even if I was only there sewing for an hour or two, that took the majority of my day away from my family. And so finding the time to do that was challenging. Um, and also having kids, being able to do things in the evening when they are already down for the night is helpful. And a lot of times those classes are happening in the middle of the week during the daytime because a lot of the ladies attending them are retired and they are able to do that schedule. So knowing all of those things, I have met more and more people that are younger that are wanting to learn how to quilt, but kind of the limitations of their time and their work schedules make it hard to do that. So I've got some courses online on my website. Uh, there's a beginner quilt lab where I basically take people through the whole entire process from start to finish. Okay. We make a 36-inch quilt.

unknown 1:05:13

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:13

Basically, by making one giant block, that then we are learning all of the steps of piecing and quilting and binding so that at the end of that course they've completed their first project and have the skills that they need to make other things. Um I've got a quilted slipper class online. Uh, I like to make fun, usable, functional things. And that's one of those small projects that's a quick and easy thing that you can get done. It's great for gifting. So that's there. Oh, cute. Um, I'm teaching classes locally. So we just moved from South Texas and now we're here in southern Missouri. And I've gotten connected with a local shop in our community that's opened their doors to me to teach classes because there were so many women that were wanting to learn how to sew and quill. So I've had women coming to these classes that have never used a sewing machine. They've have zero prior experience and we're kind of starting from the ground up. So we started just with the quilting and then they started asking, like, can you teach me how to use my sewing machine? Because I don't even know what these things do.

Allison 1:06:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:18

So I am teaching that locally, but I'm in the process of getting that put up on my website as an online course, a sewing machine basics that teaches you kind of all of the parts of your machine, how they work, why they work, and how to maintain your machine so that you can kind of take it from there. So I've got those things, and then the one I'm most excited about is still in the works. It's not going to be ready until the summer. But uh now that I'm home with my children, I am homeschooling them. And part of the things that we do is I've been teaching my children how to sew. And I had the idea to create uh a semester-long quilting 101 for homeschoolers where there's a lesson every week. They'll have uh a workbook and things that they can work through every week, and they're actually building skills throughout the semester to know how to complete a quilt. And then once that one is done, I've already um once that one is complete, I've got plans for a 201 semester after that. But those are things that I'm I'm super excited to make available to help families. I know it's been hard for me as a mom to find places that um I can take my kids and they can learn these things. And so being able to do that kind of on our own schedule in our own home and still have a way to connect with other homeschool families, but um learning some of those skills that I want my kids to know once they are grown. That's so exciting. I love that. What do you think the age range would be will be for your kids' class? Well, I'm the target age range for that is like 10 to 18. Okay. Um, just because uh some of the instruction, I think it would be hard if they were much younger than that. But if you do have a younger one that's showing interest, I I've helped my my five-year-old niece. We've done little projects, but it takes us kind of on. Yeah, yeah.

Allison 1:08:16

So was it gonna be 10? Well, they could probably do it independently. Okay, that was my question. Is it an independent course, something they can do on their own? You don't have to stand there.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:26

And and my my hope and goal is, you know, if if a family has several children in their family that the whole family can kind of work through and do that together if those are things that that they're interested in.

Allison 1:08:38

So oh, so exciting! So you've got some really great stuff on offer. And um, we're gonna put all the links in the show notes and then we'll tell everybody at the end um where to go for that as well. Um so I I we've covered pretty much everything I wanted to cover, but we do have just a little bit more time left. I'd love to hear your top five quilting tips.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:59

Yeah. So number one, uh start where you are with what you have. Um, don't feel like this is unattainable or out of reach because you don't have very much money to be able to put towards it or because you feel like you don't have very much time. If it's something in your heart that you're wanting to kind of pursue and you're interested in, just start where you are with what you have. Um, number two would be don't be in a hurry. Uh, we are go, go, go all the time, kind of our modern way of life. And so going into it knowing this is something that I'm gonna need to slow down and not rush myself. Uh, if you are in a hurry, you're just gonna be frustrated. So if you slow down, you'll really enjoy the process, the journey of quilting. Uh, number three, if you can find them using nice quality materials, a good high-quality quilting cotton. It feels very, very soft, very nice. Another thing that I offer, I found a line of fabrics made by a company called Fablism. So they do these yarn-dyed woven fabrics. So most quilting cottons, it's just like printed on the surface, and it's a white fabric with it printed on top.

Allison 1:10:13

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:13

These, the actual threads are dyed, and so the color goes all the way through the fabric.

Allison 1:10:18

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:18

They are so soft, they make the nicest quilts. And so it's it's and really they're not that much more expensive than the regular cottons. But I that's something I have available on my website also. Okay. If people are interested in kind of trying some of them out, but um it makes such a difference if you use quality materials, you'll be so happy with your end product. Again, this is something that you're gonna be using to cuddle and snuggle, and you want it to be comfy. And so having something nice that's gonna last a long time is is a good thing to have. Um, find someone to quilt with. That's my number four. Um, it's always more fun to work with somebody. You can learn from each other and bounce ideas off of each other and uh learn and grow together. And then my fifth one would be to make sure you have that quarter inch, but that's gonna be your best friend all the difference in what you're doing.

Allison 1:11:18

Oh, these are great tips. I love that. And I'm I thank you for giving us a source for fabric because I know that you know, a lot of people might have shopped at Joanne and they went out of business. And, you know, where do we go for fabrics now? So yeah, that's a great resource.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:33

This line, I had seen them. They're they're popular with younger quilters, so you'll find them on Instagram. And I could never find them in a shop to like I I'm a person, I want to feel it and see it. And so I decided to just order a few bolts and I took it to a show with me. And everybody else there was like, oh, I've never seen these in person. I wanted to see them and touch them. And I was like, okay. So I've I've started keeping uh a stock of some of these things, and they they really are so nice. Everything that I make with them comes out beautifully.

Allison 1:12:06

Yeah, and I would say I would just encourage people too when you start counting the cost, then there's way, there are definitely ways to be thrifty. Um, you know, research that, like how to be thrifty with quilting supplies, but think about it as a per use. Like if you if you add up, it's gonna cost me $200 to make this quilt, and then your time, but think about how much use are you gonna get out of that quilt?

SPEAKER_00 1:12:30

And you know, if I use it every time, it's gonna be something that is gonna be not just your quilt, but then you can give it to your kids or your grandkids. Like, this is something that's gonna be around for a long time. And if you think 50 years from now, I want this to still be holding together. I don't want the you know, the fabric to be coming apart just because it was not well made. And so it is a little bit of an investment, but I think it's one that's well worth it because again, you're putting a lot of your heart and time and energy into these things, and so um starting with the best that you can is is always a good thing to do if you can.

Allison 1:13:07

Absolutely, because you want it to last. And $200 for a family heirloom for generations is a great investment. So yes. Yeah. Well, Jessica, tell everybody uh where they can find you, where they can find your classes and the supplies that that they can get from you and all of that. Where should they go?

SPEAKER_00 1:13:23

Yes, so my website is thelarklife.com. And so you can go there if you go to that website. All of the classes that I have available online are right there on the homepage. And then you can click on the shop. I've got a blog there as well where I post different tutorials for sewing, but also for cooking from scratch and some of the other gardening things that we do. And then my husband and I also have a podcast that we do every week called Handmade Happiness, where we're talking through just all things family, the things that we're we're walking through with our own family and kids as far as um really being intentional about the choices that we're making and making the most of our time and kind of keeping family first. So yeah, thelarklife.com and our handmade happiness podcast, which is on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Okay.

Allison 1:14:13

Well, we will link all of that down in the show notes so it'll be easy for everybody to find. Go and follow Jessica and check out what she has. Those resources are going to be really helpful for you. Thank you so much, Jessica, for being here and sharing all about quilting.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:25

Thank you so much for having me, Allison. It's been great.

Allison 1:14:28

You're welcome. I hope you've enjoyed this deep dive into quilting with Jessica Clark. If you're just beginning your journey into the wonderful world of quilts, congratulations. I'm excited for you. I hope we've given you helpful insight and information that will direct your path a little. Be sure to check out Jessica's resources. She has several classes that would be perfect for beginners, and she has generously offered a 20% off coupon code for the Art of Home listeners. Just go to the Larklife.com and use the code Art of Home at checkout. That's A-R-T-O-F-H-O-M-E. I will link all of Jessica's info in the show notes, including her podcast, Homemade Happiness. Thank you, Jessica, for sharing your expertise and your love of quilting with all of us. If you've made it this far, you are a long haul listener. Let's make the code for this episode a spool of thread. Drop one in a comment, text, or email, and let me know a little about your quilting journey. Do you quilt? Do you collect quilts? Have you always wanted to learn but felt intimidated? Tell me something about you and quilts. I would love to hear from you. If you have found value in this episode, please share with the homemaker you know and then go leave us a rating and a review on your listening app. And if you would like, you can say thanks with your spare change over at buymeacoffee.com slash theartofome. Don't forget to apply or nominate for one of the summer spots. That's all for this episode. I will be back on Monday with more spring cleaning motivation and next Wednesday with a brand new homemaker portrait. Until then, keep practicing your art of making a home.