Hi, I'm Nicole Gilbert and this is the stop scrolling start sewing podcast each Wednesday join me as I share the ins and outs of that quilt life if you don't have a sewing machine, or you can sew a pretty fly why seam or maybe you are just looking for the newest or coolest quilty news. This is the podcast for you. Hi, folks, Nicole here, and welcome to season three, Episode 10 of the stop scrolling, start sowing podcast, whether you're listening on your way to work, or watching on YouTube, thank you for spending a little bit of your day with me. So before we dive into all the things that we talked about the topic and you know, the usual, I just want to preface this all by saying this is keeping it real Wednesday here on the podcast this week has been bananas. I have been out of town for two and a half of the last three weeks. And I have been traveling across the country, meeting amazing quilters and leading classes and assisting with classes and visiting Baby Lock headquarters and all of the things and it has been amazing. But I came home to a disaster house has been three children, you notice one of my children has the flu had to pick the kids early up early from school. Just all of the craziness that happens. And that is what results in this. And so if you're watching on YouTube, you're gonna be like, girl, you need eyeliner. I just don't have the time. But I did not want to miss a day with you guys. So hopefully you're just like, I feel you. It's fine. Also, this is definitely the kind of episode you could just listen to on the podcast. So don't feel like you're missing anything out if by not seeing all of this. Okay, so on this episode of the podcast, we are talking about using technology in your quilting studio. I know. But first, the quilt on the wall.
So this super fun quilt is a lot of fun. And I suggest anybody who hasn't tried
piecing a quilt on point, do this quotes. This is like a great fundamentals quilt, I highly suggest it. It's incredibly repetitive, but it's still fun. It is called crisscross. And it was designed by April Rosenthal,
for prairie grass patterns I
want to say is the pattern company name, and it's April Rosenthal crisscross. Okay, so what I love about this, first of all, it finishes at 55 inches by 66 inches. So it's a nice healthy size lap quilt, which I adore. I just love a good snugly on the couch quilt and this is definitely one of them. It is on point like I just mentioned
and if you're not familiar with quilts on point, what onpoint means is that instead of the rows going across, which it does look like these rows could maybe be pieced across instead of them going across and having all of these little guys and whatnot. It's actually pieced on the diagonal. So this is actually a row.
Does that make sense? I hope it does. So it's a lot of fun. It's a different style, but and it can be intimidating to some people especially if the pattern calls for like
setting triangles which which this one does. But this is a great way to practice it because it's incredibly repetitive. The blocks are just these like nine patch jammies, which is like super
easy. And then they go together pretty quickly. So it's not a taxing project. You know some some things are tedious and they're a little bit mentally taxing. This is not one of those this one flies right by so I highly suggest trying this out and it is Jelly Roll friendly as well which I did use a jelly roll. I wish I could remember the line this was this is one of those Jelly Rolls it has been kicking around because it was so beautiful and I just never could find a project for it. And then I thought this one was a lot of fun. So I can't remember off the top of my head but if I recall it before This episode goes live. I will put it in the show notes. But I will have links for you to access the quilt pattern in the show notes or the video description. Okay. So now that the quilt on the wall is out of the way, let's talk about using technology in your quilting studio or just while you're sewing in general. And I know I know, this is the stop scrolling start sewing podcast. But like seriously, I love technology. I know you love technology. And I know that some of you are probably scrolling while you're listening to this right this moment. So it's fine, no judgment. But if you are going to use technology while sewing, let's make sure you know all of the power that you can potentially have with some super helpful tools that are out there for you today. So some of you may not know about them. Some you may already know about. But you may not be using them to help your quilting and some will be totally new to you. Either way, let's get to it. So first and foremost entertainment. And none of these are going to be new to you. Okay, none of them. But it needs to be said. And we need to just get the elephant in the room out of the way. Any good quilting instructor is going to tell you to focus and give your quilting the attention it deserves. But I'm human, and so are you. And I listen to podcasts or audiobooks. Or I watch Netflix while I'm sewing. I will say if you are watching something, please make it something that you don't need to focus too much on. So sewing is not the time to watch inception. You remember that crazy movie with Leonardo DiCaprio? I think my husband and I saw it in theaters like three times. And every once in a while we still argue about what actually happened during that thing. So there's that. But this is like the time where like, I'm watching NCIS I'm watching Gilmore Girls, Vampire Diaries makes an appearance every once in a while don't judge me. I know some of you watch it as well. Those kinds of shows are on constant rotation shows that I've seen a million times that don't really require my attention. So first and foremost, technology, something to listen to a podcast or an audiobook or a TV, keeping it really low. Okay, so now let's get to the real technology, the real stuff that you're interested in hearing about for your quilting journey. So next up is your camera. Okay, again, you're gonna be like, okay, is this the kind of podcast that I'm listening to stuff where I have heard this all before? Yes and no. Okay. So obviously, you are going to take pictures of your super gorgeous, beautiful projects like duck, obviously. But are you taking photos of your fabric poles, and turning them to grayscale so that you can make sure you have enough depth of value to your colors that you've chosen? Maybe you're not. And while that's okay, that is a huge way to uplevel your color selection. So keep that in mind, you want a nice gradiation of light, medium and dark or highly saturated values. And you'll be able to see it most clearly if you take a grayscale picture. So that is tip, technology tip Hu TT technology tip numero uno Are you laying out your quote blocks on either a design wall or on the floor and you're sitting up standing on top of a chair, whatever you have to do, are you taking a photo so that you can judge block placement before you sew your rows together? Because for some reason, it really is so much easier and clearer to see what needs to be moved and what needs to be changed when you're looking at something on your computer or phone screen than it is when you're looking at it directly. And I kind of just looked off to the left if you're watching the podcast. And that's because that's where my design wall is. And there's quote blocks on it. And it's true. It really really does work.
So there are
speaking of phones, since we're on the camera subject. There are some great apps for color ideas and palette creation. So some of my favorite apps are the color viewfinder app and that's color and then viewfinder is one word. And what this does, and I swear it's like the coolest thing ever. It turns your photos into color palettes. So you upload a photo like let's say you see this gorgeous sunset photo or whatever. You upload the photo Auto, and then it pulls all the colors from the photo and arranges it in like, I think you get to even choose I mine, I think is set to like ROY G BIV. So it like sorts the colors as they fall on the color wheel. It's pretty cool, like really, really cool. Because sometimes, a lot of times actually, there's two things that we get attracted to when we see something, colors and symmetry. And so we'll see a picture and we'll absolutely adore it. And then when you get the color palette out and you're like, oh, that's working. So color viewfinder app, awesome app. Another app is the Pantone studio. So some of you may have heard Pantone and know exactly what it is. And some of you have no idea. So Pantone is like the Oracle of color. It's like the adult version of Crayola basically, like when you're a kid, Crayola like knows all and owns all when it comes to color. That's how Pantone is is. Every year, they released the Pantone color of the year. And that color is like in all of the fashion lines, it's in all of our quilt fabrics. It's in all of our decor items. Like, you know how mustard is like a really big thing. It was the Pantone color of the year. I don't remember what year but in the last couple of years, just like turquoise had its day, it was a Pantone color of the year. They like know these things and literally shape our world. It's pretty crazy. But Pantone also has like the ultimate color chip cards. If you've ever seen one of these color chip books, they're like giant novel size books with like, every color imaginable. It's crazy. It's really cool. But anyway, this is the company Pantone. And the app Pantone studio is like an app for you to play with colors. So you have these digitized versions of all of these colors, like the ones that I mentioned in that giant book. And you can create color, which is kind of a misnomer, because Pantone is telling us the colors that exist. But you know, you could be like, Oh, well, I really like this pink, but I wish I had a little bit more white in it. And then you could find it. I'm sure it's probably in there if you scrolled hard enough, but you can technically, quote unquote, create it. So you can like create the color, you can also build and create palettes, and audition them. So you can actually use them to colorize images. So you can get a palette put together once you find all the colors that you like, and you can colorize images, which can be really helpful. If you've got like, you know, obviously, as a pattern designer, we can kind of think of Oh, yeah, that's perfect. That helps me kind of figure my life out. But for those of you quilters who are just trying to do your next fabric poll, you'll get a pattern and it's got that coloring sheet in the back, you can use Pantone studio to audition colors without having to color in that color sheet. You did. It's pretty cool. Okay, and the last one, and this might be my favorite one, because it takes a lot of the pressure off when it comes to color selection. And so these apps that I'm talking about right now are just to do with color. I think you've probably got that just by now. So this color tool, this last color tool is called the color inspiration tool. And so have you ever seen a color and been like, Oh my God, it is beautiful. I'm sure you have everybody has at one point or another. I've got colors that like stick in my brain for ages, just like for ages and ages. And they're just in there. And I'm just like, how am I going to use that ID to use it. I don't care how I use it, but I need to use it. That's where the color inspiration tool comes from. Okay, so the color inspiration tool, which is an app, you can take one color. So you don't even have to have like a full idea fleshed out. You could take one color. And this tool, this app will build palettes around it. Come on guys. How cool is that? So like, Have you ever like gotten a pattern and looked at it and you're like, Oh, that'd be so flooded turquoise and it's like Yeah, but there's 10 other colors in that. You have your pattern. You have color, you throw the color into the color inspiration tool and all of a sudden it's going to give you the other colors to put into the into the quote. Come on. That's awesome. Okay, so those are my three favorite color tools. We have the color viewfinder, Pantone studio, and the color inspiration tool. Okay, now, two more apps are coming your way. These ones have to do with math. So like, bummer. I know. I know. But we're quilters, we have to do math, it is what it is. So one tried and true. You just need to know the calculations, you need to know the formulas. But your calculator app, I probably don't even need to tell you about that this is one of these ones, you're going to be like a DA. But maybe not use your calculator on your phone. This is how you're going to figure out how big of a square you need to cut to create your bias binding. This is the tool we're going to figure out how many inches of continuous binding you need. Like these are things that you just you need basic math formulas, that over the years, you'll start to memorize your calculator help you figure it out. Now that we've gotten the basic calculator out of the way, however, let's talk about the other calculator in the room, which you may not even know about, which is okay because I'm going to tell you about it. The Robert Kaufman quilts calculator, okay, super flippin cool. This is made just for quilting. And I'm sure I've only scratched the surface of what it can actually do. But this will tell you how much you ordered you need. Like legit, like so how many yards backing do I need to buy? This is the size of my quilt boom, tells you how much yardage it's like it takes the thinking out of it, it basically removes the need for you to know the formulas like what I talked about in the basic calculator. Again, I think I have only scratched the surface of what this calculator can do. I'm not sure about everything it can do. But just that right there, being able to put in the dimensions of my quilt and get how many yards of backing I need to buy is worth the price of admission. And honestly, it's free. But again, it might be something where as you go down the hole and you're using more features in it, there may be costs involved. And I will say that with all apps. I mean, that's it's kind of standard, like all the apps are free until, you know until you get to that one feature. And it's like actually, that'll be 499. So I'm not 100% Sure on all of these things where that kicks in. But there are some pretty phenomenal features out there. Okay. So we've talked about entertainment. We've talked about our camera, we've talked about color apps, we've talked about Nath apps. Pretty darn cool. Now, let us chat about tracking. Okay, so I want you all to make quote labels. If you've been one of my students in the past, you know, I teach about quote labels. I have mentioned, quote labels several times on the podcast, I think what labels are super important. What we create every day is beautiful on a myriad of levels. Obviously, it's pretty to look at, it's functional, which there's something to be said about something that you make for your hand with your hands, that wraps somebody up and warms them. Like I could get all philosophical on it. But like really think about that for a minute, you make something that literally warms and comforts people, that is stinking cool. But these are also part of our legacy. And, again, I could go on and on and on about it. But at some point, I know my grandkids are going to pull a quilt out my great grandkids are going to pull a quilt out. And they're going to want to know where I was and what I was thinking and what it was made out of, and why it was gifted to who was gifted to and that's what labels come in. Phenomenal. So I am operating under the assumption that you know all of these things and you are using quilt labels. However,
quilt labels live with the quilts. Which means you even if you are doing all of the best practices with your quilt label, that quote walks out your door and is gifted to the person that you intended to have it and they have all that information. And you are left with the memories and the love. But not necessarily any of that information. I know for myself, I have Mom Brain like you wouldn't believe that's part of the reason why I have shown up like this for you today. And so we need to talk about tracking and keeping that information for yourself. After the quilt is long gone. its merry way onto your nephews bed or into the trunk of your husband's car. So What I like to do is use an app called quilt fil. And this is one of those apps that have so many layers, that everybody can use it in different ways. You can use it overall as a quote planner, meaning every time you start a project, you can enter the basic information, the pattern, the fabrics, when you started it, where you were, when you started it, Yatta, Yatta, yatta yatta, you can put in progress notes, so you know exactly where you were in the project, when you you know, took a pause, which is great, because you can put in multiple projects in there. And so now you have a record of your UFOs. That's pretty cool. You can add pictures. And now it's becoming a scrapbook. Because now you can have a segment of finished projects. Here's all the information because you've already put in where you were, who you are, who it's for, what fabrics you use, the pattern you used, and the photos. And now it's a record, like a quilt label in your pocket. Pretty cool. But it's also this tracking app that allows you to keep organized, and keep moving forward on your projects. And also when it's like, Hmm, I don't know what to sell. Let me open my app and see the 12 things that I've technically got in sacks in grocery bags hidden in my sewing room, which one should I work on, the information is all there for you. I cannot stress enough how much I love this one app. If that is the only thing you take out of this entire podcast episode, then I think that you have got your time's worth, honestly, it will really change how you're doing things. Now, last, but certainly not least, and I am throwing a ton of information at you. And I am speaking a mile a minute. And I can tell. And also sidenote, I didn't say this, but all three boys are upstairs watching a Formula One race right now. And I am trying to make sure I don't miss any points that I give you. But I'm also trying to make sure that I finished this without you hearing a thundering herd run overhead, which could happen at any moment. Okay, so this is the last tip I'm going to give is a timer, or an alarm clock. Now this could be Siri, it could be Alexa. I just said that and she lit up. So now I'm a little concerned, you might hear her start talking in a moment. Or if you're like me, and you've got to recall the alarm machine, or I think the reagent and the coordinate and the glint all have them in some various way, shape or form, you can set an alarm in those machines that will go off and tell you to stop. So I never want you to stop sewing, I want you to live your best quality lives. But unfortunately, if your life is anything like mine, and I'm sure it is, you are an incredibly busy, capable, responsible human being with lots of things on your plate. And because of that, you need to get to where you need to go. And so setting alarms on these devices, keeps me from forgetting to pick my kids up from school. It keeps me from forgetting to cook dinner. Not always. But 99 time. All right. So that is my last bit of tech that I want you to utilize in your Sewing Studio is a timer or an alarm clock. And you've got some version. You've got Siri or whatever the Google version of that is in your pocket. You have an Alexa on pretty much every flat surface because we're Americans and why why do when you cannot when you can overdo. Or you can even program it in many of the sewing machines that you have in your home, right this instant. So that was a lot of information I just threw at you. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I did. I'm going to lose it with this whole setup that I'm dealing with right now. But I just wanted to make sure that I did not miss my time with you this week. So all the links mentioned in this episode can be found in the show notes and the video description description below. If you are interested in joining the samplers pre slow along we are still chugging right along and there is plenty of time. Go ahead and visit the link in the description so that you can get more details on that. So folks, you have survived I have survived. We've just finished another episode of the stop scrolling start selling podcast. Thank you You so much for hanging out with me and make sure you never miss an episode. By hitting subscribe wherever you listen to podcast or subscribe on YouTube. And if you have a moment, please leave a review on your favorite podcast provider. It helps more quilters. Listen, find me to listen and join in on the fun. Now stop scrolling and start sewing