Craft Industry Alliance

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about owning a fabric shop with my guest Tawnee Kinnebrew.   Tawnee is the owner and founder of Wyldwood Creative in Renton, Washington. She opened Wyldwood Creative to share her love of making with the community. She is a maker of all things and has at least 10 works in progress at any one time. When she's not at work she lo...

Today, we are re-airing an interview from March 2017 with the founders of Electric Quilt , Dean Neumann and Penny McMorris. Dean Neumann passed away this week on September 10, 2026. Dean was the visionary behind EQ software. A mathematician who taught himself to program on a hand-me-down computer from his son, he became known to quilters worldwide through his work on Electric Quilt software. He pu...

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about sewing clothes with my guest Cornelius Quiring .   When Cornelius Quiring was 3 years old, he was in a farm accident that left his body asymmetrical. He learned how to draft patterns and sew clothes to uniquely fit his body. It was a way of embracing who he is. Today, he shares his skills with those looking to do the sa...

On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about wholesale with my guest Emily Kerr-Finell. Emily is a mission-driven entrepreneur and the founder at  Wholesale In a Box  and Making Faire Wor k. A seasoned wholesale strategist, she has helped 2,000+ people start and grow small businesses. Her approach to business has been featured by The Oprah Magazine, Forbes, The Ma...

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we're talking about illustrations and textiles with my guest Kristen Balouch, founder of Little House Cottons , an organic quilting cotton company that produces fabric based on her original illustrations. Kristen is a children's book author, illustrator, and textile designer who has written and illustrated more than a dozen books for child...

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we're talking about surface design with my guest, Carina Garnder. Dr. Carina Gardner is the founder and President of the University of Arts & Design , which offers degrees and certificates through a unique program that helps designers turn their creative skills into profitable businesses. Carina holds a Ph. D. in Design from the Univer...

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we're talking about knitting and crochet publishing with my guest Amy Sadler. Amy is the editor of Knitty , as well as publisher and founder of the magazine. In 2002, she suddenly realized she could start an online knitting magazine to feature the knitting talent she'd been seeing on blogs all over the world, all on one tidy, professional-...

On this special live episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about Hobby Lobby with my guest Michael Blanding, author of the new book The Gospel According to Hobby Lobby: Inside a Billionaire Family's Quest to Craft a Christian Nation.   Michael is a Boston-based investigative journalist and author of In Shakespeare’s Shadow and the New York Times bestseller, The Map Thief. A...

In this special episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we're thrilled to be bringing you a recording of the keynote address at h+h americas 2026. This year our speaker was Natalie Chanin and her talk was called, The Future of Craft Is Collective. Natalie is the founder and creative director of The School of Making , Alabama Chanin , and the nonprofit Project Threadways , reflects on the e...

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about stitching with my guest, Mollie Johanson. Mollie is a professional designer, illustrator, and stitcher. She's a contributor to Simply Sewing Magazine, Love Embroidery, and World of Cross Stitching, and is the author of four craft books, including her latest, Stitching Super-Cute Food Kawaii Style. Mollie shares creative...

We’re so pleased to bring you this special episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast. This is a recording of the State of the Industry panel discussion which took place live on stage on May 6 at h+h america s 2026 in Chicago. With over 800 people in the audience, our panelists dove into the biggest issues and ideas the crafts industry is wrestling with right now. It was an exciting conversati...

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about the first year owning a brick-and-mortar yarn shop with my guest, Sanjani Ramkissoon. Sanjani is the owner of Stitch & Revel , a yarn shop in Livermore, California, a charming wine country town in the Bay Area, about 45 miles east of San Francisco.  Born in Fiji and raised in the Bay Area since the age of five, she...

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about coiled rope basketry with my guest Katherine Lile.   Katherine is the owner of The Mountain Thread Company in Blowing Rock, North Carolina.  She began sewing at age 4, and has always loved building community around creative endeavors.  Since opening her business in 2015, she's been on a mission to inspire, equip, and cu...

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we're talking about quilting and creativity with my guest, Maude MacDonald. Maude is a creative strategist and brand designer who helps small business owners craft brands that feel like home — authentic, cohesive, and entirely theirs. Drawing from the success of her own brand, The Retro Quilter , Maude knows firsthand how intentional strat...

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about buying and selling a craft business with my guests Lisa Shroyer and Leanne Pressly. This episode is a bit of a different show format because we focus on how to buy or sell a business. So often in the crafts industry, businesses just close, rather than go through a sale process. Part of the reason this happens is that se...

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we're talking about owning a craft store and workshop space with my guest Sarah Ferguson. Sarah is the owner of Craft Habit , a brick-and-mortar retail craft store in Raleigh, North Carolina, which offers adult and youth classes, private parties and events, and youth sewing and craft camps. In 2024, Craft Habit debuted a wholesale line of...

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about felt with my guest Renae Bradley.   Renae is the owner and creative director of Benzie Design , a colorful felt stitchery and craft shop founded as a creative outlet that gave her permission to “rainbow-tize” everything -especially wool felt. In business for over 15 years, Renae values the community that has been formed...

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about creating a craft kit company with my guest Michelle Galletta of Kiriki Press .   Ontario College of Art and Design printmaking grad Michelle Galletta wanted to make her niece an embroidered doll but couldn't find a pattern anywhere. A week after attempting her very first stitch, she was left with a set of wonky owl doll...

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we're talking about cosplay with my guest Madison May. Madison is the owner and head pattern maker at CUT/SEW Sewing Patterns , a beginner-friendly pattern company that provides entry-level, customizable patterns to the cosplay and street fashion community. With over fifteen years of experience in the costume and fashion industry, Madison...

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about building a craft community with my guests Ann Shayne and Kay Gardiner   Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne are the co-founders of  Modern Daily Knitting , one of the most vibrant places in today’s knitting world. Their partnership began in 2003 with a blog that quickly grew into a beloved hangout online, known for its humor, w...

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we're talking about running a brick-and-mortar yarn shop with my guest, Ali Dillingham, owner of A Yarn Market . A Yarn Market is a welcoming space based on the mission to make knitting and crochet accessible to all. With over 20 years of knitting experience, Ali is passionate about sharing the joy and therapeutic benefits of mindful makin...

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about fabric design with my guest Kim Kight. Kim Kight started in the craft blogging world in the 2000s, first with a personal sewing and knitting blog then her fabric news blog, True Up. She is the author of the book "A Field Guide to Fabric Design" in 2011 with Stash Books, which is still in print. She started designing wit...

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about crochet design with my guest, Brittany Garber .   Britt is the creative force behind KnotBadBritt —a name that’s become synonymous with bold color, approachable crochet design, and thoughtful community-building in the fiber arts world. With over five years of experience as a designer and educator, Britt is known for pat...

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about quilting with my guest Maria Shell .   Maria’s work is grounded in the tradition and craft of American quilt making. She strives to take the classical components of a traditional bedquilt and manipulate them with the hope of creating surprising combinations of pattern, repetition, and color for the viewer. +++++ This ep...

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about hand sewing with my guest Louisa Soenstrom .   Louisa considers garment-making skills to be deeply empowering. Louisa writes and teaches about patternmaking and hand stitching clothing. For most of a decade, she worked in technical design and patternmaking, most recently for Macy's and Eileen Fisher. Previous works have...