American Patchwork & Quilting Podcast

We've all been there: we offer to make a gift for a friend or family member. And what could be a simple act of love becomes a mess of opinions and frustrations. We share some solutions on how to work with a picky quilt recipient to make sure you both love the final quilt. And also, how to approach gifting in the future to make it easier. We also share ideas for building your stash on a budget, 10...

It's officially full-swing holiday shopping season. Whether you're shopping for other quilters in your life or still adding things to your own wish list, we have some suggestions for gifts quilters will love. We also give a variety of listener tips, give details of a staff quilt retreat we took at Prairie Pointe of Pella, and share stories of quilters making a difference in their communities. For...

Happy Thanksgiving week to those who celebrate it! Counting our blessings actually has great health benefits. Feeling grateful increases our dopamine and serotonin levels, which are the feel-good hormones, and reduces cortisol which causes stress. And it can also help us be more patient, sleep better, boost our immune system, and strengthen our relationships. In this episode, we share four ways to...

A few weeks ago, our staff travelled to Houston, Texas, for Quilt Market. Quilt Market is a show for people in the industry to gather, talk about the state of the industry, make connections, and find ways for us all to work together. We use the event specifically to find new products and fabrics to feature, and find new designers to work with. We also use this event to look at trends in the indust...

Accurate blocks comes from accurate cutting. On this episode, we share our best cutting tips for making the process easier, more accurate, and more efficient. We dive into cutting safety, rotary cutter care, cutting multiple pieces at once, faster trimming of units, fussy-cutting tips, and more. We also chat with Chris Hanson of Modern American Vintage, who makes handcrafted quilting tools from ex...

Happy Halloween! We thought we'd get in the spirit by sharing spooky stories from our sewing rooms. Our staff and listeners are sharing some quilting fails, scary moments, or silly mistakes. We also share results of a poll we did on fabric shopping habits, details of a winter sew-along, the answer to a listener question about crazy quilts, and genius listener sewing hacks. For more resources from...

This episode is Part 2 of 2 in a topic we're excited to explore. On this episode, we'll examine how to overcome outer judgement. (Last episode, we looked at how to deal with your inner critic). Whether comments about your quilts are well-meaning or not, having our quilting feel under attack is very stressful and hurtful. We walk through some strategies for dealing with off-putting comments and mov...

This episode is Part 1 of 2 in a topic we're excited to explore. On this episode, we'll examine how to overcome your inner critic. And next episode, we'll look at how to overcome outer judgement. The inner critic comes in the form of nagging and negative thoughts about ourselves. We share some ways to silence your inner critic, and if all else fails, how to work with it. We also share a fun way to...

We chat with Kitty Wilkin of Night Quilter. Kitty is a quilt designer, teacher, and photographer known for documenting her life through gorgeous quilts. Kitty shares info on her past projects and how they have motivated her in her goals and allowed her to focus on her own self-care, as well as how other quilters can start planning their own Quilt Your Life project. Lindsay also shares how she uses...

Our staff shares how they started sewing. We love to hear how people got into the hobby, because it's so different for everyone. We also share ideas for quilt labels, wall organization ideas, and listener tips. ⁠ For more resources from today's show, visit the show notes here: https://www.allpeoplequilt.com/magazines-more/quilting-podcast/episode-569-how-we-starting-sewing Email us at APQPodcast@m...

We're answering listener questions! We tackle questions about everything from binding and machine-quilting to buying fabrics and packing for a retreat, and more! For more resources from today's show, visit the show notes here: https://www.allpeoplequilt.com/magazines-more/quilting-podcast/episode-568-ask-us-anything Email us at APQPodcast@meredith.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podca...

Small pieces look great in quilts, but can be hard to work with. We share tips for choosing fabrics, cutting, piecing, and quilting tiny blocks. We also share the next 10 quilt shops in Quilt Sampler magazine, stories of quilters making a difference in their communities, products we love, and the '90s trend we're seeing in quilting. For more resources from today's show, visit the show notes here:...

There is no worse feeling than sewing along on a project and suddenly realizing your stitches are inconsistent. We share easy ways to solve uneven or skipped stitches. We also chat with Scott Brodsky of Country Heritage Tours. Country Heritage Tours leads 7-14 day land tours that explore quilt shows, quilt shops, and quilty attractions, as well as local historical and cultural attractions around t...

Our staff shares the quilting products they love right now! We also give details of a scrappy quilt-along, share our listeners' best tips, and plan a fall trip to see a barn quilt trail. For more resources from today's show, visit the show notes here: https://www.allpeoplequilt.com/magazines-more/quilting-podcast/episode-565-were-so-obsessed-with Email us at APQPodcast@meredith.com. Learn more abo...

Make your quilt pattern work for you with these tips for choosing one that fits your lifestyle, your needs, or even the fabric you want to showcase. We also share tips for overcoming the halfway slump some quilters experience on longterm projects, products we love, and our favorite tools for hand applique. For more resources from today's show, visit the show notes here: https://www.allpeoplequilt....

Quilt retreats are a great way to connect with other quilters while making process on your projects! We share tips for planning a retreat everyone will love, including finding a location, questions to ask the host, choosing dates, and making time for food and fun. We also share ideas for using back-to-school items as storage in your sewing room, our opinion about pressing seams, and the two-color...

T-shirt quilts are a popular gift to give and a great way to create a quilted keepsake. We share tips for sewing T-shirt quilts, including those for planning, stabilizing, cutting, ironing, and quilting. We also chat with Natalie Pratt of The Ginger Quilter about sewing mojo, making time to sew, and her quilty subscription boxes. For more resources from today's show, visit the show notes here: htt...

We're spilling unpopular quilty opinions from both our staff and our listeners. Some will make you laugh out loud, some you'll relate to, and some will really make you think. We also share tips for quilting with metallic thread, stories of quilters making a difference in their community, and genius sewing hacks from our listeners For more resources from today's show, visit the show notes here: htt...

Love scraps? We do, too! On this show, we share tips for making beautiful scrap quilts, including how to choose fabrics, finding a pattern to show off your scraps, how to grow your collection of scraps, and more. We also chat with designer, teacher, and scrap expert Diane Harris of Stash Bandit. She shares her best advice for making scrappy quilts and how to store scraps. For more resources from t...

Solid fabrics in quilts date back to the late 1800s, but also continue to be popular today. And there's now a large variety of colors to choose from. We share tips for working with solid fabrics, including shopping for them, pressing them, machine-quilting them, and more. We also share products we love, tips for visiting quilt shops while traveling, and a trend we're obsessed with. For more resour...

Strip-piecing is a huge time-saver! We share tips for sewing, pressing, and cutting strip sets, as well as the math for how to make this technique work for any pattern. We also chat with Tighe Flanagan, a quilt designer known for his precise and complex patchwork. Tighe shares how his travels and background in Middle Eastern studies influence his designs. For more resources from today's show, visi...

We're halfway through the year! Back in January 2022, our staff made quilty goals for the year. We decided to do an update episode--both as a way to keep ourselves accountable, but also as a way to get back on track. So now 6 months later, we're all checking in to share our progress! We also share what a staff member is sewing now, how to tailor your time spent on UFOs to your personal schedule, a...

"Creative burnout" is the feeling that you've drained all of your creativity, and there is nothing left. You feel like you don't have the ability to create something for yourself or the world anymore. We share 7 signs that you may be experiencing creative burnout, and gives tips for how to overcome it. We also give opinions on whether or not to prewash fabrics, share top listener tips, give creati...

We're so lucky on this podcast to be able to chat with designers and quilt shop owners, and even to feature listener tips and questions! There are so, so many talented quilters in the world who inspire us, and we're honored to share their stories and knowledge on this show. But – we have too many people we love to fit into just a weekly podcast. So, we're going all out on this episode and each of...

This time of year is a great time to wash and clean quilts in your home (especially since they've probably gotten a lot of use over the winter months) We share tips for spot-cleaning quilts, washing and drying quilts, and favorite products to prevent damage to your quilts during the cleaning process. We also chat with Heather Briggs from My Sew Quilty Life. For more resources from today's show, vi...