Craft Industry Alliance

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about quilting and activism with my guests Sara Trail and Juan Tapia. We recorded this episode in person at the New England Quilt Museum in Lowell, Massachusetts where there is an exhibit up through December 1, 2019 of the Social Justice Sewing Academy Quilts called Piecing Together Youth Voices in a 21st Century Sewing Circl...

On today's show, we’re talking about the history of Quilts, Inc. with my guest Teresa Duryea Wong . Teresa has authored two books on Japanese quilts and textiles and in early 2019, she published American Cotton: Farm to Quilt. She currently travels to Japan and throughout the US to research, write, and lecture. She holds a master’s degree in liberal studies from Rice University and in 2014, was na...

In this short solo episode, I make an important announcement: the name of this podcast is changing. After 153 episodes as the While She Naps podcast, going forward this show will be called the Craft Industry Alliance podcast. Very little else about the show will be different. Tune in to hear what led up to this decision (a lot of careful consideration!). I'm really excited about this change! We ha...

On today’s episode of the While She Naps podcast we’re talking about building an illustration business with my guest, Stacie Bloomfield. Stacie Bloomfield is the founder of the company  Gingiber , based in Springdale Arkansas. She is an illustrator and printmaker who sells prints, stationery, fabric, and homewares in over 500 retail outlets around the country. She has collaborated with many retail...

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast we're talking about building a business in the sewing industry with my guest, Pati Palmer. Pati is the driving force behind the Palmer/Pletsch publishing company which has published dozens of sewing books and how-to DVD’s and creator of eight Palmer/Pletsch sewing notions products, including PerfectFuse™ Interfacings.  Pati has been designi...

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast we're talking about making a career as an artist with my guest, Lisa Solomon . Lisa Solomon is a mixed media artist whose work has been exhibited and collected all over the world. She received her BA in art practice from UC Berkeley and her MFA from Mills College, and has been a professor in the Bay Area for 15+ years. As a Hapa [her mother...

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast we're talking about running a brick-and-mortar and online yarn shop with my guest, Laura Zander. Laura is the co-owner of Jimmy Beans Wool . Along with her husband Doug, she worked as software engineers during the dot-com boom in the San Francisco area. When Laura and Doug saw the boom begin turning into a bust they quit their jobs and move...

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast we're talking about making a living as an artist and surface pattern designer with my guest, Sarah Golden . Sarah is a painter and surface pattern designer living in Sacramento, California with her husband and 5-year-old twin girls. She paints abstracts, lots of plants and is a fabric designer for Andover Fabrics. +++++ This episode is spon...

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast we're talking about building a new sewing blog and business with my guest, Sarah Kirsten Anderson of the blog and sewing pattern company SARAH KIRSTEN . Sarah is a sewing educator, sewing pattern designer, photographer, and a believer in the magic of making your own clothes. She’s passionate about making sewing and simple pattern drafting a...

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast we're talking about running an indie sewing pattern business with my guest Taylor McVay of Blueprints for Sewing . Taylor McVay is a designer, artist, and educator. She creates sewing patterns for unique, architecture inspired garments. Along with running Blueprints, Taylor teaches fashion design, pattern making, and sewing in the Boston ar...

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast we're talking about quilting as an art form with my guest, Denyse Schmidt . A former graphic designer and graduate of Rhode Island School of design, Denyse Schmidt began creating quilts in 1996. Intrigued by the rich historical nature of quilts and inspired by beauty born of necessity, Denyse adds her distinctive aesthetic sensibility – cle...

On this episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast we're talking about running a fabric, notions, and gifts company with my guests, Mark, Brian, and Josh Dunn of Moda and United Notions. Mark Dunn got his start in the fabric industry in 1966 working with his father William Dunn at Sewing, Sales, and Services which they founded together.  In May of 1975 when Mark was 29, he moved to Texas to st...

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast we're talking about building a career as artist who makes quilts with my guest, Jane Sassaman . After a varied career in the design world, Jane Sassaman began to quilt in 1980. She found that these “soft paintings” satisfied the draftsman, the craftsman and the artist in her.  Consequently, she is now a dedicated (some say “obsessed”) quilt...

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast we're talking about building a retail fabric and yarn shop, both online and in a brick-and-mortar setting, with my guests Joelle Hoverson and Page Marchese Norman. Joelle and Page, along with Jennifer Hoverson Jahnke, are co-owners of Purl Soho , a fiber arts supply company that brings a modern sensibility to traditional needlecrafts.   We...

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast we're talking about building a handmade business with my guest, Jessica Marquez . Jessica is a life long maker who found her way back to textiles while working on an MFA in Photography from Rochester Institute of Technology. After countless hours working digitally, retouching images and staring at a computer screen she longed for hands-on a...

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast we're talking about building a business as a quilt pattern designer, author, and blogger with my guest, Amy Friend . I had the pleasure of visiting Amy in her home studio in West Newbury, Massachusetts, and recording this interview in person which was lovely! Amy lives in a mid-19th century home that was formerly inhabited by a comb maker,...

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast we're talking about running a wholesale distribution company with my guest, Brad Krieger. Brad is the president of Checker Distributors , a company his grandparents, Bob and Del Krieger, founded in 1948. Based in Maumee, Ohio, Checker is a leading distributor of quilting and sewing products. Independent quilt shops all over the United State...

This week on the Craft Industry Alliance podcast we're talking about running a fabric company with my guests Pat and Walter Bravo. Pat and Walter own Art Gallery Fabrics , a manufacturer of premium fabrics for the quilting industry. They are two soulmates who live life with a lot of passion, doing what they truly love. Originally from Argentina, they have been married for 34 years and have an amaz...

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast we're talking running a wholesale distribution company with my guests Stan and Brittany Gray. Stan Gray is the owner of E.E. Schenck Company , which is a distributor, converter and wholesaler of all types of fabrics and sewing notions servicing customers throughout the world.  After 51 years with the company, he is still involved in the day...

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast we're talking about becoming a fabric designer with my guest, Katarina Roccella .  Katarina was born in 1975 in Belgrade, Serbia where she lives with her husband and three kids that are true inspiration for her work. In 1998 she graduated from the Faculty of Applied Arts at the Department of Graphic Arts and in 2003 got a master’s degree.  ...

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast we're talking about product development and building an embroidery business with my guest, Megan Eckman of Studio MME . Megan is the owner and head designer of Studio MME , a company that creates approachable embroidery kits for modern stitchers. After failing her grandmother's embroidery lessons as a kid, she came back to the craft in 2014...

As we wind up 2018 I’m taking a minute to look back on the podcast this year. We’ve had so many of interviews with guests I truly admire including a whole roster of other artists and designers who have built independent creative businesses that are incredibly inspirational. As we wrap up the year I wanted to turn to you, my listeners, and hear your voices on the show. I make this show for you, and...

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast we're talking about building a business as a surface designer with my guest, Erin Dollar . Erin Dollar is the textile designer behind the home decor brand Cotton & Flax . She's known for her minimalist-modern approach to surface pattern design, and her textile home goods have been stocked in indie retail shops around the world, as well as o...

This is my second annual State of the Quilting Industry show recorded at Fall Quilt Market in Houston, Texas. The show is only open to the trade and it’s a time for quilt shop owners, pattern designers, notion makers, and fabric manufacturers to come together and do business with one another.  In this episode, I sit down with quilt shop owners to talk about how business is going. I did man-on-the-...

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about online learning with my guests Ursula Morgan and Julie Roehm. Ursula is the CEO of Creativebug , the award-winning DIY art and craft instruction site with 1,000+ videos for all skill levels. For $9.95/month, consumers have an all-access, no boundaries pass to all their creative interests. In her role as CEO Ursula grew...