Make and Decorate with Stephanie: Sew, Quilt, Knit & Home Decor

Click Here to Send me a Fan Mail Message! On this episode, I welcome returning guest, Christa Watson.  Christa is an award winning quilter, teacher, fabric designer,  book author and so much more.  She has many exciting things in the works for 2022.  Check out her website/blog: ChristaQuilts.com Go to my Podcast Blog (link below) to find the PROMO  CODE for FREE SHIPPING from Christa’s online shop...

Click Here to Send me a Fan Mail Message! I am back with new episodes for the 2nd half of Season 4!  Today I chat about my crazy fun fabric acquisitions in January, including Liberty Tana Lawn.  I also talk about AccuQuilt die cutting and investing in dies that give you more bang for your buck. Have you seen the YouTube video “Quilt Clothes Must Die” by Mary Fons?  I review it and share my thought...

Click Here to Send me a Fan Mail Message! Happy Holidays! This episode is the mid season finale.  Season 4 will continue in February 2022.  In the episode, I chat with Emma Jones, who has a YouTube channel and online shop called Vintage Sewing Box .  She has videos on many epp projects and small accessories and often embellishes them with beautiful hand embroidery motifs.  We talk about a great ep...

Click Here to Send me a Fan Mail Message! Today is a solo episode and the main topic is the history of the sewing pin.  I have several links on my podcast blog to my resources on the topic, as well as links to current sewing pin companies, ie Tulip, Clover and Dritz. In my chit chat segment, I read a recent negative  i-tunes  review about my podcast, and I respond to it.   In my  4 years of podcas...

Click Here to Send me a Fan Mail Message! THIS EPISODE IS THE REAL EPISODE 77.  I APOLOGIZE ABOUT THE EP75 UPLOADED TO THIS ONE BY MISTAKE. It is holiday crunch time.  It can be so fun and fulfilling to make and gift holiday presents for the people you love.  It can also be stressful and take longer than anticipated to complete a handmade gift.  Gifts do not need to be masterpieces, they are speci...

Click Here to Send me a Fan Mail Message! Today, I chat with Jess Zeigler, the founder of the Longarm League .  Jess shares a wealth of information about Longarm quilting, how to prepare your quilt for a professional Longarm service, and what to look for when searching for a Longarm quilter.  Jess also chats about digital pantographs, what they are and how they are used in Longarm quilting.  Go to...

Click Here to Send me a Fan Mail Message! With the cooler weather settling in, you may be thinking of the coziness of fall and winter indoors, and how you can achieve that for your home.  In this episode I share five layers of home decor that can be freshened up and elevate the cozy feeling. I have sewing, quilting and knitting updates in the chit chat segment along with Netflix, Hulu and YouTube...

Click Here to Send me a Fan Mail Message! Today my guest is Jennifer Swope, a David and Roberta Logie Associate Curator, Textiles and Fashion Arts Department at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.  We talk about a new exhibition opening October 10th at the MFA, Boston.  The exhibit is called Fabric of a Nation: American Quilt Stories. There are 50 quilts in the exhibit spanning the past 300 years, in...

Click Here to Send me a Fan Mail Message! Hardrock Woodworks is a family run Etsy shop that sells handmade wood and 3D printed products.  Wayne is a fine woodworker craftsman, and he makes beautiful quilting clappers in maple wood, walnut and a type of maple called Ambrosia, which has a striped wood grain. He started making clappers and other quilting notions and tools as a result of his wife, Jan...

Click Here to Send me a Fan Mail Message! This is the Season 4 Premiere episode, and is hitting the ground running!  I have a shiny new logo for the podcast, as you will notice with the updated podcast art icon. My guest is Melanio Gomez , a finalist Maker on the NBC TV show, Making It .  The Season 3 finale aired last week, August 26th, and 4 finalists competed with their final make of the Shed H...

Click Here to Send me a Fan Mail Message! My guest on this episode is Kate and her amazing YouTube channel is The Last Homely House .  Kate lives alone in a little cottage on a hill farm in Northumberland right at the top of England, next stop Scotland.  I absolutely love Kate’s YouTube Channel.  Her videos always transport me to a beautiful bucolic landscape where she shares a glimpse into her cr...

Click Here to Send me a Fan Mail Message! Hello Everyone! today I am posting a favorite from 2019, episode 40 with Katarina Roccella.  Katerina is an artist and textile designer for Art Gallery Fabrics.  She lives in Belgrade, Serbia with her husband and three children.  In this episode, we chat about creative inspiration, and Katarina's career path into textile design for quilt and apparel f...

Click Here to Send me a Fan Mail Message! This is the Season 3 finale episode, and although the show will be on summer hiatus, I will be re-posting some of the older episodes.    Some of the chit chat topics are recently completed projects, including a bag I started a year ago. I also talk about my plans to make some clothing for myself this summer.  I bought several patterns to make and have a fe...

Click Here to Send me a Fan Mail Message! Welcome to Episode 70! This is a super sized, super exciting episode with my guest, Jenni Grover with the School of  Creative Resilience.  Jenni just finished her term as President of the Chicago Modern Quilt Guild, and has launched a new business, where she helps people find their creativity and develop daily habits to help with resilience in everyday lif...

Click Here to Send me a Fan Mail Message! Welcome to the Make and Decorate with Stephanie Socha Design Podcast! Today I chat about all the usual suspects of our creative living...sewing, quilting, a little knitting, a little heat transfer vinyl and gardening. The main topic is all about Upholstery:  Learn about fabrics, and which ones to choose for upholstery.  Did you ever sit on a sofa that was...

Click Here to Send me a Fan Mail Message! Welcome Make and Decorate podcast listeners!  You get two podcasts on the same day!  This audio podcast is a full episode in itself with my chit chat segment, and I talk and review a very interesting new product (to me) from Ashmead Designs, pre cut forms for epp that stay in the epp project without need for removal. I also talk about threads you can use f...

Click Here to Send me a Fan Mail Message! Happy April Friends,  Today's episode covers many different ways you can embellish your fabric project, whether it is a quilt top, pillow, Denim Jacket, tea towel, the possibilities are endless. I share technique ideas for hand and machine embroidery, appliqué, thread painting, beads and baubles and couching. Visit my podcast blog to get links and see...

Click Here to Send me a Fan Mail Message! I am so excited to welcome back a returning guest of the podcast, Jessica from Sallie Tomato!  You can listen to episode 35, where I chat with Jessica and learn the story of how Sallie Tomato came to be (if you missed it).  In this episode, we pick up where we left off and find out all the new and exciting things at Sallie Tomato...there are new collabs, l...

Click Here to Send me a Fan Mail Message! In this episode I give my recap of my first QuiltCon experience, and how the virtual QuiltCon did this year.  I have to say, I really enjoyed Virtual Quiltcon 2021 from the comfort of my home.  I am not a natural social butterfly, and this suited me so well!   I will talk about some of the highlights from the quilt design, hand stitching, and Boro workshop...

Click Here to Send me a Fan Mail Message! Chit Chat Segment: I update on the goings on here, which means so much snow!  Since the last episode, I made a quilt from start to finish in 9 days which is fast for me.  The pattern I used is free from the Robert Kaufman website.  It is called Pixelated Heart Quilt. My guest on this episode is Pam Cobb, known from the Hip to be a Square podcast, and The S...

Click Here to Send me a Fan Mail Message! Welcome back to the 2nd half of Season 3!  In this episode, I update on my creative goings on around the studio and a DIY home improvement project.  I will also share my first experience with chalk painting.  Did you know you can get custom colored chalk paint at the big box home improvement store?  It is pretty awesome :) The main segment is about choosin...

Click Here to Send me a Fan Mail Message! I am so pleased to have Sophia from My Great Challenge, back onto the podcast!  Sophia has a YouTube channel called "My Great Challenge" where she posts videos of DIY home improvement projects, cleaning, decorating, thrifting, and gardening.  She also has a hobby we all enjoy as well...sewing and quilting.  We chat about the home improvement proj...

Click Here to Send me a Fan Mail Message! My guest on this episode is Sandra Johnson of Sandra Johnson Designs. http://sandrajohnsondesigns.com   Sandra is a textile artist, teacher, quilter and garment maker. She shares about her passion for repurposing denim, hand stitching arts like Boro and Sashiko and her upcoming classes in 2021 at the Virtual QuiltCon Together and Virtual Craft Napa 2021. S...

Click Here to Send me a Fan Mail Message! Happy Thanksgiving!  Thanksgiving is all about reflecting on what and who we are thankful for, as well as gathering together with family and loved ones, but this year is certainly different, and the gathering with loved ones may be done over the modern technology of Zoom or other video call applications. The day after Thanksgiving, Black Friday, kicks off...

Click Here to Send me a Fan Mail Message! Choosing a Sewing Machine with Confidence is a huge topic and can be a very daunting task when you are looking for a new sewing machine.  I break down the types of machines into categories of features to look for and research tips.  I also define these features to give a better understanding of what they do and how they can be utilized ie what is dual feed...