Sew Powerful Podcast

Meet Pat Quigley, a retired nurse with a passion for helping others. Whether she is on a medical mission trip with her church, making quilts for animals affected by natural disasters, or sewing purses for Sew Powerful, Pat puts her whole heart into her efforts. She is a talented seamstress and we talk about her unique fabric choices, making the purse photos she posts on Facebook instantly recogniz...

Betty Johnson is one of the newest purse makers to join the ranks of the Sew Powerful Regional Coordinators. Betty finds inspiration from Sew Powerful in the way that lives are changed for school girls and members of their communities in Zambia. Betty enjoyed a long career as the VP of HR for Goodwill Industries. While there, she introduced Toastmasters to her staff to help them speak at public ev...

Our first guest of the 2021 season is Daryl Perry of Patchouli Moon Studio. Daryl is an enthusiastic blogger who recently discovered Sew Powerrful. With a history in the textile arts, Daryl starting documenting her creations 13 years ago. As a professional handbag maker, Daryl was excited to discover Sew Powerful. Not only did the purse speak to her creative side, the mission spoke to her heart. S...

2020 was quite the year. In this nod to Clement Moore's original ''Twas Night Before Christmas', Jan Cancila takes us on a journey through the ups and downs of 2020, yet heralding the accomplishments of Sew Powerful and ending on a note of optimism.

More than 25 years ago Rose Turner and 5 others started the Texas PinPals. This charity serves the North Dallas area by providing underprivileged children with a wonderful Christmas experience. The children not only receive, buy learn the joy of giving as well. Rose's connection to Sew Powerful came through Liberty Jane as her group searched for patterns for clothes for the dolls the group donates...

This episode will inspire you the next time you sit at your sewing machine, work at your craft table or even cook your signature meal. The Sew Powerful Massachusetts Regional Coordinator has a philosophy about creativity. Listen as Maryann Gubala talks about the source of creative impulses for all of us. She shares her interesting family background, how she contributes at the non-profit where she...

Meet Sandy Simm, the Sew Powerful UK Regional Coordinator, as she extoles the dedication and contributions of Team UK. An accidental internet search result became a lifeline for Sandy at a time when things were at their gloomiest. Sew Powerful turned things around for her and gave Sandy wings to soar and she's brought along several other purse makers on the journey. Lots of 'shout outs' in this ep...

For Thanksgiving 2020, we catch up with Jason and Cinnamon Miles and find out what makes them thankful about this year. It turns out, there is a very long list of Sew Powerful accomplishments that bring gratitute to their hearts. As you prepare your turkey today, listen as Jason and Cinnamon recount a year full of amazing blessings. So, happy Thanksgiving to our US listeners and to those of you el...

In this special episode, we talk with Shirley Utz, the Social Media Regional Coordinator for Sew Powerful. Shirley shares her passion for Sew Powerful but she also takes us on her journey with pancreatic cancer. We learn where Shirley was when she received her diagnosis, her surprising reaction and how she has coped with the treatment regiment. You will feel hopeful as we learn of her progress, ho...

Mary Inchauste is an architect with a unique design aesthetic. In today's podcast, Mary shares the life challenges that made her appreciate education as the pathway to success. As a woman in a field dominated by men at the time she entered architecture, Mary became an unwitting trailblazer, mentoring and coaching younger women and students interested in pursuing a career in design and architecture...

In this episode we get to know Kathleen Broadfoot. Kathleen's degree in textiles and clothing from Indiana State University has served her well in her many contributions to Sew Powerful. Whether it is making over 250 purses or designing and making the purse panels to display our purses at Quilt Shows, Kathleen's life- long love of sewing coupled with her degree makes her a natural. You will enjoy...

Pour yourself a nice cup of tea and sit back and listen as one of our British volunteers, Ginny Buckley, shares her life in Yatton, England. She is an aspiring equestrian, hen rescuer, dog lover, snail aficionado, camper, puzzler and prolific knitter. Add to those interests her passion for Sew Powerful. Ginny shares how she got started with Sew Powerful and then held very lucrative fund raisers in...

Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach." This quote by poet Clarissa Pinkola Estes is a favorite of our guest, Donna Moscinski. It speaks to her heart as she shares her talents with a number of non-profits; but Donna feels it especially applies to our work with Sew Powerful. You will see a pattern of...

A series of seemingly chance encounters brought David Derr to purchase land in Zambia, partner with Sew Powerful to benefit the families of the Needs Care School, and find Nicholas to manage the farm. But on further inspection, the words in Esther 4:14 provided a more divine explanation: "And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this." Listen as David recounts...

This week we switch things up a bit by looking back at our most popular podcasts. Without revealing who made the list, we can hint that we had international guests, industry influencers and some very dedicated Sew Powerful volunteers. We will play short snippets from each of the ten podcasts that made the list. If you've not listened before or maybe missed a few episodes, this will give you a shor...

This co-hosted episode takes you on a 65 year journey of friendship, sewing, travel and finally re-uniting through Sew Powerful. Based on the co-authored story published in the second edition of the We Are Sew Powerful book, Jan Cancila introduces you to her BFF, Linda Reid Faught, a name you will surely recognize. Linda is known for her kind comments in the Sew Powerful Purse Project Facebook gro...

Meet a business woman with a modern sewing company who takes life in stride. Yolanda Stiger was a middle school teacher who discovered students and teachers alike were hungry to learn to sew. That inspired Yolanda to open Sew Houston several years ago and has since brought the love of sewing to the local community. Yolanda's vision for her company incudes giving back and as such she has been gener...

You know Toby Capps' big cheerful voice from the unboxing parties of years past. Now meet the man behind the voice; a man who changed a corporation and in the process, changed untold thousands of lives in Africa during the AIDS pandemic. Get your tissues ready because in this episode we will cry with Toby, laugh with Toby and get to know a man whose life can only be described as very well lived.

You've seen him holding up boxes at the unboxing parties, but that gig is a tiny fraction of the volunteer work Dana Buck does for Sew Powerful. Sit back and listen as Dana shares his early days at World Vision and how the chance encounter with Esther at the Ngombe compound changed everything. Now Dana wears a multitude of Sew Powerful hats. When he's not counting purses, Dana writes and records s...

Industry icon, Eileen Roche, founder of Designs in Machine Embroidery, better known as DIME and her colleague, Gloria Cardoza of My Fabric Designs, take us on a journey to the world of true personalization. Learning how to create custom fabrics at the touch of a button is just the beginning of what awaits you in this engaging conversation. Eileen shares her history, her connection to Sew Powerful...

Our Regional Coordinator in Sao Paulo along with a recent University graduate recount how the Fashion Design Students at Anhembi Morumbi University adopted purse making for Sew Powerful as a campus-wide project. Sue Banman Sileci and Victoria Batista give us a bilingual perspective on the project that started in 2017 and has since generated nearly 200 purses for school girls in Zambia.

An avid doll collector and a Sherlock Holmes fan finds herself drawn to Sew Powerful though an email she received from Pixie Faire. Meet Marcy Mahle whose busy life includes memberships in several clubs devoted to her hobbies. Marcy still finds time to sew purses for Sew Powerful because she feels it is important to give the girls in Zambia an opportunity for a brighter future.

Meet the UK administrator for the Sew Powerful Purse Project group on Facebook. Besides keeping her eye on Facebook when we are sleeping over here in the US, Louise Ambrosi runs her own business creating custom purses (rather bags, as the British call them), is a mom, Sew Powerful purse/bag maker and aqua aerobic enthusiast. Louise lived, studied and married in South Africa before returning home t...

When you live in your Design, it is from there that God shines. This is more than a slogan for Anita Morris. It is the guiding principal of her life, her business and even the way she sews. Besides serving as an ambassador for Baby Lock, Anita runs her online blog, website, YouTube channel and Amazon store under the Anita by Design moniker. You will thoroughly enjoy meeting this very busy woman of...

A hydrogeologist who makes soap as a hobby and a retired English teacher who recruits purse makers from a Fair Trade storefront.