The Quilter on Fire Podcast

Eli McCann is a lawyer, writer, and podcaster based in Salt Lake City. He writes a monthly humor column for the Salt Lake Tribune, and has cohosted the Strangerville podcast and live show since 2016. His writing has run in the Washington Post, Newsweek, HuffPost, and the BBC. Now he's published his first novel, Stitched , and the story unfolds around a small Utah quilting guild. Eli grew up u...

Today I'm sitting down with a quilter whose journey has taken her from traditional patterns learned decades ago, to a bold, modern design practice worked out of a tiny studio outside London that's floor to ceiling in fabric. We're talking old meeting new — traditional patterns reimagined modern through her own lens, mostly in linen for that timeless texture, and a slow practice of h...

Today's guest is Vendulka Battais — I had the joy of judging alongside her at the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham this summer, and let me tell you, she taught me so much and made the whole experience an absolute blast. She's a textile artist, tutor, speaker, long arm quilter, and certified quilt judge whose creative roots go all the way back to sewing with her mother as a young girl in...

Karen Bolan is a teacher, lecturer, pattern designer and traveller. She's an artist who loves sharing her joy and her process and bringing people along with her.  Quilting started as a quiet counterbalance to her career as an Engineer, something she picked up on the side. But that side pursuit kept pulling at her until she finally took the leap into a fully creative life. Today, Karen is base...

My guest today is Aline Bugarin, she is half of the Brazilian duo that also includes Natasha Bugarin and their quilty biz is called Orbital Quilting . Natasha came to quilting from architecture, while Aline 's background is in character design for film. Together, they've built a creative business around helping quilters gain confidence with free-motion quilting and design. They're t...

My guest today is Eva Saunders , the designer, teacher, and creative mind behind Gingerly Quilt Co. With a background in visual arts, design, teaching, and filmmaking, Eva brings a fresh perspective to quilting. She's known for creating modern, approachable skill-building quilt patterns that help quilters build confidence. And she has a unique “quilt painting” workshop where you make the icon...

Today I’m chatting with Brigitte Heitland , a quilt and fabric designer from Germany known for her modern quilting style through Zen Chic Studio. She has one of the most recognizable brands in the quilting world and when you scroll her Instagram feed you’ll know why.  She’s built an incredible career designing fabric collections, writing quilting books, teaching internationally, and creating moder...

My guest today is is Gail Heller, the owner of Erie Quilt Art Inc. based in Calgary, Alberta. Gail spent years working as an intensive care nurse and then a manager in the medical industry before shifting her focus to the quilting world. She started out representing fabric lines and eventually established a wholesale company that distributes top tier quilting and sewing products to businesses acro...

My guest today is David Taylor. He's known around the world for his stunning pictorial appliqué quilts featuring birds, animals, and nature. The closer you look, the more incredible they become. Every feather, every shadow, every detail is created with fabric and thread. And behind all that award-winning work is a funny, down-to-earth teacher who believes quilting should tell a story and make...

My guest today is Marilyn Armand, founder and creative force behind Le point visible, a modern quilting studio based in Quebec's Eastern Townships. Raised by her grandmother and aunts, all talented seamstresses, Marilyn grew up surrounded by fabric, creativity, and the traditions of making by hand. Today she's one of the few quilters recognized as a Professional Artisan by the Quebec Cra...

Today I’m chatting with quilt artist, teacher, and author Cindy Grisdela . I recently met her at QuiltCon interviewing her about her quilt that was accepted into Quilt National 2025.  Cindy is known for her bright, modern improv quilts and her relaxed approach to creativity. She creates freehand curved quilts without patterns or templates, and her work has been shown in galleries and quilt exhibit...

My guest today is award-winning quilter, teacher, author, and machine quilting expert Catherine Redford . Originally from England and now based in Illinois, Catherine is known for her beautiful machine quilting, innovative techniques, and her ability to teach complex ideas in a really approachable way.  You may know her from her book Modern Machine Quilting , her appearances on Quilting Arts TV an...

My guest today is Cecilia Koppmann! She is an internationally recognized textile artist, teacher, and colour expert based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Cecilia has been creating and teaching textile art since 1998.  What she's especially known for is her incredible understanding of colour. Through hand-dyed fabrics, art quilts, workshops, and lectures around the world, Cecilia helps makers see...

Stephanie Organes is a graphic and surface designer with a background in advertising, which lends itself so well to being a quilter and pattern lover. She’s known for her soft colour palette, very pretty details, and joyful storytelling in her fabric designs. From sewing quilted accessories for her children and starting her brand called Pretty Please to designing multiple collections for Andover F...

My guest today is Tara Evans of Tara Lee Quiltery. She is an artist who didn’t just find quilting—she claimed it as her medium after years of creating in all kinds of ways. From painting to photography to raising four kids, her creative path has been anything but straight—and I love that. Now she’s known for bold, graphic, modern quilt designs that really stop you in your tracks. With over 30 quil...

Today I’m sitting down with Abigail Vargas , a contemporary textile artist based in Winters, California, whose work is vibrant, thoughtful, and deeply rooted in storytelling. Abigail creates quilts inspired by nature, science, and family to name a few—often combining contemporary fabrics with vintage and repurposed materials to add layers of meaning and texture to her work. Her quilts have been ex...

My guest today is Karla Overland from Cherrywood Hand-Dyed Fabrics, a company with a beautiful history that started over 35 years ago. From humble beginnings, Cherrywood has grown into a globally recognized name, known for its rich, luminous colours and that signature soft, almost suede-like texture. Karla Overland is the colourist who creates and maintains 200 formulas for gorgeous colours. She i...

Today I’m chatting with quilter, teacher, shop owner, author, and community builder Jean Wells of the Stitchin’ Post in Sisters, Oregon. From opening her quilt shop over 50 years ago to helping build Sisters, Oregon into a quilting destination known around the world, Jean has spent decades bringing quilters together through creativity, education, and community.  Jean opened Stitchin’ Post back in...

My guest today is Cornelius Quiring, a Canadian garment maker, educator, and one of the most thoughtful voices in the sewing world right now. Cornelius is known for his deep understanding of pattern drafting and garment construction—but what really makes his work stand out is the why behind it. Cornelius has been on a journey in garment making that has grown into a whole platform where he teaches...

My guest today is Toni Smith – we all know her as Quiltoni! Pixelated quilts that make you smile and fabric for everyone especially if you like video games, comics, pop culture and more.…if you want to enter a world full of smiles, geekiness, some crazy antics as well as be inspired by some massive action with heartwarming charity work then it’s time for you to meet QUILTONI! Phew! Today we will h...

My guest today is Tami Jones, the creative force behind Hometown Quilt Company. She has built a huge following by simply being real. Tami has this incredible gift for taking the ups and downs of quilting like the bobbin drama, the wonky seams, and the moments we all quietly struggle with, and turning them into something we can laugh about and learn from. Her content has reached hundreds of thousan...

My guest today is Bianca Springer of THANKS I MADE THEM, SEW CAN YOU! She has been touted as a Black Change Maker by Love Crafts for “her passion for sewing and her talent as a maker to spark change in the craft world!” I’ve seen her vendor booth in the past at big shows like QuiltCon From pattern weights to DIY Kits to sewing-themed jewelry, her  product line features refreshing, quirky and inspi...

My guest today is Tina Craig of Seaside Stitches! has been stitching since 1990 — when a beginner sampler class turned into a lifelong passion. After moving to a seaside town in Rhode Island, she launched Seaside Stitches . Tina is known for teaching quilters how to master precision piecing — especially foundation paper piecing and English paper piecing — along with domestic machine quilting. Her...

My guest today is Ursula McClintock. She is half of the team also comprised of Roy Zhao the owners of LDH Scissors in Toronto, Canada. Their scissors are designed for makers—quilters, sewists, textile artists—anyone who appreciates a tool that works beautifully and feels good in your hands. From traditional fabric shears made with industrial-grade carbon steel to specialty snips and pinking shears...

My guest today is Carson Converse, an artist and designer whose work lives right at the intersection of dynamic modern sensibility and grounded in tradition. Carson originally studied sculpture at Boston University before going on to earn a master’s degree in interior design from the New England School of Art and Design. That mix of artistic training and design thinking shows up beautifully in eve...