I’d have to give Jackie Brown the extra patience award.  I am so thankful that she worked around my schedule  when I not only had to cancel on her once, but twice because of my medical issues.  Then what a thrill it was for me that her daughter, Amy, popped in to say HI as we started the interview.  Such a wonderful day for me!

Jackie is passionate about her work as a teacher, designer and long arm quilter.  She simply can't think of anything sheI'd rather do!  For her the most rewarding part of her work is seeing the look of excitement and satisfaction on the faces of her customers, whether she’s finishing their quilt or teaching them how to quilt for themselves. She thanks God for her husband, children, and grandchildren as well as the people who have given her the opportunity to serve them through Jackie’s Machine Quilting.

You can see Jackie's amazing quilting here.

Connect with Jackie:

Website: Jackie's Machine Quilting

Facebook: Jackie's Machine Quilting

Instagram: jackiesmachinequilting

Pinterest: Jackie's Machine Quilting

YouTube: Jackie's Machine Quilting

Christine Lindebak is forever grateful to her parents for supporting her on her sewing journey from such a young age to where she is now.  Can you imagine being so young when you began to sew that you can’t even imagine not being able to do so?  Sewing runs through the fiber of who Christine is and it’s exciting to hear how it has shaped her life.

Here are a couple of quilts that Christine has made

 

This is the dress she made when she was young that we chatted about

Here are some of Christine's clothing patterns that she has used quilts in

     

Here's Christine's mom that had so much patience and encouragement for Christine

Can't forget Christine's sewing buddy, Owen, and her fetherweight

Connect with Christine:

Website: Sewing and the City

Instagram: sewingandthecity

Pinterest: Sewing and the City

The way Phyllis Biffle Elmore feels about the quilt that her Grandmother Lula gave her is how I think many quilters hope others feel when we give them a quilt. 

With significant history and mesmerizing storytelling Phyllis has written Quilt of Souls transforming oral tradition into a beautifully written document, powerfully presented and preserved for posterity.  She stitches together true tales of racism, sexism, and colorism, but also strength and pride, creating a multigenerational patchwork honoring her family and ancestors.

This is the quilt that Phyllis' Grandmother Lula made for Phyllis and a picture of Lula Horn.

This was the last quilt that Phyllis' Grandmother Lula made when she was over 100 years old

And this quilt Phyllis calls it Smokey Quilt.  It was in a fire but wasn't destroyed.

Connect with Phyllis

Website: Phyllis Biffle Elmore

Facebook: Phyllis Biffle Elmore

Instagram: Phyllis Biffle Elmore

X: phyllis lawson

I see Sara Browne and her cousins as heroes. When Covid and the lockdown began she could have just looked after herself, but she reached out to others to lift them up!  She continues to add value to people’s lives even after the lockdown has ended.   She sees herself as an enabler by helping people learn the parts they don’t know how to do for themselves.

You might find yourself looking at the sky in a different way after this interview with Sara.  There is color all around us if we look for it.

This beautiful scrappy quilt was made with the scraps that had been thrown in the trash after one of the sewing classes.

Here's her Scrappy Jewel and Scrappy Confetti

Quilts made for her niece and nephew

Barn Storming Quilt

Several more wonderful quilts

And a couple of lovely table runners

And of course Ruby and Sara's girls (chickens)

Connect with Sara

Facebook: The Lockdown Patchwork Project

YouTube: The Lockdown Patchwork Project

And thanks again Helen for connecting me with Sara!

 

Kena Tangi Dorsey lives her life the way she wants to live her life.  It’s taken her in different directions throughout the years, but each step has added knowledge that she is able to use now.

While living in Harlem, New York, Kena had an abundance of access to African shops and boutiques along 125th Street, so she began infusing African wax prints, kente cloth and mud cloth textiles into her quilting projects -  by making wall hangings, table runners and quilted bags with them.  She also loves working with Indonesian Batiks and had fun purchasing a large collection of them on her trip to Indonesia a few years ago!  

This is one of Kena's favorite quilts! She calls it “Black Butterfly.”

“Oba!” was Kena's first Benartex Ambassador project for 2024. For her fabrics, she chose the “Transparency” collection by Modern Quilt Studio.

The purple quilt is a wall hanging quilt made of all African Ankara fabrics and a lavishly lavender organic cotton solid fabric for the background.

Making portrait quilts is one of Kena's favorite things to do,  “Marvalous” was published in Art Quilting Studio Magazine!

Connect with Kena

Website: Kena Quilt Studio

Facebook: Kena Quilt Studio

Instagram: kenaquilts

 

And Thanks to Shelly Martella for connecting us with Kena!

Connect with Shelly

Website: Threads & Ewe

Facebook: Threads & Ewe

Instagram: threadsandewe

Pinterest: Threads & Ewe

X: https://twitter.com/ThreadsandEwe

My interview with Shelly Martella

What do you do when the company you work for closes and your family needs help?  Open a quilt business, of course.  Ronni Chavez was able to make it all come together through a rough time in her life.  Now Ronni is designing entertaining quilt patterns, offering tutorials, and has even written her first book, The Crazy Quilter.

Ronni made this Disappearing Orange Peel especially to have it used for the feature picture of this episode.  Isn't the couching and quilting spectacular!

Don't forget to look for her book.

Connect with Ronni:

Website: Road Home Quilting

Website: RHQ - Quantity Source

List to find The Crazy Quilter in Ebook: Books 2 Read

I need to add a note to this episode before it begins.  I had emailed Mel a few weeks ago for a follow up and didn’t get a reply, but I know she’s a busy lady and didn’t think much about it.  Then today I received a note from Carolina that she had also reached out to Mel several times with no response.  So Carolina did more digging and found Mel Shields obituary.  Mel passed away on April 5th, 2025.  Only five days after this interview was recorded.

This was quite a shock to us.  But I can’t imagine the shock it must be to her dear husband, Paul.

Paul, I want to extend my heartfelt sympathy.  It was a privilege to know Mel through our quilting group.  She will be greatly missed.  And I want to let you know that you and your family are in our prayers.

It was an honor to record Mel’s story.  And Paul, I hope being able to hear her voice in this interview will give you comfort.

 

Mel Shields just has a few rules you need to follow when you’re at The Quilting Room with Mel. There are no quilting police, you make your quilts the way you want to and if you are happy with the results, so is she. Everyone is welcome in her quilting room and last but not least enjoy your sewing machines the way you want to.

These rules become very clear as we get to chat with Mel you’ll hear her deep love for quilting and sewing machines.

Here's Mel's No Y-Seam LeMoyne Star

Quenemo - Melissa Dawn Shields, 45, passed away on Saturday, April 5, 2025, at Advent Health in Ottawa, Kansas. She was born on September 28, 1979, in Ottawa, Kansas, the daughter of James and Donna (Green) Meek.

Melissa had lived most of her life in the Quenemo Community. She graduated from Marais des Cygnes Valley High School in 1998.  

Melissa had worked as a waitress in high school and college, worked for Grapevine Internet as a Tech Rep and had worked several years at Marais des Cygnes Valley Elementary School. She had started as a Para with Three Lakes and then became the librarian and IT technician for the school. She had been a volunteer firefighter and worked with Osage County Emergency Management. She was a member of the Quenemo United Methodist Church and had always helped with the Quenemo Penny Suppers.

On December 19, 2004, Melissa was united in marriage to Paul Shields at the Michigan Valley Community Church.

Melissa was preceded in death by her parents, James and Donna.

Melissa is survived by her husband, Paul of 20 years; by her son, Joshua Shields of Herington; by her stepdaughter, April Shields; by her brother, Jim Meek of Spring Hill; and by her sister, Dee Dinkle of Independence, Missouri.

Funeral services for Melissa will be held at 11:00am on Friday, April 18 at the Feltner Funeral Chapel in Lyndon. Burial will be in the Oak Hill Cemetery in Quenemo. The family will receive friends from 6:30 to 8:00pm on Thursday at the funeral home. Memorial contributions in memory of Melissa may be made to Marais des Cygnes Valley Elementary School, sent in care of Feltner Funeral Home, 818 Topeka Avenue, Lyndon, KS 66451.

 

I am so thankful to Mel Shields for introducing me to Erika Pinkley.  I love Erika’s “can do” attitude.  She seems to be consistent in seeing what she wants to accomplish, finds a way to do it, and then be told that was one of the hardest things to do.

We didn’t chat about Erika’s logo during the interview, but as I was again looking through her website I read that she was inspired by her mom’s favorite quilt block design, the Monkey Wrench, when she started Little Glass Quilts.

Here's a sample of Erika's Little Glass Quilts!  This is Kansas Home.

Connect with Erika

Website: Little Glass Quilts

Instagram: Little Glass Quilts

Facebook: Little Glass Quilts

TikTok: Little Glass Quilts

 

And again, thanks to Mel Shields

Website: The Quilting Room with Mel

Facebook: The Quilting Room 

Instagram: homeecmel

YouTube: Melissa Shields

TikTok: homeecmel

 

 

Sam Hunter is busy making patterns, YouTube tutorials, lectures for guilds, blogging, guiding retreats in Europe and last year she started the podcast Rev Craft Biz where she has conversations with business owners in the craft industry.

Sam’s philosophy for Hunter’s Design Studio is to design things that you can enjoy. Her tagline is “Helping people have more fun while they make more things”. Sam wants you to have fun, joy, and comfort from your creative efforts, and she hopes the things she makes support you in that!

You’ll want to check out Sam’s website just to see how many Lego Sams you can find.

Sam just loves all of her quilts so it was hard for her to pick one to share with you.  This is her Fourteen Squared pattern.

Connect with Sam

Website: Hunter's Design Studio

Facebook: Hunter's Design Studio

Instagram: huntersds

Subscribe to Sam's YouTube: Hunter's Design Studio

Pinterest: Hunter's Design Studio

 

 

 

Threads & Ewe is the fulfillment of Shelly Martella’s lifelong dream to own a combination yarn and fabric store. Her goal is to provide a wide variety of exceptionally made fabrics and yarns, from around the globe, that will support the creative needs of sewing enthusiasts and fiber artists. Shelly is thrilled to finally be working in a career that lets her indulge her passion for beautiful fabrics and fibers. Shelly created the Threads & Ewe website not just as a yarn and fabric shop...but as a friendly online destination where quilters and knitters come to create!

Here is Shelly receiving the Best Customer Service award!

Just look at how wonderful Shelly's booth is!

And here is Shelly enjoying what she does.

Shelly at the International Quilt Festival

Contact Shelly

Website: Threads & Ewe

Facebook: Threads & Ewe

Instagram: threadsandewe

Pinterest: Threads & Ewe

X: https://twitter.com/ThreadsandEwe