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

The work on Kim Brownell’s quilts gravitate towards animals, nature scenes, and bright colors.  Her techniques include and blend: fabric collage, free form art quilts, raw-edge applique, as well as many others.  Kim has a passion for entering quilt challenges which spark her imagination and inspire her.  She says her dream is to also inspire you to have fun and to help you learn what you can create. 

Here are a couple of Kim's quilts

Connect with Kim:

Website: The Wacky Doddle Quilter

Facebook: Kim Brownell

Instagram: the.wackydoodle.quilter

 

And Thanks to Mel Beach for sending Kim to A Quilter’s Life

Connect with Mel –

Website: Mel Beach Quilts

Facebook: Mel Beach Quilts

Instagram: melbeachquilts

Pinterest: Mel Beach

YouTube: Mel Beach Quilts      Don't forget to subscribe to her YouTube channel

And Mel’s episode on A Quilter’s Life: Mel Beach

 

This remarkable interview with Dana Jones is a little longer than the average episode of A Quilter’s Life, but you know how it is when you get chatting with quilters.  Dana loves teaching quilting from beginning classes to advanced techniques, from teaching her own designs to teaching quilts designed by others.  And she shared with us many of her wonderful insights.

We talked about Dana's Peace Cranes Over Hiroshima

Here are her Warp Speed and Don't Call Me Girl quilts

Connect with Dana

Website: Dana Jones Quilts

Facebook: Dana Jones Quilts

 

And Thanks to Mel Beach for sending Dana to A Quilter's Life!

Mel's episode on A Quilter's Life: Mel Beach

Website: Mel Beach Quilts

Facebook: Mel Beach Quilts

Instagram: melbeachquilts

Pinterest: Mel Beach

YouTube: Mel Beach Quilts

Christa Watson is passionate about all things that have to do with domestic machine quilting.  She is an award-winning quilter, pattern designer, author, and digital educator!  After the interview I remembered I should have asked Christa about the sewing cabinet that she co-designed with Arrow.  I’ve seen it demonstrated and it looks fabulous.  Then a little later I received an email from her and she shared that her Colorful Chaos quilt that we talked about was juried into the quilt show in Paducah.  I’m so happy for her!  So if you’re able to get to that show make sure to look for it.

Here's Christa's Colorful Chaos quilt

I had the privilege to meet Christa in person at QuiltCon 2024

Connect with Christa

Website: Christa Quilts

Facebook: Christa Watson

Instagram: christaquilts

Pinterest: Christa Quilts

YouTube: Christa Quilts       Don't forget to subscribe to her YouTube channel

Bea Byrne is a quilter, artist and entrepreneur living in Oakland, California.  She has a love of anything to do with textiles but her real passion is quilting. After a career in tech and events Bea realized that organizing and hosting an online conference would be the perfect way to merge the two worlds.  She has created the Quilt n Learn events which include teachers from all over the world.  And if you’ve been listening to A Quilter’s Life for a while you may even recognize some of the teachers at this event.

Here's Bea's quilt Self Portrait Triptych

To connect with Bea for the Quilt n Learn events

Website: Quilt n Learn

Facebook: Quilt n Learn

Instagram: quiltnlearn

YouTube: QuiltnLearn

 

To Connect with Bea about her teaching and lectures

Website: Bea Byrne

Facebook: Bea Byrne

Instagram: beabyrneartist

 

And Thanks to Mel Beach for sending Bea to A Quilter's Life

Connect with Mel –

Website: Mel Beach Quilts

Facebook: Mel Beach Quilts

Instagram: melbeachquilts

Pinterest: Mel Beach

YouTube: Mel Beach Quilts

And Mel's episode on A Quilter's Life: Mel Beach

You'll probably noticed before you start listening, this episode with Theresa Benson is about twice as long as our average episode.  Theresa has so much to offer!  Her workshops are a fusion of art and technology, where quilters of all levels discover that color theory and AI can go hand in hand.  Whether she’s unraveling the mysteries of tech for the quilting community or sharing her passion for fabrics and patterns, Theresa’s enthusiasm is infectious.  It won’t take long for you to join in her enthusiasm on this episode too!

Theresa's portrait quilts

And some of her animal quilt designs

I just love Theresa's smile!

Connect with Theresa

Website: The AI Quilter

Facebook: The AI Quilter 

Facebook Group: The AI Quilt Guild

Instagram: theaiquilter

YouTube: The AI Quilter

If you want to connect on her professional level

Linkedin: Theresa Benson

Website: Radiant Meatball

The podcast that Thresa and her friend, Amy Redbird host on the importance of laughter and strength in personal development and mental wellness:  Healarious

Sondrasa has found quilting to be the perfect pallet for her creativity. Playing with the mediums of fabric and thread to create her own unique brand of fabric art for international quilt shows and also creating her own quilt patterns which are designed to help even a confident beginner create beautiful quilts. Sondrasa sees every quilt as a work of art knowing that the maker has made it out of a labor of love.

Here's Sondrasa's Desert Spring BOM

Connect with Sondrasa

Website: Art Quilts by Design

Facebook: Art Quilts by Design

Instagram: sondrasasews

YouTube: Art Quilts by Design

Twitch: Sondrasa

 

I knew when Mel Beach shared that at a young age she had memorized who the artist was of each sculpture in the museum near her, that she was going to be sharing some brilliant information with us and I wasn’t disappointed.  We can easily see how her life experiences molded her into an inspiring quilt teacher.  I loved the quote from her coach that “If you had fun, you won.”

This is Mel's Emerald Gardens quilt.  I still can't believe it's only 12" x 12".

  Connect with Mel -

Website: Mel Beach Quilts

Facebook: Mel Beach Quilts

Instagram: melbeachquilts

Pinterest: Mel Beach

YouTube: Mel Beach Quilts

 

Again my thanks to Carolina Moore for encouraging Mel to be interviewed.

Here’s where you can find Carolina:

Website:  Always Expect Moore.com

YouTube: Carolina Moore

Pinterest:  Carolina Moore

Instagram:  craftmoore

Facebook:  Always Expect Moore

Podcast: I Love Notions