Episode 8

Oh today's episode is so fun! I get to talk in person to a super-fun quilter I met online, bring you some great info on how to store and wash your quilts so they last for generations and introduce you to a very fun pattern designer.

Make sure you also head over to Quilt Addicts Anonymous to download the July Mini BOM pattern (http://www.quiltaddictsanonymous.com/mini-block-of-the-month-2016/). I can't believe this quilt is almost done and it is only the second month of the BOM!

I also am starting to carry patterns from some of my favorite quilt designers whose work I find inspiring. You can check out shop.quiltaddictsanonymous.com (http://shop.quiltaddictsanonymous.com/) to see check out patterns from Alison Glass (http://shop.quiltaddictsanonymous.com/product-category/patterns/alison-glass-sew/) (featured on Episode 2), Eye of the Beholder, Freddie's Friends (http://shop.quiltaddictsanonymous.com/product-category/patterns/freddies-friends/) (featured in this the episode), and May Chappell (http://shop.quiltaddictsanonymous.com/product-category/patterns/may-chappell/) (featured in Episode 1). Check it out and support some awesome women so they can continue to make beautiful patterns for all of us.

Laura McDowell Hopper, curator by day @SonicStitches (https://www.instagram.com/sonicstitches/) by night

What's that? You don't think textile preservation is interesting? Clearly you haven't listened to Laura McDowell Hopper talk about it. Our interview is filled with laughter, good arguments for why the temperature needs to be lowered, horse shampoo and of course how to store and clean your quilts so that they last for generations.

Laura also blogs over at SonicStitchesQuilts.com (http://www.sonicstitchesquilts.com/) and has put together an amazing article complete with step-by-step photos on how to properly fold and store your quilts. Click here (http://www.sonicstitchesquilts.com/blog/preserving-quilts-in-your-home) to check it out. And click here (http://www.niu.edu/anthro_museum/exhibits/Index.shtml) to learn more about Storytelling: Hmong American Voices a textile exhibit on display at the Pick Museum of Anthropology at Northern Illinois University where Laura works as a curator.

Ingrid Pinto, Freddie's Friends

If you've got a little one in your life, then you'll want to stick around to listen to Ingrid Pinto the creator of Freddie's Friends (http://freddieandcompany.com/). It is an adorable collection of stuffed animal toys that you can make yourself from quilting cottons. All the seams are left raw, and the animals are all sewed flat and then stuffed, so they're really simple to make.

Freddie's Friends all began when Ingrid's son asked her to draw him a dragon. She thought, well, why don't I just make a dragon from fabric. Well, she still hasn't made a dragon, but she has made a menagerie of animals from lion to butterfly.