SEAMSIDE: Exploring the Inner Work of Textiles

I recently spent a week in Chicago with my good friend, Amanda Nadig, making this quilt together. Since I had recently bought a small handheld recorder, we thought it'd be fun to take you behind the scenes day by day as we're making this quilt encountering creative obstacles, when things aren't turning out our way and how we navigate through this particular project together.

In part one, Amanda and I shared details about this particular commission, the kind of prep work we did to get ready for our week of sewing side by side in Chicago. We had an in-depth reflection on something that was becoming more and more fascinating to us: the way that by working with someone else, it forces us to create this kind of specialized language around the project, one that you might not even have to articulate to yourself but in the company of another artist, you have to put abstract ideas into words.

So, if you haven't heard that part of this documentary project, yet, I encourage you to go back and listen to the previous episode and then join us here again for part two.

In this part, Amanda and I strategize about quilting:
① how we choose an overall quilting design
② the important relationship between light and color
③ the body is a measuring tool

We close this conversation with reflections and tips that we hope support you in seeking out your own creative collaborations.

Click here to see images of this collaboration quilt

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In this two-part mini-documentary: Amanda Nadig and I take you behind the scenes of our latest collaboration. You’ll get to accompany us on the creative process behind a quilt built out of a client's retired collection of high-end silk neckties.

I'd recently bought a small handheld recorder, and we thought it'd be fun to give you a play-by-play as we're making this quilt, encountering creactive obstacles when things aren't turning out the way we'd hoped, and how we navigate through this particular project together.

Along the way we share some helpful tips and meaningful reflections designed to get you thinking about how you may want to incorporate artistic collaboration in your own creative practice.

In this conversation, we discuss:
① the curious parameters of this project
② things we learned about working with silk
③ how we’ve developed a special language working together

Click here to see images of this collaboration quilt

⤷ Learn more about THE QUILTY NOOK here
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In our chat last week, Sherri Lynn Wood and I took a deep dive into memory quilts, and this week we talk about what she loves best *after* quilting, namely: nature and being a divinity school dropout.

Enjoy this short chat, and if you haven’t had a chance to listen to our first conversation, check out the previous episode.

⤷ Learn more about THE QUILTY NOOK here
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If Sherri Lynn Wood and I were to map our lives on a venn diagram, there’d be a lot of overlap: we both spent parts of our childhood in North Carolina, we both host online communities for quilters (mine is the QUILTY NOOK, hers is BravePatch.School); we both honor elements of quilting as a spiritual practice, and in doing so, we both work a lot with grief and bereavement. The quilts may go by different names: I make memory quilts, Sherri makes passage quilts, but they both point to the stories and energy that our clothes contain even after we pass.

In this conversation, Sherri and I take a deep dive on what it means to work with clothing as a channel for processing life and loss, and we discuss:
① the emotional aspects of working with clothing in quilts
② practical ideas for collaborating on a memory quilt
③ self-care for quilters doing grief work

⤷ Learn more about THE QUILTY NOOK here
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In this QUILT TALK episode, I’m joined by my good friend and collaborator, Heidi Parkes. When I went to visit her in Milwaukee over the summer, we decided we were overdue to make a collab quilt. YES MORE PLEASE was born out of a conversation about creating more space for all the good things in life (and maybe sweeping out the junk in the meantime). Towards this end of this quilt talk, we share some thoughts about what it takes to have a positive collaboration experience. I hope you enjoy and pick up something you can use in your own creative practice. XOZ

For more images and process shots of this quilt

Learn more about Heidi's work

REFLECTION PROMPTS
1. Reflect on a time when you collaborated creatively with someone. How did this partnership influence your approach and outcome?
2. Consider the themes of saying 'no' to create space for 'yes'. How can this concept be applied in your personal or professional life?
3. Recall an instance where a limitation (like the quilt's black background) pushed you to think more creatively. What was the outcome?

ABOUT SEAMSIDE
Hosted by quilt-maker Zak Foster, we explore how working with cloth has changed who we are as people, what we call on the show *the inner work of textiles.* Zak speaks with a wide variety of textile artists from quilters to embroiderers, from activists to educators, writers, and collectors.

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Subscribe to SEAMSIDE for heartfelt stories and meaningful explorations of the human world of textiles

HELPFUL RESOURCES
→ Free Video Tutorial: HOW TO MAKE A TINY QUILT
→ Join the QUILTY NOOK: A Curious (and Sometimes Feral) Online Textile Community
→ Top Ten SEAMSIDE Episodes Guide
→ Weekly Email Goodies from Zak
→ Visit Zak’s website
→ Follow Zak on Instagram
→ Enter here for your chance to win a FREE YEAR on the NOOK

I first met Rachel Meginnes at Penland School of Arts and Crafts just north of Asheville, NC. We had been in each other’s digital orbits for a good while and so when we sat together in a couple plush armchairs and warm cups of coffee by a fireplace in the dining hall, it was the most natural thing to slip into conversation.

Rachel’s current work centers on weaving old deconstructed quilt material into new pieces on her digital loom. After she’s spent days picking apart an old quilt, she often finds that the worn lace-like batting—normally hidden from our view—is what especially captivates her.

Rachel is also a dedicated and gifted creative coach. It was fascinating for me to listen how she talks about the raw materials of quilts and the raw materials of our lives in similar terms. Because we know how to make a strong and beautiful quilt, then we must inherently know how to make a strong and beautiful life. It’s all the same stardust, after all.

In this SEAMSIDE conversation, Rachel and I talk about:

① how time changes both quilts and humans

② how to do hard work with noble intention

③ how we can mine our creative processes to discover strategies for living

You can learn more about Rachel Meginnes here

⤷ Learn more about THE QUILTY NOOK here

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⤷ Enter here for your chance to win a FREE YEAR on the NOOK!

A behind-the-scenes look at the memory quilt I made for my Uncle Jim. I got to work with my aunt on designing and sewing this quilt, and it made a really rich experience for both of us.

Towards this end of this quilt talk, I share five insights I learned about working with someone else on a memory quilt.

I hope you enjoy and pick up something you can use in your own creative practice. XOZ

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⤷ Learn more about THE QUILTY NOOK here

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⤷ Enter here for your chance to win a FREE YEAR on the NOOK!

My good friend Luke Haynes joins for me for this SEAMSIDE special episode I’m calling FREE ADVICE where we answer your questions on quilting and the creative life.

In this episode, we share our thoughts on the following questions:

① How can I move away from pattern-based quilting and play more?

② How did you find time to create new work when you were working full-time jobs?

③ Where do all your quilts go when you’re done making them?

④ I’m a multimedia artists and quilts are a part of what I do. But how can I present my work online with a cohesive voice?

Thank you to everyone who called in with questions for this episode. We wish we could answer them all! A special thanks to the four folks whose questions made this conversation possible: Lilia from Bozeman, Montana; Michelle from Toronto; Anne Marie from Phoenix; and Katie from Portland, Oregon

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⤷ Theme music: Roll Jordan Roll by the Joy Drops

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Five international textile artists come together for two weeks in the heart of Southern Appalachian mountains at the John C. Campbell Folk School. Kianga Jinaki, Chris Dufour, Chinelo Njaka, and Jesalyn Keziah share powerful insights as we sit around the sewing circle in the quilting studio.

In this collective conversation, we discuss:

① what magic our quilts can perform

② how quilts tell stories when words fall short

③ the power of collective effort

HELPFUL RESOURCES

⤷ Learn more about the Traditional Craft Mentorships at John C. Campbell Folk School

⤷ Contact Programming at the Folk School to learn more about how community organizations can support mentorships

⤷ Theme music: Roll Jordan Roll by the Joy Drops

⤷ Get your free trial to the THE QUILTY NOOK

I’ve got something a little different for you this week. I got inspired being at home and looking at my grandma's memory quilt. It made me realize I’ve got some more stories I’d like to share with you about that quilt. I hope you enjoy and pick up something you can use in your own creative practice. XOZ

⤷ Get your free trial to the THE QUILTY NOOK

⤷ Theme music: Roll Jordan Roll by the Joy Drops

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⤷ Enter here for your chance to win a FREE YEAR on the NOOK!