Podcasts about quilter

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 others how to draft their own patterns, sew their own garments, and rethink what clothing can be. From online courses to collaborations in the sewing industry, his work is all about empowerment through making.Visit Cornelius' website here - https://cornelius.ooo/Quilter on Fire Website - https://quilteronfire.com/Square One Textile Art WorkshopJoin Brandy's email listFree Quilter on Fire Holiday Table Runner VIDEOSUPPORT THE PODCAST by becoming a Quilter on Fire Podcast Angel for as little as $3 per week.Support the showThank you for listening to the Quilter on Fire Podcast. 

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 have an action packed episode talking about all the wonderful, weird and geeky things Toni brings to the sewing and quilting world. Her smiles and laughter are contagious, and her heart explodes all over everyone she meets in her charity work. Listen in to hear her story. Find Toni's website here: https://quiltoni.com/Link to donate to Starlight here: https://quiltoni.com/collections/50k-for-50qQuilter on Fire Website - https://quilteronfire.com/Square One Textile Art WorkshopJoin Brandy's email listFree Quilter on Fire Holiday Table Runner VIDEOSUPPORT THE PODCAST by becoming a Quilter on Fire Podcast Angel for as little as $3 per week.Support the showThank you for listening to the Quilter on Fire Podcast. 

This podcast is released as part of a collaboration between Fiftyfaces Productions and the Always a Pensions Angle Podcast produced by DG Publishing.  Nick Dixon is Head of Pensions, Avon Pension Fund, which he has led since 2022.  Avon Pension Fund serves c.140,000 members in the public sector across Bristol, Bath and surrounding areas and is now a partner fund of Local Pensions Partnership.  Previously Nick advised private sector wealth platforms on their pensions and investment proposition. He was CIO of Aegon UK from 2013-21, focused on DC workplace pensions. From 2001-13 Nick was Marketing Director for wealth & pensions platform Quilter.Our conversation has a particular focus on an engagement exercise that Avon conducted around the fund's investment in aerospace and defence companies. Nick explained that during 2024 and 2025 the fund received a lot of petitions from its members who were deeply concerned about the war in Gaza, and the indirect role of aerospace and defence companies in supplying Israel. In response to that, a critical stakeholder issue, they conducted a survey of all members. We opened up the issue to bring out a set of trade-offs, including the importance of NATO defence, the concern about arms impacts on the environment, the fact that they kill innocent civilians. The consultation had reasonable engagement - with 11% of the fund members responding, and the result was that 42% wanted to divest, about 47% said they'd like to remain invested, and about 11% said they didn't know. The fund did not consider this a clear mandate to divest – and therefore decided to remain invested.We discuss the importance of engagement generally as well as this critical, sometimes emotive, issue, which has emerged for many local authority pension funds. We reflect on whether surveys and engagement in this way could be a way forward for other funds in the future as these issues continue to gain traction with the underlying beneficiaries and stakeholders. 

Send us Fan MailSix seasons. Over a hundred episodes. Three years of real talk about building a quilting business on the side — and Tori and Andi are not done yet.In this Season 6 finale, the co-hosts take a walk down memory lane through what turned out to be their longest season yet — 21 episodes packed with guests, trade show adventures, solo experiments, and more than a few lessons learned the hard way.They recap the full guest lineup from Season 6: a cross-promotion episode with Brandy Maslowski of Quilter on Fire, mindset and weight loss coaching with Dara Tomasson, a masterclass on summits and email marketing from Jamie Bright, a return visit with Theresa Benson (The AI Quilter) on navigating AI ethically in 2026, self-publishing powerhouse Kathryn LeBlanc, Monika and her Canadian subscription box business Quilt the North, mosaic appliqué artist Cindy of Patterns on the Prairie, and pattern designer Brooke Stambersky of Brooke's Bitchin' Stitches. They also revisit their h+h Americas thread — from booth planning and brochures to the show floor rapid fire episode to the full panel debrief — and reflect on the solo episode format they experimented with this season.Andi shares a sneak peek at her upcoming book, Quilting on Video, and the hosts close out with honest thoughts on a "Top 40 Quilting Podcasts" nod — and why they're taking it with a grain of salt. Need some more help starting a YouTube channel? Grab Andi's No-Fear Filming Checklist here.Season 7 is coming in August or September. Until then, there are over 100 episodes waiting for you.Chapters00:00 Celebrating Three Years of Quilting on the Side03:04 Highlights from Season Six Guests06:31 Exploring AI in Quilting with Teresa08:01 Kathryn LeBlanc: The Multi-Passionate Quilter09:47 Navigating the Canadian Quilting Business with Monica10:58 Building a Business Without Social Media: Joyce's Story12:33 Andi's Journey into YouTube and Book Writing13:19 Brooke's Bitchin' Stitches: Balancing Business and Life14:49 H and H Rapid Fire: Insights from the Trade Show17:37 Diverse Perspectives from the H and H Panel Discussion20:01 Recapping Season Six and Looking Ahead to Season SevenWant More Quilting Business Content?

AI continues to dominate boardroom conversations. As organisations race to achieve efficiency gains, a key question for all professions is the extent to which these new technologies will transform core responsibilities. While certain elements of internal communication are, and should always remain, uniquely human, other more transactional components can be automated. But breaking down workflows isn't always easy. It can be challenging to know where and how to get started. Internal communication consultant Frank Dias has worked with GenerativeAI since its launch in late 2022. In this episode he shares his experience, expertise, hints and tips for successful AI integration into internal comms activities.   About Frank Dias Frank Dias is an AI Adoption & Change Consultant at Quilter, and the founder of Ai x Comms Lab, where he helps organisations build sustainable AI capability through a human-first lens. With over 15 years in communications, he brings a grounded, practical perspective to AI transformation, having led early AI integration across four complex global organisations. His work focuses on cutting through vendor promises to identify the real organisational conditions needed for successful adopt and foster AI aligned with your use cases.   Find Frank on LinkedIn:        https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankdias/ Frank's website:                     https://www.aixcommslab.com/    

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 thousands of makers because it feels honest, relatable, and refreshingly human. She doesn't just teach techniques, she teaches mindset. Tami is bursting online with creativity, curiosity, and permission to not get it perfect every time.You can find Tami's website Hometown Quilt Company right here: https://hometownquiltcompany.com/Quilter on Fire Website - https://quilteronfire.com/Square One Textile Art WorkshopJoin Brandy's email listFree Quilter on Fire Holiday Table Runner VIDEOSUPPORT THE PODCAST by becoming a Quilter on Fire Podcast Angel for as little as $3 per week.Support the showThank you for listening to the Quilter on Fire Podcast. 

Gottes Schöpferkraft ist verschwenderisch kreativ. (Autor: Katja Völkl)

Gottes Schöpferkraft ist verschwenderisch kreativ. (Autor: Katja Völkl)

In this UK personal finance Q&A episode, Pete Matthew and Roger Weeks answer six listener questions covering pensions, retirement planning, investing, and mortgages. You will hear practical guidance on topics like using UFPLS and ISAs for gifting, whether dividend income is a sensible retirement strategy, and what to consider before consolidating multiple pensions into one provider. The episode also tackles planning priorities, including how to sense-check your annual financial review, when it is worth switching to a higher-equity pension fund, and how to balance pension contributions versus ISA funding and mortgage overpayments. If you are looking for clear, jargon-free retirement and wealth-building advice in a UK context, this one is packed with real-world considerations and next-step thinking. Shownotes: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/QA50    02:24  Question 1 Hello gents, My wife and I are hopefully about 5 years off retirement starting at 60, and thinking about options for gifting. We are both planning to stay within the basic band, but if plans go well we hope to support our kids while we're still alive with help towards a house deposit or similar. Am wary that a large withdrawal from a DC pot would likely take us into high rate tax. This would be mainly on me as we'd plan to spend my wifes smaller DC pot down during 60-67 to max personal allowance before state pension kicks in. Is there any downside if I immediately draw UFPLS from my DC up to the top of the basic rate threshold, and putting excess into a cash or S&S ISA? That would then build up tax free and be used to fund family gifts (or perhaps replacing a car). my thinking is - the portion we move to ISA is still effectively part of the retirement portfolio - just held in a different wrapper. thanks for your priceless information (for education and information only not guidance!) over the years. long may it continue! cheers, Richard   07:15  Question 2 Hello Pete and Rog, Loving the Podcast having only found it recently.  You're doing great work. I've bought and read your retirement book, signed-up for an intro call with Pete and am thinking about doing your course. In the meantime, and I know this is greedy, I have three questions.  I think they'll be interesting to your listeners, though, so here we go... First, what are your thoughts on funding retirement income completely or mostly from dividends / coupon payments, rather than capital withdrawal?  For me it seems very attractive because I can draw-down the income on a quarterly basis while not touching the capital.  That makes me feel safer from having to sell in a down-market.  I can also expect the capital to grow a bit over time, at least the equity generating dividend element.  That said, I've seen one of the other retirement finance podcasters say that technically it doesn't matter whether you take income or capital. Second, if I adopt an UFPLS approach to my pension and, rather than take a large tax free sum one-off, I take the 25% of each withdrawal as tax free, how does that work in the future in two respects.  First, can the government later change the rules and say that I can no longer take 25% as tax free?  I assume they can, which would be worrying.  Second, does the lifetime £268k limit for tax free cash still apply cumulatively over-time i.e. can I only continue to take 25% of my withdrawals as tax free up until they cumulatively sum to £268k?  Or, am I allowed to take 25% of each withdrawal, even as the fund might grow in value and then the total of these 25%s over say 10-15 years eventually exceeds £268k? Third, I'm aware the age at which you can take your pension is changing from 55 to 57.  I will be 55 in March 2027, so can access my pension under current rules.  But I will not be 57 when the change kicks-in in April 2028, so am I going to then lose access to my pension for a number of months until I then turn 57 in Mar 2029?  I've heard someone say that there might be an exception for people who have already accessed their pension.  I've also heard it depends on whether there are certain protections/terms around the individual pension fund.  Any advice on whether this would be true would be very helpful. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on any or all of the above. Best of luck with the pod. cheers, Steve 14:52  Question 3 Hi Pete & Roger, Thanks for the advice (go on, name that film) over 2025 and the podcasts. There is a ton of material on you tube covering why pension consolidation is a good thing. How it simplifies the admin. How it makes it easier to track what you have and how it is performing etc. Why wouldn't I want to consolidate all my pensions and what could be the disadvantages of consolidation? Recently I've met with my IFA and for a year now I have been investing heavily into my SIPP. As the IFA he charges for the service he provides and I am happy with that (for now). The charges are low with this provider (Quilter) and it performs well as a medium risk opportunity. My IFA, rightly in my opinion, suggests avoiding keeping my Octopus (previously Virgin) pension as this doesn't offer flexi drawdown and is higher risk than my Quilter SIPP but with only slightly better performance. I have four pensions (SIPP) in total. Now my IFA would of course benefit from me moving all funds to Quilter as he receives a percentage fee on a larger chunk of funds. So that is a warning sign for me as he cannot really be impartial. At the moment I can track my pensions online and I do this almost daily, they all have the relatively same performance and together average about 9.6% over the past 12 months. They are all broadly within a single percentage point of each other. I can see the following arguments to avoid consolidation altogether. 1. Tracking multiple pension funds is not actually hard to do. 2. Maybe when it comes to flexi access draw down it gets a bit more complex to get the tax free elements right to be as tax efficient over the long term but the pension companies track the percentages taken so I cannot see this as a big problem either. 3. Having multiple SIPPS allows me see how they perform against each other. Sometimes one is a little more volatile than the others but in actual fact I'd like to see more volatility on one over the other. Makes things more interesting. Of course that might change in later life so I may choose to draw more heavily on the well performing fund with more risk as I reach later life years. 4. Multiple SIPPS allow me to have funds with different levels of risk associated with the investments, so I might choose one fund to have medium risk and another quite high.  5. The big one for me though. Why, why, why would anyone trust a single SIPP provider with all their future wealth? No matter how well it is managed today and the regulations which are in place and the FSCS protection etc, I just cannot stomach the risk in a single point of failure. Why? So the IT platform could collapse making the funds inaccessible either for a short time or for months. Rogue actors inside or outside the company could arguably sabotage the platform. Yes this is highly unlikely but it can happen. Spreading the risk mitigates this. There is a very real concern. Poor management of the funds could lead to a serious downturn in the investments whether that be short term or longer term. Now the underlying funds might underperform but if that is your key worry then you'd simply change the SIPP investments. When I research reviews on the web for anything I look for the pros and cons and decide which opinions seem most sensible to reach a balanced view. However in the case of pension consolidation everyone seems to recommending consolidation, not one article about keeping them separate. Yippee cay aye (same film) and best regards, Andrew   25:05 Question 4 Hi Pete and Roger, Love the podcast. I have just completed my annual review (thanks for the checklist from earlier seasons) and was wondering if you can suggest if there is anything else I should consider or am missing to help position me better financially. For context I am 37 and married with two children under 5. Pension - I contribute to my workplace pension which is 4% and the company contributes 8% (their max). S&S ISA - I invest 5% of take home pay into two vanguard funds monthly. Children S&S ISA - I invest a small sum monthly into each child's S&S ISA, both vanguard target retirement funds for when they turn 21. Emergency Fund - I have 4 months expenses in a cash isa. Life cover - I have a private policy and 8x salary death in service benefit. Critical illness cover - I have both a private and work policy. Income protection cover - Again I have both a private and work policy, work policy is limited to 36months and private policy is to age 65. Mortgage over payments - I overpay the mortgage monthly with aim of reducing LTV and length of term when current fixed rate ends Debt - I have no major debt I think I am in a good position, but wanted to sense check in case I am missing something. Thanks and keep up the good work. Marc Annual Review: https://meaningfulmoney.tv/2023/03/01/simplify-your-annual-review/  28:22 Question 5 Hello to you both, I just wanted to say I really enjoy your podcast and your YouTube channel. My question relates to my Workplace pension. I want to move from the default lifestyled fund into a 100% global equity fund. I also have a SIPP and an ISA that are fully invested in the same global equity fund and I wanted to bring them all into line. I have a salary sacrifice scheme with a 5% employer match and I wanted to take full advantage of that by paying into a better fund. I can't fully transfer without losing the match so I have left it for too long. I am debt free including the mortgage and I have redirected my mortgage payment into my SIPP. My question is, at 47 3/4, is it too late to switch from the default fund? I'd welcome your take on that. Keep up the good work Kind regards, Matt   31:02  Question 6 Hello Pete and Roger, Really enjoy your podcast and find your advice really insightful, many thanks for what you do. My question is about pension planning and specifically about getting the balance right between pension contributions, ISAs and reducing my mortgage. I'm 46 and have saved from an early working age to build up a total pension pot amount of £510k as of today. I have prioritised my pension over other kinds of investments given the tax related attractiveness of pensions and use salary sacrifice as a way of keeping under £100k income - something important for us as a family in terms of qualifying for child nursery support, plus of course in maintaining my personal allowance. I find my job quite stressful and would like to be able to retire in 10 years at 57, or at least take on a lower paid (maybe even minimum wage) or part time role at that time for a few years until retiring fully. My assumption is that to be able to make this a reality it would be wise to build up my ISA, (which as of today totals only £15k), as a tax efficient bridge until nearer state pension age, and to minimise the need to drawdown excessively on my private pension in the early years. Assuming you concur, my question is would I be best to reduce my pension contributions to enable me to put more in my ISA?  Of course this would mean potentially losing/ reducing my personal allowance. The other factor in play here is my mortgage which is higher than I'd like at £380k. Ideally I'd like to increase my level of mortgage overpayments significantly in order to try to reduce the balance as much as possible over the next decade whilst working full time but again this will see me going over the £100k income level in order to do so.  I know I could probably clear whatever mortgage is remaining in 10 years from my tax-free pension amount but I'd like to minimise taking the tax free money in order to help the pot compound as much as possible to take me through to old age but also help support our two girls who are currently just 8 and 3 in their early lives. Your thoughts and advice would be gratefully received. Many thanks in advance and please do keep up the great work you do! Kind regards, Lee

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 inspirational designs. Bianca Springer is well known as a vibrant, trendy garment maker, instructor, embroidery artist and the author of her inclusive embroidery book, “Represent!" Grab a cup of tea and check out her Instagram feed because you will be there for a while! Find her website here: https://biancaspringer.com/Quilter on Fire Website - https://quilteronfire.com/Square One Textile Art WorkshopJoin Brandy's email listFree Quilter on Fire Holiday Table Runner VIDEOSUPPORT THE PODCAST by becoming a Quilter on Fire Podcast Angel for as little as $3 per week.Support the showThank you for listening to the Quilter on Fire Podcast. 

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 work has won awards at regional shows, been exhibited internationally, and she's even taught at major events like the International Quilt Festival in Houston. And we'll also chat today about her recent appearance on theQuiltshow.com. So settle in…this is a good one. Go to Tina's website right here: https://seaside-stitches.com/Quilter on Fire Website - https://quilteronfire.com/Square One Textile Art WorkshopJoin Brandy's email listFree Quilter on Fire Holiday Table Runner VIDEOSUPPORT THE PODCAST by becoming a Quilter on Fire Podcast Angel for as little as $3 per week.Support the showThank you for listening to the Quilter on Fire Podcast. 

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, their tools are built to cut through layers of fabric with precision and comfort.Ursula's Website: https://ldhscissors.com/Quilter on Fire Website - https://quilteronfire.com/Square One Textile Art WorkshopJoin Brandy's email listFree Quilter on Fire Holiday Table Runner VIDEOSUPPORT THE PODCAST by becoming a Quilter on Fire Podcast Angel for as little as $3 per week.Support the showThank you for listening to the Quilter on Fire Podcast. 

Paige joins Jeff to talk about Arts in the Park.

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 everything she creates—from hotel interiors to award-winning modern art quilts her work is thoughtful and bold, with a strong sense of form, beautiful materials, and a real attention to detail. And if that does't get you to listen in, she has won more ribbons at QuiltCon than any other quilter.Carson's Website: www.carsonconverse.comToday's advertiser is Qraftful (AccuQuilt). Discover your next favourite quilting must-have like the GO! Bolt Electric Fabric Cutter RIGHT HERE.Quilter on Fire Website - https://quilteronfire.com/Square One Textile Art WorkshopJoin Brandy's email listFree Quilter on Fire Holiday Table Runner VIDEOSUPPORT THE PODCAST by becoming a Quilter on Fire Podcast Angel for as little as $3 per week.Support the showThank you for listening to the Quilter on Fire Podcast. 

Today I'm chatting with Monika Henry from Penny Spool Quilts, where bright colours, bold shapes, and simple, fuss-free patterns help you build confidence—one block at a time. Today we'll talk about her Quilt the North Boxes, which are a fun way to bring beautiful regional themed and Canadian designed projects right to your doorstep.If you love traditional quilt patterns with bold fresh fabrics, FPP block patterns, and printable tutorials —and you're ready to feel a little more ease and joy in your quilt making—this episode's for you.ORDER you Quilt the North Box today: FIND OUT MOREQuilter on Fire Website - https://quilteronfire.com/Square One Textile Art WorkshopJoin Brandy's email listFree Quilter on Fire Holiday Table Runner VIDEOSUPPORT THE PODCAST by becoming a Quilter on Fire Podcast Angel for as little as $3 per week.Support the showThank you for listening to the Quilter on Fire Podcast. 

On today's episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we're talking about quilting and creativity with my guest, Maude MacDonald. Maude is a creative strategist and brand designer who helps small business owners craft brands that feel like home — authentic, cohesive, and entirely theirs. Drawing from the success of her own brand, The Retro Quilter, Maude knows firsthand how intentional strategy, clear visual identity, and thoughtful creative direction can turn a passion project into a recognizable, confident brand. She works with entrepreneurs to refine their messaging, elevate their visuals, and create a brand experience that truly reflects who they are. +++++ This episode is sponsored by GoSadi. GoSadi is the all-in-one platform for craft professionals, simplifying pattern management across e-commerce sites like Etsy, Ravelry, Shopify, and WooCommerce. Powered by AI, GoSadi helps designers & businesses streamline listings, manage pattern libraries, and optimize SEO without the need for technical expertise. With a central hub and a personalized Catalog Landing Page, users can easily showcase their designs, push them to multiple platforms, and focus more on creativity. Visit gosadi.com to start your extended 3-month free trial today. +++++ To get the full show notes for this episode visit Craft Industry Alliance where you can learn more about becoming a member of our supportive trade association. Strengthen your creative business, stay up to date on industry news, and build connections with forward-thinking craft professionals. Join today.

This special AI in the AM episode features Sergiy Nesterenko of Quilter on using reinforcement learning for circuit board design, Andy Hall of Stanford on AI behavior in politics and new governance models, and Lukas Peterson and Axel Backlund of Andon Labs on their AI-run retail store in San Francisco. Nathan and Prakash also reflect on the pace of AI progress, the public reaction to existential risk, and why constructive civic action matters as AI systems grow more powerful and autonomous. Sponsors: Roboflow: Roboflow's free 2026 Vision AI Trends report analyzes 200,000+ real-world projects to reveal how top companies are deploying Vision AI and turning proprietary data into an edge. Download it now at https://roboflow.com/trends VCX: VCX, by Fundrise, is the public ticker for private tech, giving everyday investors access to high-growth private companies in AI, space, defense tech, and more. Learn how to invest at https://getvcx.com Tasklet: Build your own Cognitive Revolution monitoring agent in one click.Try it for free and use code COGREV for 50% off your first month at https://tasklet.ai CHAPTERS: (00:00) About the Episode (07:57) Live stream kickoff (09:52) Sam Altman attacks (16:37) Quilter from SpaceX (19:02) Why autorouters fail (Part 1) (20:52) Sponsors: Roboflow | VCX (23:09) Why autorouters fail (Part 2) (28:14) Compute and odd layouts (34:19) Simulations and safety margins (Part 1) (39:22) Sponsor: Tasklet (41:01) Simulations and safety margins (Part 2) (41:01) Superintelligence meets hardware (48:18) AI constitutions debate (55:55) Deepfakes and persuasion (01:02:24) Virtue and institutions (01:11:05) Agent governance problems (01:16:56) Andon store debut (01:21:25) Luna's store choices (01:28:21) Supply chains and spread (01:36:23) AI boss behavior (01:43:47) How retail scales (01:53:54) Processing the future (01:59:50) Markets need context (02:26:42) Episode Outro (02:30:37) Outro PRODUCED BY: https://aipodcast.ing SOCIAL LINKS: Website: https://www.cognitiverevolution.ai Twitter (Podcast): https://x.com/cogrev_podcast Twitter (Nathan): https://x.com/labenz LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/nathanlabenz/ Youtube: https://youtube.com/@CognitiveRevolutionPodcast Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/the-cognitive-revolution-ai-builders-researchers-and/id1669813431 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6yHyok3M3BjqzR0VB5MSyk

Jenni Smith and Kay Walsh are thriving creative quilters each to their own but put them together and some kind of magic happens. I think it's called friendship and when you bring that to an event, a workshop, or any kind of experience it becomes fun for everyone. Jenni and Kay are the hosts for Quiltfolk Magazine's "Adventure Workshops," delivering virtual quilting experiences that combine travel, storytelling, and in-depth sewing techniques. Based in Yorkshire, England, these two are experienced quilting teachers known for their work with Liberty of London and for creating projects that promote creativity and wellness.Jenni & Kay's Website: www.jenni-smith.co.ukQuiltFolk Coupon Code 20% Off Link: FIRE20Quilter on Fire Website - https://quilteronfire.com/Square One Textile Art WorkshopJoin Brandy's email listFree Quilter on Fire Holiday Table Runner VIDEOSUPPORT THE PODCAST by becoming a Quilter on Fire Podcast Angel for as little as $3 per week.Support the showThank you for listening to the Quilter on Fire Podcast. 

Artificial Intelligence is one of the biggest conversations happening in the creative world right now, and in this episode of The Craft to Career Podcast, I sat down with Theresa Benson of The AI Quilter to talk about it all. Theresa gives a thoughtful look into the use of Artificial Intelligence as a quilter, artist, and business owner. We talk about the hot topics so many creatives are wondering about, like whether AI steals art, how it impacts the environment, what we can do about it, and how to think through using AI in an ethical and intentional way. And spoiler alert: this conversation is not as one-sided as you might think. If AI feels exciting, confusing, inspiring, or even a little unsettling, this episode will give you a lot to think about. Theresa brings nuance, wisdom, and a balanced perspective to a topic that affects artists and business owners more and more each day. In This Episode, We Talk About: How Theresa uses AI as a quilter, artist, and business owner The concerns creatives have about AI and art theft Ethical questions around using AI in creative work The environmental impact of AI and why it matters What creatives can do to use AI more thoughtfully How to think about AI without fear, panic, or blind acceptance Why this conversation is more layered and nuanced than many people realize Listen to This Episode If You: Feel curious or cautious about Artificial Intelligence Wonder whether AI steals from artists Want to think more deeply about AI and ethics Are trying to decide whether AI has a place in your creative business Want a balanced conversation about technology, creativity, and responsibility Resources Mentioned in This Episode Water Runs Through Everything We Build https://theaiquilter.com/water-runs-through-everything-we-build The Conscious Creative's Guide: AI Tools That Won't Steal Your Soul https://theaiquilter.com/the-conscious-creatives-guide-ai-tools-that-wont-steal-your-soul Thirsty Intelligence Whitepaper https://bit.ly/CostOfAI Ethics & Values Articles from The AI Quilter https://theaiquilter.com/category/ethics-and-values Digital Muse Landing Page https://theaiquilter.com/digital-muse-for-quilters-and-creatives-f25 Digital Muse Product Page https://theaiquilter.com/product/digital-muse-bringing-ai-into-your-creative-process Digital Muse on Amazon https://amzn.to/4rVICfU About Theresa Benson https://theaiquilter.com/about About Theresa Benson Theresa Benson, also known as The AI Quilter, helps quilters, artists, and creative business owners think more carefully and creatively about technology. Her work explores how AI can be used in ways that support human creativity rather than replace it, with an emphasis on ethics, responsibility, and keeping your own voice at the center of your work.

If you've tried all the sleep tips and still struggle to get a good night's rest, this episode will help you understand what's really going on. Dara shares why sleep isn't just about routines or habits—it's about your thinking patterns, unprocessed worries, and how your brain is trying to keep you safe. Through a powerful client example, you'll learn how to calm a busy mind, reduce nighttime overthinking, and create the conditions your body needs for real rest. In this episode, you'll learn: Why sleep struggles are often a thinking problem, not a habit problem How to separate what you can control vs. what you can't A simple "worry list" tool to quiet your mind How to stop fighting sleeplessness and reduce resistance Why better sleep supports weight loss, health, and productivity If your brain won't "turn off" at night, this episode will give you a new way to approach sleep—with more calm, clarity, and control. Want to continue this conversation? Book a call with Dara to find out how she can help you dive deeper into what's really going on so you can create the life you want! Book a call HERE. Catch Dara at the Quilter's Life Summit April 21-23, 2026 where she will dive deeper into perfectionism, people pleasing and procrastination. Plus you can hear from 20+ other quilting experts as they share quilting tips and tricks. Sign up for free HERE.

My guest today is Tania Tanti, a Melbourne-based art quilter who loves screen printed fabric paint and embroidery thread! She uses painting and stitch to create bold, expressive art pieces. Her work often lands somewhere between abstract landscapes and portraiture, usually with strong colour, lots of contrast, compelling messaging that opens up the conversation and more than a hint of humour.Tania's Website: taniatanti.com.auQuilter on Fire Website - https://quilteronfire.com/Square One Textile Art WorkshopJoin Brandy's email listFree Quilter on Fire Holiday Table Runner VIDEOSUPPORT THE PODCAST by becoming a Quilter on Fire Podcast Angel for as little as $3 per week.Support the showThank you for listening to the Quilter on Fire Podcast. 

Do you struggle to say no… and then find yourself drained, overwhelmed, or stuck doing things you don't actually want to do? In this episode, Dara walks you through why saying no feels so uncomfortable—and how your childhood wiring, people-pleasing patterns, and fear of judgment keep you stuck over-explaining and overcommitting. Through a powerful client story, you'll see how even small moments (like staying too long in a conversation) can quietly drain your energy and keep you disconnected from yourself. You'll learn: Why your brain resists saying no How people-pleasing is tied to old thought patterns What guilt really is (and why it's optional) How to stop over-explaining and start honoring your needs Simple, practical ways to say no—without guilt This episode will help you reclaim your time, protect your energy, and start showing up as the version of you that you actually want to be. Key Takeaway: "No" is a complete sentence—and learning to use it is one of the most powerful ways to change your life. Next Steps: Ready to stop people-pleasing, procrastinating, and overthinking? Join Dara's Masterclass at the end of April! Details are HERE. Join Dara at the Quilter's Life Summit to hear more from her about perfectionism (and other quilting topics!) Registration opens April 7. Book a call with Dara to continue the conversation!  https://dara-tomasson-coaching.mykajabi.com/contact 

It's the QuiltCon Episode! So many sweet people came into the Oliso Story Space to say hello and be on the podcast! Watch this full video on YouTube or listen in to the podcast - it's your choice.

Have you ever wondered why you keep putting things off—even when you know better? Why you promise yourself you'll start tomorrow… and tomorrow keeps moving? In this episode of Love Yourself Thin, Dara Tomasson explores the deeper reason behind procrastination and the repeating patterns that show up in our lives—especially around food, productivity, and weight loss. If you've ever thought, "Why do I keep doing this?" or "Why can't I just follow through?" this conversation will help you understand what's really happening in your brain. The truth is, procrastination isn't laziness. It's a pattern your brain learned a long time ago. Many of the habits we struggle with today—emotional eating, perfectionism, people pleasing, procrastinating—were originally coping strategies we developed in childhood. They helped us deal with stress, pressure, or emotions when we didn't yet have the tools to process them. The problem is that those same patterns can continue running our adult lives automatically. Your brain isn't trying to improve your life—it's trying to keep things predictable. That's why traditional weight loss strategies often fail. They focus on controlling behavior instead of understanding the underlying patterns driving it. The good news? Your brain is capable of change at any age. Modern neuroscience shows that the brain constantly forms new neural pathways through repetition and awareness. This means the same process that created your old patterns can also help you create new ones. When you bring awareness to these patterns, the automatic cycle starts to break. This is why willpower alone rarely works. You can't out-discipline a pattern you don't understand. Instead of blaming yourself or trying harder, the real work is learning to look at the "wiring" behind your behaviors. When you start noticing your patterns with curiosity instead of shame, real change becomes possible. And that's where lasting weight loss begins—not with stricter rules, but with deeper awareness. If you've ever felt stuck in cycles of procrastination, emotional eating, or perfectionism, this episode will help you understand why—and show you that it's never too late to change. In This Episode, You'll Learn: Why procrastination is often a learned coping strategy from childhood How your brain prioritizes familiarity over improvement The neuroscience behind habit patterns and emotional eating Why willpower alone rarely solves behavior patterns How awareness can help break automatic cycles Why you are never too old to rewire your brain Mentioned in This Episode Dara also shares details about the upcoming Quilter's Life Summit, where she will be teaching mindset tools to help quilters finish projects, reduce procrastination, and honor their time. There also will be 20 other presenters teaching on quilting topics that are sure to pique your interest! Register for free starting April 7, 2026! Subscribe & Review If this episode resonated with you, be sure to subscribe to Love Yourself, Thin so you never miss an episode. And if you enjoyed the show, leaving a review helps more women discover these tools for lasting change. Watch this episode (and more!) on YouTube - https://youtu.be/yITyRn1ExXM  If you're ready to make lasting change, book a call with Dara to find out if her program is right for you -   https://dara-tomasson-coaching.mykajabi.com/contact

My guest on the podcast today is Robert Bosscher— an artist who explores what it means to make, and why quilting fits so beautifully with his passions for art, history, and speaking through quilts. Robert studied Studio Art and Art History in Michigan, explored many creative mediums along the way, and ultimately found his way to fiber and textile art — quilting in particular. As the child of a quilter, he brings both a curiosity to explore new directions and an emotional connection to his work based on growing up with quilts as a form of comfort and care. His quilts hold that beautiful tension between the art world and the quilting world… and that can be where some of the most interesting conversations live.Robert's Website: https://www.rjbosscher.com/Quilter on Fire Website - https://quilteronfire.com/Square One Textile Art WorkshopJoin Brandy's email listFree Quilter on Fire Holiday Table Runner VIDEOSUPPORT THE PODCAST by becoming a Quilter on Fire Podcast Angel for as little as $3 per week.Support the showThank you for listening to the Quilter on Fire Podcast. 

As the seasons change, many of us feel a surge of energy, motivation, and excitement. But that same "spring fever" can also bring restlessness, impulsive decisions, and frustration—especially when it comes to our bodies, our habits, and our weight loss goals. In this episode of Love Yourself Thin, Dara explores how the natural shift from winter to spring affects our mindset, our energy, and our relationship with food. Instead of falling into the familiar cycle of all-or-nothing thinking, Dara shares how you can use this seasonal transition to create real, sustainable change—without dieting, overthinking, or criticizing yourself. You'll learn why simply trying harder doesn't solve emotional eating, how childhood patterns still influence your behavior today, and how to build self-trust so you can finally feel peaceful around food. Spring is a season of new growth—and it can be an invitation for your own personal growth too.   In This Episode, You'll Learn: What "spring fever" really is and how it affects motivation and eating habits Why trying harder isn't the solution to emotional eating The problem with all-or-nothing thinking when it comes to weight loss How to recognize "buffering" behaviors like distraction, scrolling, or unnecessary tasks Why your childhood experiences shape your habits as an adult How learning to feel your emotions instead of avoiding them reduces overeating A simple 3-step process to break unhelpful patterns and create lasting change   Featured Event: Quilter's Life Summit Dara also shares details about the upcoming Quilter's Life Summit, a free 3-day event happening April 21–23. You'll learn how to: Finish more creative projects Stop procrastinating Let go of perfectionism Enjoy the creative process without pressure The summit includes incredible instructors and opportunities to connect with other creatives in a supportive environment. Registrations open April 7! Connect With Dara If this episode resonated with you, make sure to subscribe so you never miss a new episode of Love Yourself Thin, where Dara teaches women how to transform their relationship with food, weight, and themselves. If you're ready to quit the yo-yo diets and find a weight loss protocol that works, book a call with Dara to find out if her program is right for you -  https://dara-tomasson-coaching.mykajabi.com/contact Follow Dara on Instagram for more weight loss tips and tricks! @dara_tomasson

Lisa Solomon is an accomplished mixed media artist and teacher whose previous books include A Field Guide to Color, The Color Meditation Deck, Crayola: a Visual Biography, and 20 Ways to Draw a Chair. Colour is her kryptonite in the best way ever – because she loves to do that deep dive and today we'll do a deep dive into her latest book - Art, Craft, Color! She is also an instructor on Creative Bug, reaching thousands of students worldwide. Let's find out how colour can guide us, calm us, and even challenge us creatively with Lisa Solomon.You can find her website here: https://www.lisasolomon.com/ART CRAFT COLOR  Contributors in order of appearance in book Christine Buckton Tillman @christinebucktontillmanwww.christinebucktontillman.comLibby Black @libblackwww.libbyblack.comJen Hewett @jenhewettwww.jenhewett.comRisa Iwasaki Culbertson @Risa_Iwasaki_Culbertsonwww.risaculbertson.comAna Bianchi @analovescolorwww.analovescolor.comSonya Philipwww.100actsofsewing.comRobert J. Bosscher @rjbosscherwww.rjbosscher.comJen Duffin / Nova Mercury Design @novamercurywww. novamercury.comRobert Mahar @robert_maharwww.robert-mahar.comCrystal Bodven @CrystallizedCookieswww.crystallizedcookies.comDana Williams-Johnson @callmedwjwww.yardsofhappiness.comKanako Abe @abemanateewww.kanakoabe.artRashida Coleman-Hale @iamrashidacolemanhalewww.rashidacolemanhale.comTwinkie Chan  @twinkiechanwww.twinkiechan.comCourtney Cerruti  @ccerrutiwww.courtneycerruti.come bond  @eisroughdraftwww.ebondwork.comKim Nguyễn @blackslipbabesCarissa Potter@peopleivelovedwww.carissapotter.comJenifer Lake  @jenifer_lakewww.jeniferlake.comAnne Weil  @flaxandtwinewww.flaxandtwine.comQuilter on Fire Website - https://quilteronfire.com/Square One Textile Art WorkshopJoin Brandy's email listFree Quilter on Fire Holiday Table Runner VIDEOSUPPORT THE PODCAST by becoming a Quilter on Fire Podcast Angel for as little as $3 per week.Support the showThank you for listening to the Quilter on Fire Podcast. 

My guest today is Lorena Uriarte. She is an internationally recognized, Sydney-based textile artist, a modern quilter, and educator known for her vibrant designs, intricate handwork, and innovative use of repurposed fabrics, often creating unique quilted coats. With over two decades of experience, she teaches patchwork and quilting workshops locally in Australia and globally, merging traditional techniques with contemporary aesthetics, and she was the 2024 QuiltCon Raleigh Charity Quilt designer. A quote from this podcast episode:"It's really important to constantly be learning and try new things. And part of that is that not everything works. We all make mistakes in quilting and in life. Forgive yourself and move on."  - Lorena UriarteYou can find Lorena on Instagram @lorena_in_sydQuilter on Fire Website - https://quilteronfire.com/Square One Textile Art WorkshopJoin Brandy's email listFree Quilter on Fire Holiday Table Runner VIDEOSUPPORT THE PODCAST by becoming a Quilter on Fire Podcast Angel for as little as $3 per week.Support the showThank you for listening to the Quilter on Fire Podcast.

If you love scrappy goodness, and lots of tiny pieces… you're going to love this episode. My guest today is Leanne Parsons – the Devoted Quilter. She's a Canadian pattern designer with over 40 patterns in her shop, a quilt teacher, and free-motion quilting lover, who has been quilting since the late '90s, blogging for over a decade, and designing quilt patterns that blend contemporary style with a love for traditional blocks. She has a scrappy membership you'll love to help you turn those treasured scraps into quilts! And she was featured as the first designer in the all new Quilt The North boxes. If you are Canadian and you haven't heard about this box – you ‘re gonna love it. We'll give you more details later in this podcast, but right now - let's explore the story of Leanne Parsons.Leanne's wonderful BLOG: https://www.devotedquilter.com/Quilt the North Box: https://www.pennyspoolquilts.com?sca_ref=9114029.imYkDDpRcJprS1Quilter on Fire Website - https://quilteronfire.com/Square One Textile Art WorkshopJoin Brandy's email listFree Quilter on Fire Holiday Table Runner VIDEOSUPPORT THE PODCAST by becoming a Quilter on Fire Podcast Angel for as little as $3 per week.Support the showThank you for listening to the Quilter on Fire Podcast.

Carina's guest Elizabeth Chappell is the founder of Quilter's Candy. She helps creatives write sewing patterns and build their businesses. She talks about the pivots she made in her business and how she has simplified to make more. Learn more about Elizabeth:Website: https://quilterscandy.com/ Waitlist for Quilt Pattern Writing Course: https://quilterscandy.myflodesk.com/kickstart-eventInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/quilters_candy/___Get Carina's new bookThe Intentional Design Year here: Paperback: https://amzn.to/43XTRLGHardback: https://amzn.to/4isrefmPrompt Journal Paperback: https://amzn.to/4osha7JPrompt Journal Hardback: https://amzn.to/4rvrG0uLinks to help new designers:What's New: https://www.carinagardner.comUniversity of Arts & Design: http://uad.education Get my free gift to you here: https://www.designsuitecourses.com/intentional

Send a textTaking your quilt business from a digital screen to a physical trade show booth can feel like a high-stakes challenge. In this episode, Tori and Andi pull back the curtain on the "messy middle" of booth prep and the vulnerability of being seen. You'll discover:The "Top-Down" Strategy: How to design for visibility so your brand is seen from across the room.Pro-Tips on a Budget: Why wooden crates and magnetic LEDs are a business owner's best friend.The Introvert's Secret Weapon: How sticker trading turns awkward networking into a fun connection.The Personalized Pitch: Why a "gift packet" lands better partnerships than a generic brochure.Perfect for any creative entrepreneur ready to step into the spotlight. Join us as we bridge the gap between digital magic and real-life connection.Mentioned in the Episode: Blog Post: Your h+h Roadmap  Craft to Career Episode with Darrin Stern  Our episode with Brandy, The Quilter on Fire  Register for h+h  Chapters[00:05] - Welcome & The "Why" Behind Booth Prep[01:46] - Navigating H&H Americas: B2B vs. B2C and Booth Basics[02:45] - The "Spotlight" Strategy: Why You Shouldn't Display Everything[03:20] - From Digital to Physical: Turning Marketing Concepts into "Thought Bubbles"[05:43] - The Booth as a Landing Page: Designing for the Customer Journey[07:39] - Andi's Trade Show Past & Using "Top-Down" Visibility[10:09] - The Magic of Wooden Crates: Height, Storage, and Aesthetic[11:26] - Beyond the Business Card: Postcards, Brochures, and QR Codes[15:19] - The Trifold Truth: Focusing Your Message to Avoid Confusion[18:20] - The Personalized Pitch: Turning Partnerships into "Gifts"[23:18] - Sticker Culture: The Introvert's Secret Weapon for Networking[28:06] - Strategic Lighting: Magnetic LEDs and Gallery Vibes[30:06] - Outro & Final ReflectionsWant More Quilting Business Content?

My guest today is Mike O'Dell of Legit Kits! With a full time job as a nurse anesthetist, Mike had the luxury of trying out a side hustle that didn't need to put food on the table. He's been sewing for decades so his newfound joy with the FPP project in 2020 was the perfect fit to give it a try. Legit kits now has a team of full-time employes, and brings in freelance designers to boost its offerings with fresh new designs that cater to quilters of all levels from beginner to advanced and everything in between. You can find Legit Kits right here: https://legitkits.com/Quilter on Fire Website - https://quilteronfire.com/Square One Textile Art WorkshopJoin Brandy's email listFree Quilter on Fire Holiday Table Runner VIDEOSUPPORT THE PODCAST by becoming a Quilter on Fire Podcast Angel for as little as $3 per week.Support the showThank you for listening to the Quilter on Fire Podcast.

In this episode, the Qulitcon Raleigh recap is here, and it was equal parts craft, culture, and conversation. In this episode, we take you inside Quiltcon in Raleigh, North Carolina, where modern quilting showed up loud, smart, and impossible to ignore. We're breaking down the momentseveryone'ss been talking about, including the viral quilts making the rounds on Threads. Yes, the political ones. These pieces prove quilting is not just cozy decor, it'ss visual storytelling with a point of view. We spotlight the most talked-about designs, what made them hit online, and why message-driven quilting is having a real moment right now.Plus, we sit down for a brief interview with quilter Charles Cameron, who shares what inspired his work, how he thinks about meaning in textile art, and what he hopes people feel (and question) when they see a quilt that speaks back. shares how he created his quilt through A Bee, a group of quilters across the United States who connect on Instagram and other social media. Members take turns writing a monthly prompt, others have 30 days to make blocks in response, and the prompt-writer assembles the finished quilt based on their vision. Charles describes coming to quilting from an engineering background, learning by studying improv quilts and experimenting by cutting and reassembling fabric using an inexpensive $80 Singer sewing machine. He emphasizes that quilting is not about having the newest tools, and advises beginners to "just do it," noting mistakes are fixable by undoing stitches and trying again. Follow Charles at: @FeltLike SweetsEtsy.com/shop/FeltLikeSweets

Natalia Ball, global chief growth officer at Mars Pet Nutrition joins The Big Impression podcast to talk about how Pedigree transformed a local Brazilian insight into a global business story. She also shares why she is now focused on the next frontier of growth: Connected commerce and making sure brands show up when AI agents, not just people, are making purchasing decisions.  Episode TranscriptPlease note, this transcript  may contain minor inconsistencies compared to the episode audio. Damian Fowler (00:00):I'm Damian Fowler.Ilyse Liffreing (00:01):And I'm Ilyse Liffreing.Damian Fowler (00:02):And welcome to The Big Impression.Ilyse Liffreing (00:09):This week we're joined by Natalia Ball Global Chief Growth Officer at Mars Pet Nutrition home to brands like Pedigree and Sheba.Damian Fowler (00:18):Last March, pedigree launched a bold, purpose-driven campaign in Brazil celebrating mixed breed dogs, especially the iconic Vela Caramelo.Ilyse Liffreing (00:27):It wasn't just a campaign, it became a movement boosting adoption and challenging long held bias.Damian Fowler (00:35):The work went on to win top honors at the 2025 cans. Lions including the titanium lionIlyse Liffreing (00:41):And its impact is still rippling across markets and media channels worldwide.Damian Fowler (00:45):So today we're unpacking what made it work with the person who helped drive it. Natalia, tell us about the Carello campaign and how you landed on the idea.Natalia Ball (00:57):Carmelos are mixed dogs that are beloved in Brazil. They are found on the streets everywhere. They are the subject of meme, street culture, and people just identify Carmelo as the Brazilian dog. However, the inside that we discover was that this dog is 90% less likely to get adopted than breed dogs. So it is the most popular dog in Brazil, but the most overlooked. And when we learned about that, we decided that we wanted to make a difference and that we wanted this dog to get the position it deserve and pedigree decided to champion the underdog and become the official brand of caramel's in Brazil.Damian Fowler (01:41):You talked about the caramel. Could you just describe a little bit more for people who don't really know the caramelo and that term Vita, where does that come from?Natalia Ball (01:52):Yes, so caramels are basically mixed breed dogs that you can find on the streets of Brazil everywhere they are called caramel because they are caramel color and that's what it is in Spanish and they tend to be that caramel color, short hair. But there are different ways that these dogs look and feel because they are mixed breeds. But like I said, they are beloved dogs in Brazil, but when it comes to getting a pet, getting a dog, they are not the ones that people are going for. They see them as street dogs, not a dog that you have in your house. And the whole campaign was about, like I said, championing these caramels, driving adoption of mixed breed dogs, not only breed dogs. And we did that by saying that if caramels were considered non breeded, pedigree was going to give them a breed and who better to give them a breath than pedigree.Ilyse Liffreing (02:48):Great. And then at what point did you connect that insight to the campaign itself?Natalia Ball (02:54):What you need to know about pedigree? Pedigree is one of the largest dog brands in the world. Pedigree feeds more dogs than any other brand, and it has been there for many years and for the past 20 years or more, pedigree has been driving adoption, encouraging people to adopt pets everywhere. We have had a lot of iconic campaigns so much which maybe you would've heard, like for example, docs on Zoom during COVID or the child replacement program, which was a very interesting one. And we were talking about adoption in Brazil, but other local brands were talking about adoption too. So we were not cutting through and it was only when this insight came to us, which was a very deeply local insight that we made the connection, if we want to drive adoption in Brazil, this is going to be the way in and we're going to make this as big as it can possibly be.(03:51):Because we, from the very beginning saw we understood this idea of the vi Lata. You mentioned it before by the way, the vi lata is how you call mixed breed dogs in Brazil. And so when we had these conversations about this insight, the injustice of this beautiful dog not getting adopted, but also the cultural impact that it would have on resilience themselves, who could see themselves related in the fact that they were being championed, we decided to go really big on this campaign and not only do just an activation, but actually we are doing this campaign. We did it all of last year and we continue activating through this year. And some of the ways in which we championed this was actually by creating a caramel kennel club by creating the first ever caramel DNA testing. And it's the largest ever DNA test done in mos in all of history, kept creating a Carmelo dog show and not only that, putting caramels for the very first time ever on our packs. So it was really a way to give them the rightful place.Ilyse Liffreing (05:01):I love how you guys just took it a step further than even just it being a campaign and you actually adopted it into your packaging and the whole bit. At what point did you realize that the campaign wasn't only just a marketing ploy and it began actually affecting culture?Natalia Ball (05:23):Yeah, I mean this campaign has really changed culture in Brazil, but it was a campaign that was deeply rooted in culture itself because Carmelos were part of Brazilian culture. But when we realized the campaign became bigger than ourselves, absolutely. When it started driving difference in adoption of Carmelos, we saw more than 200% lift of caramelo adoption just in the first month. And we saw a 65% increase in likelihood to adopt a Carmelo in the future with this campaign. And then when we started seeing other brands and other businesses even outside of the pet care category start using the Carmelo in their campaigns in their advertising, that's when we knew this had really hit culture big. An example of that was Chevrolet that actually launched a partnership with Netflix that launched a documentary about caramel, and several launched a caramel or a caramel colored car in a promotion.(06:29):Other brands like Honda or Whirlpool also feature caramels in their advertising. So we started seeing that this became much bigger than ourselves, but maybe the biggest achievement that we had with this campaign other than driving adoption itself, which was the cost at the end of the day, was the fact that we were betting on the mixed pre-doc actually not being accepted in dog shows because only breed dogs are accepted usually in dog shows. But at the end of the day, the movement became so big that after only two weeks of this campaign, the federation that actually controls the dog shows called us and said, we now want to move to accept mixed breed dogs in all of our shows. So that was a huge achievement that we never knew it would be possible.Damian Fowler (07:18):What's really interesting to me about this campaign is the way you focused on one region, one country, one market, but obviously you're a global brand. So how does that connection to the local end up escalating? So it became this global campaign.Natalia Ball (07:35):Like I said, adoption is a huge cost for us, and we have been very consistently on pedigree, driving adoption for a long time. So we have an evergreen brief that goes out to all of our agencies on adoption, and in my case in particular, I am a strong believer in creative excellence as a driver for growth. And so I put a creative excellence program in place that included building capabilities on creative excellence, but also creating a creative council where the best ideas could come faster to the marketing leadership of Mars Pet Nutrition so that we could move at speed, but also we could fund the better ideas. And in this creative council DL map team, Al Map VO, who are the agency that came up with this idea presented Carmelo. And from the very beginning, me and the whole leadership team fell in love with it, and so we decided to fund it.(08:31):We decided to go big and to give it our full support. We knew it had the potential to drive the business and change culture, and I think in this case, the important thing about the campaign, obviously it did a lot of good. So it's a purposeful campaign and pedigree is a purposeful brand, but it was not only about the purpose, it was also about driving business results. Through the campaign in the first couple of months, we were able to grow 15% and through all of last year, we moved to grow volume and value by double digits. So the campaign really did the job about turning around the pedigree brand and delivering results not only on the cost but also on the business.Ilyse Liffreing (09:11):That's great. And you're doing something right when all the other brands out there are copying you guys suddenly in pop culture and everything like that. I'm very curious about as the campaign evolved, obviously it started out from a social aspect, but as it evolved, how did you decide what other channels to bring it into? What other channels did you try out in this process?Natalia Ball (09:42):Yes. Actually this campaign started as social first and we then boosted with media. The way it started is we partner with local influencer called Tata Vernick. She loves caramels and she herself has adopted caramels. And we asked her to register her caramel in a dog show because we knew that her caramel was going to get rejected, which it did. And so she posted on her Instagram that had 60 million followers that she was outraged that her beautiful and smart caramelo could not be accepted in a dog show. This went viral immediately in Brazil and everybody was outraged. This went on the evening news, the morning shows everywhere, and we waited for it to gain enough fire for us to step in. So actually we were planning that this was going to take a couple of days, but at the end we had to act after only 10 hours because this became so big so quickly.(10:41):And we step in and we said, you know what, Tata, don't worry. Pedigrees got you. We're going to give all caramels a breed. And we launched the campaign with our beautiful campaign video that talks about our program of giving them a DNA test, giving them a show, giving them a kennel club and giving them everything that breed dogs have. And then after that, we use that video and we boost the message. The video went viral as well, but we boost the message, for example, with connected TV as well as Prime and Disney, et cetera. So in order to make sure that everybody had listened to it, but it was truly an omni-channel approach because we use a lot of offline tools like for example, the dog show itself that we created or the adoption drive that we had later on where we were invited people to adopt caramels and then online tools like Instagram or Connected TV or Disney, et cetera.Damian Fowler (11:38):You suggested that the kind of timeline got really sped up really fast. So this thing you had to act very quickly. At what point did you realize you had a hit on your hands in a way, and how quickly did it escape the local context and became this bigger campaign that everyone looked at?Natalia Ball (12:01):Yeah, this exceeded all of our expectations. So we knew that it was going to get picked up, but like I said, we were not expecting for this to become so big so fast. And the fact that it appeared in all of the big shows, evening news, morning shows, et cetera, it appeared as well on national media, on print Everywhere meant that we needed to step in faster, but we were fully prepared for that. So that didn't represent the challenge. It was more of an opportunity. And then the other thing that really surprised us was that the largest dog association reached out to us after only 24 hours to partner to see how mixed beat dogs could then be allowed to compete. We were not expecting this. We were expecting actually that to be attention point that we were going to leverage in our campaign, and this became so big that they just couldn't ignore it. So it was a big win just from the very beginning.Damian Fowler (12:57):Wow.Natalia Ball (12:57):Now one of the things that we're seeing is even though this was very, very local, as we have started sharing this work across many other places in the world, we have realized that the insight actually exists in many other markets. For example, in Chile they have a dog called the Quilter, which is the equivalent of the caramel. We have them in Philippines, we have them all over the world. So this insight can travel. The way to activate might be different because you need to localize to the nuance, but we are very excited about the potential of drive more inclusion of these dogs with these campaigns, but also for pedigree to stand stronger in culture.Ilyse Liffreing (13:36):I love that. As a dog owner, myself and owner of a mutt, I'm glad they're getting their time in the spotlight a little bit more around the world. Generally, I feel like post COVID in the marketing world today, some brands have actually moved away from purpose-driven marketing a little bit, but this is a really good example of it done right. What would you say this campaign proved or maybe disproved about purpose-led marketing?Natalia Ball (14:04):I am a strong believer of purposeful brands actually growing stronger, but it only works when it's aligned truly and authentically to the reason for the brand to exist. Pedigree itself, the purpose of the brand is we believe that dogs bring out the best in us, and pedigree wants to bring out the best in dogs. So the purpose of pedigree is pedigree brings out the good dogs bring to the world to do that. We obviously do that with our great nutrition, but we do that by putting dogs in houses so that they can bring out the best in people. That's what we do because we strongly believe that dogs make us better. So that's why we have been driving adoption for more than 20 years. And when you really make this part of your core DNA and it's authentically linked to the brand, that's when it really works.Damian Fowler (14:56):And one of the proof points of that is the awards that you scooped up last year. Can you tell us a little bit more about how that happened? And that must have happened quickly because the campaign rolled out in March, 2025 by June, you're already in the spotlight.Natalia Ball (15:13):Yes. So this campaign was picked up for a lot of awards at Cannes last year. We won the Rainbow, silver, gold and Titanium. The titanium we are very excited about because it's Mars Inc. First ever titanium. So we are really proud of that, and it's also an award that rewards transformation in the creative industry, and we believe this idea was transformational. We're also proud of, I mean, we've got the many other awards, but the other one that we're really proud of is that we got the Grand Phy in the latam phy and in the Brazil phy, which shows that this was not only a creative idea that was very strong, but also a very effective idea in driving the business. So you can achieve both. You can do good in the world, you can drive the business and you can be creative actually. So it's three.Damian Fowler (16:03):Yeah, that's great. I love that trifecta. What happens to the titanium award?Natalia Ball (16:09):Well, I have it right hereIlyse Liffreing (16:10):With me.Damian Fowler (16:12):NoIlyse Liffreing (16:12):Way. Very nice. Beautiful here. It's beautiful.Damian Fowler (16:16):Beautiful. Well, congrats again. So from that, obviously momentum has come on. We've talked a little bit about how it influenced other brands, but in terms of the campaign continuing, what's next? How are you thinking about expanding this?Natalia Ball (16:33):In Brazil itself? We want to stay committed to this idea. We don't want to do one and go, and we are working, we continue activating the campaign through all of our channels. We continue doing adoption drives. For example, very recently we released the results from the DNA research that we did. So we find ways to keep this relevant. But now I think the next stage is to move on from not only caramels but all mixed breed dogs. Because with this campaign, the sentiment has been extremely positive. We got 99% positive sentiment. The only 1% negative comments was what about the other mixed breed dogs? They also deserve to be adopted. They also deserve recognition. So I think that's probably where we're taking it next in Brazil and then outside of Brazil, we are working on, like I said, these inside travels very well, but we're working on how to localize it in a world that feels authentic for the specific markets. I can't share anymore. Stay tuned, because some interesting things are coming soon.Ilyse Liffreing (17:44):And it sounds like that theme is going to keep going with this idea of all putting mutts in the spotlights from now on too.Natalia Ball (17:54):Exactly, yes. This is about inclusion. At the end of the day, our hope is that mutts are shown everywhere. We also love breed dogs. They're great. All dogs deserve to be feature everywhere. So our hope is that this campaign will drive inclusion, inclusion in advertising, inclusion in homes, inclusion everywhere.Damian Fowler (18:16):Another thought I had actually is when you were filming this campaign, did you have any standout caramelo stars?Natalia Ball (18:22):Actually, actually, I think our biggest star was Patas Caramel, which we then did a lot of things with her, I think. I mean, I don't record very well, but I think it was Mia, her name, but we did a lot with her in our activation. She was present when we did the dog show, et cetera. So I think that was our biggest star.Ilyse Liffreing (18:43):Oh, that's great. It can't always be that easy to shoot with dogs though, even if they're very well-trained, I imagine it's still a different world than human actors. So Natalia, what problem are you most obsessed with solving right now?Natalia Ball (18:59):I am right now obsessed with agentic commerce and agentic search and winning the race to thatIlyse Liffreing (19:08):BecauseNatalia Ball (19:09):I'm really concerned that in only a couple of years, if we are not winning, we will completely disappear the way all decisions are going to be made. So together with my team, we're trying to figure out how do we stay ahead of that race and how do we crack it pretty soon, so we're ready future.Ilyse Liffreing (19:26):Wow. And just to press you a little bit more on that, so you're talking about probably using agents on your website directly.Natalia Ball (19:35):It's about we are very good about marketing to people. We have cracked the code on how do we talk to people. We have the best insights in pet care, so we know how to create compelling stories that humans will listen to, but we need to crack how to market to agents, how to market to the machine because they are going to be making a lot of decisions for us in the future, in the very near future. And that's what we're working on.Damian Fowler (20:05):You're talking about media buying specifically on the creative side of itNatalia Ball (20:12):Or the LLM. This is about how do you make your brands show up in searches that are being done on ai? This is how do you make your brands be the ones that get recommended to be bought? So for example, when you're on Cha G PT and you're asking Cha G pt, I got a new puppy, what brands should I buy for my puppy? We want our brands to be the first ones to be recommended if you are going to buy a gift, anything like that, we want our brands to show up and we want our brands to show up in good light. And so that's what we're trying to figure out and to win. There is a combination of how do you have the right content in the right places? How do you get the right third parties to talk about you in the right way? What are the media channels where you need to show up? How do you optimize your search? So it is a very complex way. We need to crack the algorithm basically.Damian Fowler (21:12):On that point, how do you ensure your marketing teams have the right capabilities for success?Natalia Ball (21:19):Well, that's a big priority for me as CGO is one of my main jobs is to make sure that we're building capabilities for today and for the future. So in my team, we have a strong capabilities program where each and every one of the people on my team owns a capability and owns making sure that we get best in class content training and as well as the tools, because it's not only the knowledge, it's also the tools in order to do that. But the reality is that none of this works unless you are creating a culture of curiosity. And I really want to instill that in myself and in my teams because the industry is changing so fast. The minute you think you have cracked something, there is a new challenge. And the only way to stay fresh, the only way to stay in line with what's happening is to be curious. Whenever you don't know anything, go and ask someone who knows, go and ask questions like really try to learn instead of fearing the change, be curious about the change, and that's the way that we will build future proof capabilities.Ilyse Liffreing (22:22):Beyond ai, how do you see the role of connected commerce in the pet industry? Are there any other channels, for instance, that you're testing out? I'm thinking of are you testing shopping ads on CTV or any of that?Natalia Ball (22:40):Connected commerce is extremely important for us in pet care. The reason for that is because this category is one of the highest engagement categories that there are out there. People are making decisions for living beings, and they need to do deep research in order to make those decisions because they have real consequences. And so people are very engaged in reading through rating and reviews, and connected commerce gives us an opportunity to connect better with pet parents in those moments that matter most. We also, when it comes to pet care, a lot of our products come in huge bags that are hard to carry. So actually the fact that the convenience of those bags getting delivered at home make so that digital commerce becomes really important in our category. And so what we're trying to is to really help consumers navigate the pet parent journey and moving from content to commerce in a seamless way so that they can make the best decisions for their pets and that we are helping them along the journey to make those decisions.Damian Fowler (23:46):Okay, here's another, what's one marketing rule? This campaign, the Caramelo campaign happily ignored.Natalia Ball (23:52):The one rule that we happily ignore is about keeping your distinctive memory structures consistent because pedigree has always had a golden retriever on its pack. But with the Caramel campaign, we thought that it would be hypocritical of us to feature a breed dog while we were championing a mixed breed dog. So for the first time ever in history, we changed our pack and we feature a caramel, and this made the news again. And this was a huge bold move that we made and that made the campaign even more authentic and more powerful.Ilyse Liffreing (24:28):Now we have a fun one for you. Personal one really. Are dogs better than cats when it comes to brand lift?Natalia Ball (24:36):Oh, when it comes to brand lift, well, actually both are great for brand Lift. We actually have studies that show that when you feature cats or dogs in advertising, attention significantly increases emotional connection, significantly increases. This is why you see a lot of brands that are not in the pet care space featuring cats and dogs. They are both fantastic. Cats are more powerful in meme culture, as you probably know. They are huge in meme culture. And then dogs are some of the biggest stars in social media today. Some of the biggest accounts on social media are dogs accounts. So we are lucky that we get to work in this beautiful category because people want to see dogs and cats. I myself have a dog. My dog's name is Bella. She's been with us for three years and she's great. But the more I work in this category, the more I'm falling in love with cats as well because they are so particular and so unique. So yeah, both are fantastic.Damian Fowler (25:45):And that's it for this edition of The Big Impression.Ilyse Liffreing (25:47):This show is produced by Molten Hart. Our theme is by love and caliber, and our associate producer is Sydney Cairns.Damian Fowler (25:54):And remember,Natalia Ball (25:55):You can do good in the world, you can drive the business, and you can be creative.Damian Fowler (26:00):I'm Damian.Ilyse Liffreing (26:01):and I'm IlyseDamian Fowler (26:01):And we'll see you next time.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Sara Larson Buscaglia is a self-taught organic farmer, natural dyer, quiltmaker and founder of Farm & Folk. She has amassed 100K followers on social media attracting an audience that is joyfully invested in hand-stitched quilting, natural dyed materials, and the art of creating lasting heirlooms. Her first book launched in 2023 and it is called Farm & Folk - Quilt Alchemy – A high country guide to natural dyeing and making heirloom quilts from scratch.  You can find Sara's website right here: https://www.farmandfolk.com/Quilter on Fire Website - https://quilteronfire.com/Square One Textile Art WorkshopJoin Brandy's email listFree Quilter on Fire Holiday Table Runner VIDEOSUPPORT THE PODCAST by becoming a Quilter on Fire Podcast Angel for as little as $3 per week.Generous sponsor: OLISO IRONS - Host of the Quilter on Fire Podcast Lounge each year at QuiltCon! BUY YOUR OWN OLISO MINI PROJECT IRON RIGHT HERESupport the showThank you for listening to the Quilter on Fire Podcast.

This week on Not Your Granny's Quilt Show, my guest is Ian Danger Capstick, host of the Art Against Empire podcast, quilter, and former political pundit.Like many of us in the fiber arts world, Ian's introduction to making began in his grandmother's craft cupboard. He learned cross stitch and rug hooking, and put it all away as an adult while he worked in Canadian politics. He famously brought his cross stitching with him to work in the meantime of appearing as a political pundit on Canadian television. It was not until the 2020 lockdowns that Ian fully dove into quilting.As his quilting skills grew alongside major shifts in his professional life, Ian created a quilted banner as part of his capstone project for the horticulture degree he completed during lockdown. That project opened the door to a deeper exploration of banners, textiles, and the long history of fabric as both a cultural and political tool. Quilted banners became a focal point as Ian studied the origins of textile traditions and the ways fabric has been politicized, controlled, and reclaimed.Through Art Against Empire, Ian examines how textile art has been used across time as a form of power, resistance, and reform. He speaks with artists from around the world, guiding listeners through the global landscape of fiber and textiles. When people reclaim mastery of textiles, Ian believes, it becomes an act of resistance and a path toward freedom.Ian is also doing powerful work at The NOOK alongside Zak Foster and others, creating spaces that invite thoughtful conversations, including the uncomfortable ones.To learn more about Ian, follow him on Instagram at quiltqueerly, visit iancapstick.net, and be sure to listen to the available episodes of Art Against Empire. Please enjoy this episode.Want to see more? You can find it here: Find Podcast Merch here! nygqs.printify.me Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notyourgrannysquiltshow https://www.instagram.com/sweetpeadesigncompany YouTube: https://youtube.com/@notyourgrannysquiltshow Get episodes ad free at Patreon: patreon.com/notyourgrannysquiltshow Want to be on the show? Send us a message

Hillary Goodwin has been a modern quilter from the early days of the establishment of the Modern Quilter Guild and has had at least one and often several quilts juried into every Quiltcon since 2015 (minus Quiltcon away when she was busy ER doctoring during the pandemic and didn't submit any). Before there were restrictions on the numbers of quilts juried into Quiltcon per person, she has had the most on record-8 of her own and 1 in a group quilt in 2017.  She has a Best of Show Quilt from Quiltcon 2022 and she was also part of a group quilt that won Best of Show in 2019.  She designed and made the Quiltcon Raffle quilt in collaboration with Rachael Dorr in 2020. Her work has been featured in the books “Why We Quilt”, “Quilt Out Loud” and “Country Cottages” and in multiple magazines including the cover of Quiltcon Magazine 2025. She was the featured artist at Quilt SanFrancisco in 2024 had a solo show at “Hello Stitch Studio” in 2019 and has had her work displayed in multiple group shows throughout the world. Lastly, her quilt “Nude is Not a Color”, a community project was acquired and is part of the permanent collection of The Henry Ford Museum in Detroit, Michigan.You can find Hillary's website right here: https://entropyalwayswinsblog.com/Quilter on Fire Website - https://quilteronfire.com/OLISO IRONS - Host of the Quilter on Fire Podcast Lounge each year at QuiltCon!BUY YOUR OWN OLISO MINI PROJECT IRON RIGHT HERESquare One Textile Art WorkshopJoin Brandy's email listFree Quilter on Fire Holiday Table Runner VIDEOSUPPORT THE PODCAST by becoming a Quilter on Fire Podcast Angel for as little as $3 per week.Support the showThank you for listening to the Quilter on Fire Podcast.

Are employers doing enough to support the nearly three million people in the UK who juggle unpaid care and work? Natalie Quilter, HR magazine's #4 HR Most Influential Practitioner 2025, addresses this question and more, drawing from both her personal and professional experience.  Quilter – currently head of reward, wellbeing and benefits for housing provider The Hyde Group – is a passionate advocate for unpaid carers. In this episode, she shares her expertise to help HR leaders better understand what being a working carer means, and the practical ways in which HR can support them.

Kim Jamieson-Hirst is the founder of Chatterbox Quilts — a quilter, teacher, pattern-designer, vintage-machine lover, and — let's face it — delightful human being. She's the voice behind hundreds of YouTube videos, thoughtful blog posts, (she did a Q&A blog post with me back 2015) That's a decade ago! She hosts online courses designed to help quilters get past fear, perfectionism, and “the quilt police.” Kim believes quilting is more than perfect seams and matchy-matchy blocks. It's about joy, experimentation, and community. She's built an online membership — The Quilter's Way — where quilters from around the world learn, stitch, laugh, share mistakes, and grow together. You can find Kim right here: https://www.chatterboxquilts.com/Quilter on Fire Website - https://quilteronfire.com/OLISO IRONS - Host of the Quilter on Fire Podcast Lounge each year at QuiltCon!BUY YOUR OWN OLISO MINI PROJECT IRON RIGHT HERESquare One Textile Art WorkshopJoin Brandy's email listFree Quilter on Fire Holiday Table Runner VIDEOSUPPORT THE PODCAST by becoming a Quilter on Fire Podcast Angel for as little as $3 per week.Support the showThank you for listening to the Quilter on Fire Podcast.

Today, I'll have a chat with special guest Jo Avery. From intricate handwork and appliqué in cotton and wool threads to bold improv quilts inspired by the woods around her Scottish home, my guest today shows us that quilting is more than technique—it's expression, exploration, and pure joy. On this episode of Quilter on Fire, we dive into her journey from childhood sewing to leading one of the most creative online quilting communities in the world. My business/website infoYou can find Jo's books and Aurifil Thread collections on her website with worldwide shipping. Her PDF patterns are available to buy there along with some Dream Birds/Dream Flowers merchandise and her new original textile artworks. https://store.stitchgathering.co.uk/ On her Substack blog she shares stories about her latest creative adventures. https://joaverystitch.substack.com/Quilter on Fire Website - https://quilteronfire.com/OLISO IRONS - Host of the Quilter on Fire Podcast Lounge each year at QuiltCon!BUY YOUR OWN OLISO MINI PROJECT IRON RIGHT HERESquare One Textile Art WorkshopJoin Brandy's email listFree Quilter on Fire Holiday Table Runner VIDEOSUPPORT THE PODCAST by becoming a Quilter on Fire Podcast Angel for as little as $3 per week.Support the showThank you for listening to the Quilter on Fire Podcast.

PODCAST SWAP! This time we recorded together and it was so much fun!  — Tori McElwain and Andi Stanfield — the co-hosts of the Quilting on the Side podcast joined me for a candid conversation about all kinds of quilty topics including the Pantone colour of the year, a talk about ai and so much more. Tori of HeyTori and Andi, from True Blue Quilts, bring the perfect mix of real talk, business smarts, and deep quilting passion. They share what it actually takes to grow a quilting business while juggling life, family, and creativity — because most of us are wearing about 17 hats at once. On Quilting on the Side, they dig into everything from digital marketing tips and mindset shifts to time-saving strategies and branding truths, all through honest, no-fluff conversations about building successful side hustles from quilting dreams. Tori and Andi are supportive, smart, and relatable voices every quilter needs in their corner.Find the Quilting on the Side Podcast RIGHT HERE: https://www.youtube.com/@quiltingonthesideQuilter on Fire Website - https://quilteronfire.com/OLISO IRONS - Host of the Quilter on Fire Podcast Lounge each year at QuiltCon!BUY YOUR OWN OLISO MINI PROJECT IRON RIGHT HERESquare One Textile Art WorkshopJoin Brandy's email listFree Quilter on Fire Holiday Table Runner VIDEOSUPPORT THE PODCAST by becoming a Quilter on Fire Podcast Angel for as little as $3 per week.Support the showThank you for listening to the Quilter on Fire Podcast.

Send us a textIn this engaging conversation, Brandy Maslowski, Tori McElwain, and Andi Stanfield explore their quilting journeys, the evolution of their businesses, and the impact of podcasting in the quilting community. They share personal stories about their first quilts, discuss the significance of color trends in quilting, and delve into the role of AI in their businesses. The episode also highlights their current projects, future plans, and the importance of community and creativity in the quilting world.Don't miss an episode! Like, comment, and subscribe for more quilting stories, tips, and industry insights.Chapters00:00 Introduction to Quilting and Podcasting Journeys02:56 The Evolution of Quilting and Business Strategies05:47 Personal Quilting Stories and Inspirations08:58 Discussion on Pantone Color of the Year11:46 Books and Resources in the Quilting Community14:44 Podcasting Insights and Tips20:37 AI in Quilting and Business33:51 Current Projects and Future Plans46:41 Rapid Fire Questions and Closing ThoughtsConnect with BrandyQuilter on Fire PodcastQuilter on Fire on YouTubeInstagramWebsite - for classes and more!More about the Fiber Fix FamWant More Quilting Business Content?

Lynne Goldsworthy has been making quilts for over 2 decades, and she's the mastermind behind the idea of Thread House Academy with her good friends Jo Avery and Karen Lewis. She has designed for numerous companies, magazines, and for television and her books include, Quick and Easy Quilts, and 500 Quilt Blocks. Today I'll have a chat with UK Quilter – Lynne Goldsworthy. Find out more about Scotland and the Festival of Quilts UK: https://opulentquiltjourneys.com/all-craft-journeys/patchwork-quilting-holidays/item/scottish-threads-to-festival-of-quilts?category_id=59Quilter on Fire Website - https://quilteronfire.com/OLISO IRONS - Host of the Quilter on Fire Podcast Lounge each year at QuiltCon!BUY YOUR OWN OLISO MINI PROJECT IRON RIGHT HERESquare One Textile Art WorkshopJoin Brandy's email listFree Quilter on Fire Holiday Table Runner VIDEOSUPPORT THE PODCAST by becoming a Quilter on Fire Podcast Angel for as little as $3 per week.Support the showThank you for listening to the Quilter on Fire Podcast.

Send us a textIn this episode, Tori and Andi kick off Season Six by discussing the challenges of work-life balance for entrepreneurs, particularly those in the quilting community. They explore the unrealistic expectations of balance, the importance of self-care, and the need to acknowledge tougher times. The conversation emphasizes the significance of structuring time for learning and creativity, utilizing time blocking for productivity, and the duality of being both a creative and a business owner. They also invite listeners to join Tori's upcoming book club and reflect on their own strategies for managing their time and responsibilities.Mentioned in the Episode (click to visit):Goal Planning Podcast EpisodeOur Interview with Karlee PorterBook Club for Workshops UnleashedJoin Fiber Fix Fam with Brandy (the Quilter on Fire) and Mel Beach, along with Tori, for a monthly creative boost!Don't miss an episode! Like, comment, and subscribe for more quilting stories, tips, and industry insights.Chapters00:00 Kicking Off Season Six: Intentions and Planning02:48 Navigating Work-Life Balance as Entrepreneurs05:44 Understanding the Glass and Rubber Analogy08:37 The Importance of Self-Care and Acknowledging Grief11:42 Structuring Time for Learning and Creativity14:36 Time Blocking for Productivity17:30 Combining Marketing with Creative Time20:42 The Batman and Bruce Wayne Analogy23:32 Creating Accountability in Your Craft26:31 Final Thoughts on Balancing Life and BusinessWant More Quilting Business Content?

Sue Sherman is a national and international award-winning quilt artist who transforms white cotton into breathtaking wildlife portraits. Through precise painting with dyes and thread, Sue gives voice to the animal kingdom, creating lifelike images inspired by her travels. Her work has earned recognition at prestigious events including Houston's International Quilt Festival, the Canadian National Juried Show, AQS Paducah in the USA and Festival of Quilts Birmingham in the UK. As a Juried Artist Member of SAQA, Sue combines artistry with activism, hoping her stunning textile creations will inspire urgency around protecting Earth's creatures and their habitats.Go to Sue's website right here: https://sueshermanquilts.com/Find out more about Scotland and the Festival of Quilts UK: https://opulentquiltjourneys.com/all-craft-journeys/patchwork-quilting-holidays/item/scottish-threads-to-festival-of-quilts?category_id=59Quilter on Fire Website - https://quilteronfire.com/OLISO IRONS - Host of the Quilter on Fire Podcast Lounge each year at QuiltCon!BUY YOUR OWN OLISO MINI PROJECT IRON RIGHT HERESquare One Textile Art WorkshopJoin Brandy's email listFree Quilter on Fire Holiday Table Runner VIDEOSUPPORT THE PODCAST by becoming a Quilter on Fire Podcast Angel for as little as $3 per week.Support the showThank you for listening to the Quilter on Fire Podcast.

Katie Pasquini was inducted into the Quilter's Hall of Fame in 2024. She is a trailblazer, an artist, author, teacher and speaker who has spent over forty years turning fabric into breathtaking works of art. Katie began as a painter, but somewhere along the line she discovered that fabric and thread could carry the same depth, emotion, and movement as paint. Katie is a world-renowned teacher and lecturer, traveling from her studio in California to classrooms around the world — Europe, the Far East, Australia, New Zealand — sharing her contemporary quilting theories, her fearless approach to color and design, and her love for quilting as true art. She is dedicated to her craft, and is truly inspiring to quilters around the world.You can find Katie's website right here: https://www.katiepm.com/Quilter on Fire Website - https://quilteronfire.com/OLISO IRONS - Host of the Quilter on Fire Podcast Lounge each year at QuiltCon!BUY YOUR OWN OLISO MINI PROJECT IRON RIGHT HERESquare One Textile Art WorkshopJoin Brandy's email listFree Quilter on Fire Holiday Table Runner VIDEOSUPPORT THE PODCAST by becoming a Quilter on Fire Podcast Angel for as little as $3 per week.Support the showThank you for listening to the Quilter on Fire Podcast.

My guest today is Dr. Karen Nyberg!  She is an Astronaut, Earth Ambassador, and Artist. Have you ever spoken to a person who has literally left this earth and been to outer space? I haven't…until now! My guest on the podcast today stitched a 9” square star-themed quilt block in space and encouraged others to create their own star-themed quilt blocks on earth. No one realized how quickly the project would grow. NASA received over 2400 quilt squares from around the world for the Astronomical Quilt Block Challenge. Tune in today as I have a chat with Dr. Karen Nyberg. Happy Holidays everyone! OLISO IRON GIVEAWAY - Sign up for their newsletter - That's it! Contest ends Dec. 31, 2025 at midnight Central. www.oliso.com - scroll to the bottom, enter your email and click the little arrow to subscribe. Quilter on Fire Website - https://quilteronfire.com/OLISO IRONS - Host of the Quilter on Fire Podcast Lounge each year at QuiltCon!BUY YOUR OWN OLISO MINI PROJECT IRON RIGHT HERESquare One Textile Art WorkshopJoin Brandy's email listFree Quilter on Fire Holiday Table Runner VIDEOSUPPORT THE PODCAST by becoming a Quilter on Fire Podcast Angel for as little as $3 per week.Support the showThank you for listening to the Quilter on Fire Podcast.

Merry Winemans to one and all! This week, Kelley tells the story of Rosie Lee Tompkins, better known by her pseudonym Effie Mae Martin, a prolific quilter who never wanted to be known- until one man at a flea market changed everything. Emily tells the story of Ikuutayuq, a monster of Innuit legend who roamed the Arctic Circle with her brother hunting travelers. Stay out of the Arctic and become a quilt scholar becuase we're wining about herstory! Join the Funerary Cult: https://www.patreon.com/winingaboutherstorySponsor a Glass of Wine: https://buymeacoffee.com/wahpodGet Merch: https://wining-about-herstory.myspreadshop.com/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

JOIN THE FIBER FIX for 2026! We'll be making fiber art postcards together all year long! It's a chance to stretch your skills—one small, joyful project at a time with 12 fiber art challenges, monthly LIVES with Brandy & Mel and a community you will love. Be in the room LIVE WITH US once a month! $85USD/$120CAD/year.TODAY'S PODCAST is all about our new adventure for 2026! I've joined forces with my good friend Mel Beach for a monthly creative punch!Grow, connect, and get that monthly spark of inspiration in the Padlet community with Brandy Maslowski & Mel Beach! NOW OPEN - Kickoff Party (Dec.30th) First Midnight Prompt (Jan.1st) Plus we'll have a BONUS PenPal finale in December! We'd love to have you join the FAM! Quilter on Fire Website - https://quilteronfire.com/OLISO IRONS - Host of the Quilter on Fire Podcast Lounge each year at QuiltCon!BUY YOUR OWN OLISO MINI PROJECT IRON RIGHT HERESquare One Textile Art WorkshopJoin Brandy's email listFree Quilter on Fire Holiday Table Runner VIDEOSUPPORT THE PODCAST by becoming a Quilter on Fire Podcast Angel for as little as $3 per week.Support the showThank you for listening to the Quilter on Fire Podcast.

From her studio in Alaska (or sometimes Kansas), my guest today transforms scraps into vibrant improvisational art quilts that have earned national recognition. Her fearless approach to color and pattern will leave you inspired to create your own original fabric from your stash. I saw her speak a few years ago in Duluth, Minnesota and her story left me inspired. Today on the Quilter on Fire Podcast I'll have a chat with Maria Shell. Find her website here: https://mariashell.com/Quilter on Fire Website - https://quilteronfire.com/OLISO IRONS - Host of the Quilter on Fire Podcast Lounge each year at QuiltCon!BUY YOUR OWN OLISO MINI PROJECT IRON RIGHT HERESquare One Textile Art WorkshopJoin Brandy's email listFree Quilter on Fire Holiday Table Runner VIDEOSUPPORT THE PODCAST by becoming a Quilter on Fire Podcast Angel for as little as $3 per week.Support the showThank you for listening to the Quilter on Fire Podcast.