String & Story

If the words “quilt as desired” as ever made you 🫠🤢😭🫥 – this one’s for you.

Swipe through for a little reminder that we’ve ALL been there, and then I want you to tell me a secret:

I want to hear about the quilt top you’re dying to finish.

The machine you bought and haven’t touched.

The straight lines and pantos that are getting old.

No shame– this is a safe space. But it’s time you get it off your chest. 😘

Please pull up a chair because I’m getting on my soapbox for a second: STOP GATEKEEPING THE QUILTING PROCESS. Imma bout to pick a whole fight 😤

is a newish quilter who has jumped in brilliantly and with both feet. At my encouragement, she joined Quilting Rockstar University and started learning how to free motion and ruler quilt her own quilts from the start because EVERY quilter deserves the thrill of finishing their projects start to finish.

Devastatingly, more than one quilter (not her fellow QRU members) acted like she was “too new,” “taking on too much,” and otherwise suggested that she wasn’t enough of a quilter to ruler quilt her Summer Pop quilt (pattern by ).

BUT LOOK AT THAT TEXTURE!! A quilt doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful, and EVERY quilter can quilt their own quilts. I would be immeasurably proud for Theresa at the end of this project no matter what because this is a tricky motif, but I’m extra delighted for her because she faced some real brain gremlins to finish this quilt.

Our words to each other matter. Don’t project your self-doubt onto others and don’t receive it from anyone. You are a Rockstar, and just like Theresa, you can quilt anything you set your mind and heart to. I’ll even show you how, step by step, inside Quilting Rockstar University🥰

Just a lil’ photo dump from , Retailer Academy, and this past week. How cool is the needle felting I played around with? 🥳 I didn’t take nearly enough photos, and they’ll never capture all the laughs, learning moments, and big idea sessions. BUT my favorite thing this week was celebrating how far the industry has come— there’s so much more inclusion and women-supporting-women energy than there was ten years ago, and it fills me up! To all y’all who were willing to “pitch and catch” with me this week, I can’t wait to see all our little idea seeds grow this year! 💃🏽