Listening While I Quilt - Part Deux

Here is a continuation of the list of quilty podcasts that I started yesterday.

Jackie's Quilting Chronicles:  Jackie is a former longarmer who now runs a quilting studio, where she teaches classes and runs day long retreats.  She also has an online store.  She has chatted about all kinds of topics.  She is a friend of the author Marie Bostwick, so you can count on an interview whenever Marie releases a new book.

Katie's Quilting Corner:  Katie is a younger quilter - she just turned 30.  She talks about quilting, machine embroidery, her vacations, and her corgis.  She has shared many techniques as she learned them. She's now starting to teach at her LQS, so talks about that too.

Katie's Quiet Quilting Place:  Another Katie - this one a mom to three (soon to be four) young girls.  She only posted 10 episodes as she learned to quilt, but I encourage you to give them a listen.  She waxes philosophical - and I found her to be very interesting.

Lazy Daisy Quilts: "Because I am and I do"  That has to be the greatest tag line ever.  Daisy is anything but lazy, as she creates gorgeous quilts, mostly from scraps.  She also sings on occasion - she has a beautiful voice.

Nonnie's Quilting Dreams:  Nonnie (pronounced No-knee) has her daughter and 5 year old grandson living with her.  She works full time.  I wonder how she gets any time to quilt.  But she does squeeze it in and tells us what she has been up to.  She did take a break when she was doing renovations to her house that prevented her from sewing, but I think she's back.

Patchwork and Pacifiers:  This is another podcast that has ended, but the episodes that were done are worth a listen.  Jennifer was very funny and entertaining.  She had one baby when she started, and we went through her second pregnancy.  Unfortunately two kiddos were taking all her time, so she stopped podcasting.

Quilt Cabana Corner:  Sandi is a quilter, a mom and a book and pattern publisher!  She talks about her quilts, trips to different places and her family.

Quilter in the Gap:  Rhonda is hilarious!  She has taken a different approach - she often interviews other bloggers, in writing.  She reads out the questions and their answers, then makes comments.  Her contacts seem mostly to be with the UK bloggers, so her podcast opened up a new group of quilters for me to visit in blogland.

Quilting for the Rest of Us:  Sandy's intro talks about how she is not a professional quilter.  She does tell us about her "goofs and mess-ups", but also her successes.  She is game to try almost any technique and will tell us what she has learned about it.

Scientific Quilter:  Darla is no longer podcasting, but her episodes are still available.  Darla's first episodes discussed various scientific topics, and related them to quilting.  You would be surprised how she could make connections!  Later, she just talked about her quilting, and ran "March a Long", when she encouraged us to quilt daily in March.

Sew Stitch Create:  Brye Lynn has also stopped podcasting, but her episodes are still available.  She was a newish quilter, and researched various topics, then talked about what she had learned.  One bonus to this podcast - Brye podcasted while her family was sleeping, so in all but the last couple episodes, she speaks very softly.  If you can't sleep in the middle of the night, her soothing tones will do the trick!  (But listen again when you're awake, because it IS interesting!)

The History Quilter:  Susan has another unique product.  She is a history teacher, and almost every episode includes a discussion of some aspect of quilting in the past.  She also loves to cook, so we hear about some mouth watering meals and currently, her kitchen renovation.

The Off Kilter Quilt:  To be honest, I could listen to Frances read the phone book - her voice is that lovely. But her podcast topics are much more interesting than that.  She was a new quilter when she started her podcast, and we have listened to her learn various techniques.  She uses "Quilt Diaries", where she does an intro, then goes back and plays bits she has recorded through the week.

The Quiltcast:  Amy from Amy's Creative Side and April from The Studio Blog chat about their lives as moms and pattern designers.  They have, so far, talked about their favourite tools and their sources of inspiration.

The Quilted Cupcake:  Jean doesn't podcast anymore, but her episodes are still there.  She specializes in creating wonderful items from thrift store finds.  She also talks about trips she has taken to Amish country and to New York.

The Quilting Pot:  AJ hasn't put out a new episode in awhile - I hope she hasn't given up the microphone!  She has a great voice - very calming.  She tells us about her quilting and her mischevious dogs.  She has gone through a couple moves lately, and has bought a long arm, so she has lots to keep her busy!

Within a Quarter Inch:  Allison was, I believe, the first non-professional quilter to start a podcast.  She did that when her twins were babies, so her quilting news was interspersed with family updates.  We followed her through moves across the country, trips back to Montreal with toddlers, and as she bought lots of fabric an notions.  In the last couple years, she had pursued other ventures, but now she's back!

Edited in April 2014 to add:

Sewing Mom Podcast:  Laura is a mom to six kids and two foster kids and still finds time to sew!  Most of what she has talked about so far is quilting, but she does garment and craft sewing too.  She also talks about her family, other things she is doing, what she has bought lately, her wish list and websites she likes.  She has a nice friendly voice and he podcast is nicely organized.

The Slightly Mad Quilt Lady:  Charlotte is from New Zealand!  It's nice to have a podcast from down under and I love her accent!  She talks about her life and her quilting - she has just started teaching a beginner class and shares her thoughts on that.  She had one episode where she took her microphone to a quilting session with her friends, and chatted with them, which was very interesting.

Whew!  That's all of them! There are also some video podcasts, but I haven't actually tuned into them.  I can't watch them on my iphone and quilt at the same time.

If you do decide to tune in, I'd suggest you follow the podcasters blogs and also follow them on twitter  Many of them have an ongoing conversation through all three platforms.

Listening While I Quilt

I haven't been quilting a whole lot lately.  It is too nice outdoors to be in the basement.  Even though I don't spend a lot of time outdoors, at least I can see it when I'm on the main floor of the house.  In my sewing room, I look up at those small basement windows, and maybe catch a glimpse of sky.

So I'll talk about podcasts.  I love podcasts!  I actually bought my Ipod back in 2006 because I heard that Alex Anderson was starting a podcast.  I missed Simply Quilts - so even though I had no idea what a podcast was, I decided I wanted to listen to hers.

And so, I discovered the wonderful world of podcasts.  If you haven't discovered them yet, I'll tell you about them.  A podcast is like a radio show that is recorded.

In fact, many radio shows ARE recorded as podcasts.  But many are done by amateurs, sitting at their home computers.  You can listen to podcasts on your computer, but it is easiest to download them to ITunes and then transfer them to your MP3 player or smartphone.  You can often go back to episode 1 of the podcast, then just listen to them one by one until you are caught up.

And, best of all, they are all FREE!

I think I've listened to every quilty podcast ever recorded.  You might wonder what a quilter would have to talk about, given that it is a visual medium and this is a non-visual production.  You would be surprised!  Most tell you a bit about what is going on in their lives, but are also able to gab on about quilting for quite a long time.  I have still not become bored!

If you think you might give some a listen, here is some advice.  Listen to 2 or 3 episodes of each before you make a decision whether or not you want to continue.  For the most part, these are done by amateurs, and they don't have professional voices, or scripts.  They might cough, talk to their pets or family members or wander off topic.   When I first listened to podcasts, I could not figure out why anyone would be interested. But, as I continued to listen, I got hooked!  It's like sitting at their kitchen table, having a chat.

Here is the first part of my list.  I've included a link to the podcast website, but if you search the name of the podcast on ITunes, you will find it.

Alex Anderson's Quilt Connection:  Alex started in 2006, as I said, and was quite consistent for a long time.  Then, she started The Quilt Show with Ricky Tims, and stopped podcasting.in 2010.  But, there are still a lot of episodes to listen to.  Alex is professional and her podcasts are scripted and polished.

American Patchwork and Quilting Radio:  This is Pat Sloan's podcast, hosted by the magazine folks.  Pat interviews many of the big names in quilting, often when they have a new book or fabric out.  She is bright and cheerful, and always interested in her guests.  The one beef I have with this podcasts is that it has commercials (for the magazine and for Moda) and the volume on the commercials is way higher than the podcast itself.  I guess that's two beefs.

Annie Smith's Quilting Stash:  This was the first quilting podcast, starting, I believe, in early 2006. Annie has a completely different style from Alex - unscripted and sometimes rambling.  (I happen to like rambling.)  When I first started to listen, I had about 40 episodes to get caught up on, and most lasted about an hour.  I listened to Annie on the way to work and on the way home for several weeks.  Then, all of a sudden, I as all caught up, and had to go through Annie withdrawl!  Annie talks a lot about her family, and sometimes has her family on the show with her.  Her best casts are the ones where she interviews other quilters, sometimes famous quilters.  She is a very natural interviewer and her subjects relax and share all kinds of good information.  Annie has put out only a few episodes in the last couple years, but she keeps promising to do more.  I hope she does.

Bashful British Quilter:  Her podcast is listed on Itunes as BBQ, so might be harder to find.  Only two episodes so far - I'm hoping she does more!

Black Isle Crafts:  Sheila lives in Scotland and is married to a farmer.  She talks about farming, knitting, spinning and quilting.  She has that lovely Scots accent that I can listen to forever.  I wish she would talk more about quilting and less about knitting, but there must be a few out there who listen in for the knitting talk.  (I'm joking - knitters are more fanatical podcast / podcast listeners than quilters, by a long shot!)

Blessed 2 Quilt:  Stephanie is... well, she is a character!  She tells a story, and laughs, with that big laugh of hers, and I just have to laugh too. She is an experienced quilter, but a new longarm owner, so she tells us we will learn along with her on the longarm.

Canadian Quilt Talk:  Brandy Lynn runs a fast paced podcast, in which she interviews well known quilters, reads a quilty story sent in by a listener, provides insight from a quilt judge and offers her comment on a quilty topic.

Crafty Garden Mom:  Tanesha is a quilter, a knitter, a mom and a book buyer.  She talks about all of that.  Strangely enough, despite the title, she doesn't talk about gardening.  I especially enjoy her book reviews - her taste in novels seems to mirror my own.

Fiber and Fabric:  This podcast is mostly about knitting (and now a bit of pottery-making), but Glen does quilt and usually spends some time talking about her latest quilting projects.  She also makes some philosophical comments about crafting that are quite interesting.

Hip to Be a Square:  Pam is a self-professed nerd (an engineer) and a quilter. And can she ever quilt!  She completes one a week - I am not kidding!  So, she always has new projects to talk about.  She also talks about her life and her family - she might make you cry on occasion.  But she'll also make you laugh, and she'll inspire you to get going on your own projects!