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Transcript:

Caroline: We are recording today on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish and Kwakwaka’wakw peoples, including Tsleil-Waututh, Squamish, Musqueam, and K’ómoks first nations.

Hello and welcome to Love to Sew. I’m Caroline, the owner of Blackbird Fabrics and BF Patterns.

Helen: And I’m Helen, the designer behind Helen’s Closet Patterns and Cedar Quilt Co.

Caroline: We’re two sewing buds who love to sew and quilting is all Helen wants to talk about.

Helen: Hey, and Suzy! Come on. Today we are interviewing quilting icon Suzy Williams, aka Suzy Quilts. We chat with her about her design process for quilt patterns, her fabric collections, how she fell in love with quilting, and her highest and lowest moments on her quilting journey. We also pick her brain about running a business and overcoming creative blocks.

Caroline: If you love to sew, this is your show.

Helen: Hello, Suzy. Thank you so much for coming on the show today.

Suzy: Well, thank you for having me. I’m very excited.

Helen: We’re so stoked to chat with you. Can you please introduce yourself to our listeners?

Suzy: Yes, my name is Suzy Williams. I started a business called Suzy Quilts, which is very confusing to most people because my name isn’t actually Quilts. It’s Williams. And I guess I started this kind of unofficially, you know, how things just kind of naturally grow, or maybe the better word is spiral. Well, I started this, I guess, in 2015, kind of as this little, I would always use the word “cute,” cute hobby. I think I would actually use that as a way of, like, guarding myself from people poking a hole in my dream. Because it was a dream. So I would, I would diminish it by calling it cute. But, my degree and my work at the time was in graphic design. I’d been sewing since I was 15, which I guess is 23 years ago. So I, I just was like, “Let’s just, let’s try this cute little hobby and see what happens,” you know? See if anyone would be interested in this. And, and the two really work together, graphic design and quilting. So that’s how I started designing quilt patterns. And, um, you know, that slowly morphed into designing fabric. Now I have thread coming out. I have a subscription to a mini-magazine. And everything I do is digital because I, I feel really passionately about things being available online. I think accessibility is just best when it’s digital. Plus, I don’t have to worry about shipping. Which is…

Helen: Preach.

Caroline: A win-win.

Suzy: Yeah.

Helen: Where are you from, Suzy?

Suzy: I’m originally from the middle of Missouri, middle of the country, uh, you know, all of that. And I traveled, I guess when I was 22, I traveled north to Chicago, which is where I currently live. I moved up here for a boy. I actually had a whole job lined up in Washington, DC, and I was going to move there and then I met, I met my current husband and I was like, “Oh no. Game over.” And so I, you know, I followed him up here and it was pretty fun at the time. We had a lot of friends up here and it was just, like, one big rolling party all the time. And then, slowly, everyone kind of moved away. And I don’t know, got serious. Is that what we call it? Grew up.

Helen: Settled down.

Suzy: Yeah. Yeah.

Caroline: And we’re so excited to chat with you about everything you have going on with Suzy Quilts, but one of the things we ask all of our guests is to just tell us about their sewing journey. So can you speak to how and when you learned to sew?

Suzy: Oh yeah, it was so long ago. I was, I was 15, and I grew up in a relatively small town and a small community in that town. And really if you, if you weren’t into sports, people didn’t really know what to make of you. You know, my brother was the MVP star, soccer, basketball, just loved all the sport things. He was so popular because of it. And I, I really struggled to find a place. At that time I made a friend whose mom quilted, and she was one of four daughters, and none of them wanted to learn to quilt. They thought it was not cool. Well, when I first saw her mom’s sewing room, I thought it was very cool. And I snuck in and I think it was even during a party. So the door was closed and I, you know, I crept in and I was just touching, I was just touching the fabric. And she had three Bernina sewing machines, which I had never actually seen a sewing machine plugged in. I know that sounds weird, but I, I’d maybe seen like an antique sewing machine that was used as a decoration, but I’d never seen one in action.

And I was obsessed. I was just in love. And so I think either the next day or maybe even that night, I nervously asked her mom, if she would maybe think about teaching me how to sew. And you know, my, no one in my family is artsy. My mom is actually completely blind and sewing or crafting was not a part of my world, even a little bit. You know, it was sports. It was like, Sports Illustrateds, ESPN, all the things, you know, that I just could not get into. So Brenda is her name. She was kind of, like, startled by, by my question because she, you know, wasn’t used to anyone really finding her quilting that interesting. So we found each other and we were both very timid at first, but then it just formed this amazing relationship and this mentorship, really. Because, you know, when you’re 15, so many things are awkward and hard. And I would, I would go into, I would call her, this is when we all had landlines. And I would say, “Ms. Winklemeyer,” cause that was her last name was Winklemeyer, I’d say, “I finished my homework. Do you think, um, my dad could, could drive me over and I could sew for an hour?” And she would say, “Oh, of course.” And she would make up these adorable binders of projects for me to work on and skills she wanted me to build. And through all of my high school, I was in her sewing room at her house as much as I possibly could. I mean, it’s all I wanted to do. And she actually bought me my first sewing machine because I didn’t have one. So, I’d have to come over to sew anytime I wanted to. And maybe at some point she was like, “Get this girl out of my sewing room.” But I also knew that I just wanted to sew all the time.

And so on weekends and evenings, it’s what I did. I had it set up in my bedroom, and I remember when I made my first quilt block, it was a nine patch, and it was rough. I mean, it just kind of fell apart in my hands. And it was made, because this is back in 2001 maybe? And the fabric scene in 2001 was very different than it is now. And so I was sewing with Civil War reproduction fabrics. I thought that was so cool. I did. I was just like, I held it up. and it was two different shades of beige, this fabric. And I was like, “Wow, I can’t believe I made something. I made something with my hands” I don’t think, aside from maybe baking with my, you know, my mom, I’d ever made anything, which maybe sounds silly, but it was, like, changed the trajectory of my life.

Caroline: That’s amazing.

Helen: I love this story so much. It might be one of our best “how I learned to sew” stories that we’ve had here on the pod.

Suzy: Okay, let me also tell you how dedicated my quilt mentor was. Because I was not a careful, detailed person. I mean, I was 15, so maybe cut me some slack. But at the same time, I’m still not a detail-oriented person. Making my first quilt, I cut off my finger. With a rotary cutter.

Helen: What? What do you mean by “off?” Say more.

Caroline: Say more.

Suzy: So gross, so gross. Okay. So I’m actually shocked. My, my friend, her name is Kari. It was, uh, Brenda’s daughter. She was the one, she was my gateway into Brenda and she was one of my best friends too. So I wasn’t just using her. Kari, if you ever hear this, I wasn’t using you! It was the night of her 16th birthday party at her house, and I had come over early because I wanted to sneak in some sewing. And I was hurrying, and I was trying to get my cutting done, and I just completely sliced over the top digit of my left pointer finger. And Brenda, to her credit, always kept her blades so sharp. Unlike me, who can have kind of a dull blade. But it was a clean cut and it was so clean, I remember looking at my hand and having this out-of-body moment, because part of my finger was on the table. And then I looked at my hand. And then maybe three seconds later, the blood came. So there was like a three second gap where I was like, “Is this real?” And then it just didn’t stop bleeding. I mean, it was a wreck. And I totally ruined her party because…

Caroline: Oh my gosh.

Suzy: Think about 16-year-old kids. All they think is like, “Oh, blood is so cool. Where’s the finger? I want to see the finger.” At one point, one of the boys was throwing the finger around the room and I think she was crying in the bathroom. I mean, I don’t know how she stayed my friend after that, because I just wrecked her party.

Helen: I wish you could see our faces right now, Suzy, honestly. Also, my hands are, like, balled into fists. I’m like, protecting all of my fingers.

Suzy: Yes! I know, but I think when you hurt yourself like that when you’re young, maybe you have little lobster fingers because my finger looks relatively normal now. They just kind of patched me up, and, I don’t know, I had to take a break from quilting. Brenda, it, it really did traumatize her. She got me this funny chain mail glove…

Caroline: I’ve seen those.

Suzy: Yes, that she made me wear.

Helen: Yeah, which is honestly a good idea if you’re new to a rotary cutter, because it can be dangerous, as we now know.

Suzy: Well, they’re so dangerous. There’s a lot of dangerous tools in sewing.

Helen: Okay, I really want to know: why quilting? Because, as you know, many of our listeners are garment sewers. So what was it about quilting? And also, did you ever try sewing garments?

Suzy: I didn’t try sewing a garment until high school, so it wasn’t that much later. One of my best friends actually is a fantastic garment sewer. Her mom was the chair of the fashion department at one of our local colleges. I just felt like there was a lot of guessing along the way. So it’s almost like every step of the way you have to troubleshoot. And I kind of liked the get all my ducks in a row, figure out what I’m going to do and then just sit back and let it happen, you know? And that’s more of the quilt vibe of, once you figure it out, you get your fabric, uh, you have your plan, you have your pattern, then you just make your quilt. It doesn’t have to fit anyone. It doesn’t have to hang well. Even if it’s crooked, nobody cares. You know?

Helen: I totally agree. It is immensely satisfying, coming from primarily garment sewing, to work on a quilt, because of all of those reasons you just said. And all these meditative moments of you doing things over and over again can be very relaxing.

Suzy: That’s exactly right. And when you’re chain piecing blocks and it’s just hum, hum, hum. I mean, it’s, it’s amazing. It really is. Like you said, meditative. It’s a wonderful moment in your life that you don’t get very often, because so much of adulthood, you’re troubleshooting. And I’m a mom right now, and so much of momming, I’m just like, figuring stuff out, you know?

Caroline: Mmhmm.

Suzy: And with quilting you can, kind of, have a lot of time to not use your brain. You just do the thing with your hands. That’s nice.

Helen: Yes, yes. And you’re making that daily progress, or if you do quilt every day, you’re making daily progress, which can feel so good when you’re struggling to, kind of, keep the wheels on, you know?

Suzy: Yes. And I, I feel, you know, quilts, in so many ways, are timeless, and I can make a quilt, keep it in my closet for a year, and then if the right person comes up, I just give it to them. I don’t ever have to worry about if it’s going to fit, if it’s going to flatter, or if they’re going to ever wear it, you know?

Caroline: Yeah, it’s so true. That’s amazing that you’re actually giving away your quilts. You’re at the point where you have so many that you’re able to just give them as gifts on a whim.

Suzy: I give away almost all of my quilts.

Caroline: Wow. Oh my gosh. What is your collection like? Do you have a ton of quilts in your personal collection?

Suzy: People ask me this all the time, and I don’t know if it’s just my personality, but when I am making a quilt, I usually make one quilt at a time and that is the only thing I care about. It’s kind of like, “Everybody needs to just go away, leave me alone.” And then as soon as I finish, I don’t really even care about the quilt. It could fall out of my car window on the highway and I would think, “Oh, that’s a shame.” And I would completely get over it. So I don’t really care what happens to my quilts after they’re finished. It’s just this process of making it. I step back, I think, “Yes, that was the vision I had.” And then it’s, it’s dead to me. Isn’t that weird? But it’s true.

Helen: I don’t think it’s weird. I can relate to this, because I didn’t try quilting for so long because I wasn’t that interested in the quilts themselves, you know? Like, I never had one on my bed growing up, so it’s just not something I really, like, associated with. Or felt strongly about. And then when I finally tried it, I was like, “Oh, the process of making a quilt is incredible and it feels so good and it’s so much fun.” And then the end product is just kind of like the cherry on top or like a nice-to-have, you know? It’s not the goal, if that makes sense?

Suzy: That does make sense. And I think that goes back to why I personally prefer quilting over garment sewing. It’s the process. The process is magical. I really can’t think of many other things in life that allows you so much time to calm your brain. You don’t really have to think a lot of the time. And I don’t know, that’s making quilting sound like it’s not a skill. It is a skill, but there are lots of moments where you don’t have to think very hard.

Helen: Yeah, especially if you’re working with a good pattern. And we do want to chat with you about your design work, because you have so many amazing patterns. So what’s your process like for designing a quilt pattern?

Suzy: Oh my goodness. I think that’s really changed over the years, definitely. Before I became a surface pattern designer, so before I started designing fabric, I designed almost all of my quilt patterns using solids, because I love solid fabric. Because I love that graphic, bold look. I design on my computer. With my graphic design background, I’m familiar with Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, all of that. I lay out my patterns in Adobe InDesign, but I design everything in Illustrator. That’s also how I design my fabric, because I’m just so, I don’t know, used to it. I think there’s just so many different things that you…shapes you can explore, different repeats and rotations. Sometimes you just stumble onto something and you think, “Whoa. That’s a cool repeat.” And so you turn that into a pattern. Other times it’s like pulling a tooth. You just kind of have to yank and yank and yank on this idea. And you think, “I really want this specific thing to work.” And so, even if it’s painfully hard for me to yank a good idea from this one thing, I’m going to make it happen. And sometimes I put those on a shelf and I come back to them. But a lot of times, the quilts that were the hardest to create, the hardest for me to really pull together into a cohesive design, those are the ones that I like the best. They’re not always my most popular, but those are the ones that I think are the most fun. To see other people make, anyway. ‘Cause I know the struggle behind it.

Caroline: I feel like that’s really relatable, as a designer. Often the ones that you love the most are not necessarily the most popular, but you still believe in them, you know?

Suzy: And also, with quilters, I don’t know if this is the same with garment sewers, but quilters love a simple pattern. They don’t like certain techniques, like Y seams or even sewing curves, and they hate applique. And those are some of my favourite things. I’m currently working on an applique project right now, and so I already know if I really dive into what I love, it’s just going to be a bit of a dud of a sale. And that’s a weird balance between nurturing your own artistic self and being a business owner. It’s a weird, weird balance. Sometimes you have to, you know, step fully into being a business owner, and sometimes you just give yourself a break and you just say, “This isn’t going to sell well. Here you go.”

Helen: Oh my gosh, it’s so true. But I do love following those creative threads when you have them. And I love your analogy of pulling a tooth for designing something. I’m going to think of that when I’m struggling with my next design.

Suzy: It’s painful. It really is, when you just know it’s gonna get there, but we’re not there yet.

Helen: Yeah, totally. Well, you had a theme for your 2023 quilt patterns, which was “Look to the Sky.” So do you always have themes for your patterns, or kind of ideas, realms that you’re working in?

Suzy: I started themes during COVID. As you know, the craft industry in general just took this weird, explosive turn during the pandemic. We were all at home. We were all online. We were all kind of twiddling our thumbs, like, “What are we gonna do?” And so I came up with four quilt patterns. And so that was…Thrive, Grow, I don’t even remember. It was more or less like, “We’re in this together.” You know, which has, we, we used that phrase so many times that it feels cliched, but in 2020, it didn’t feel cliche. We really had to hold onto that. And so after that, I thought, well, let, let me challenge myself to design each year with a theme. So last year it was “Look to the Skies,” and I had a butterfly pattern and a couple star patterns. And I did incorporate Y seams into one pattern, which I, as I was making it, I thought “This is so cool and no one is going to want to make this.” And I did it anyway. I just did. I did it for myself. I did it because I wanted to. And it, you know, it didn’t sell well. And that was just, that was weirdly disappointing to me because I knew it wouldn’t. But sometimes you think, “But maybe…”

Helen: “Maybe people are ready.”

Caroline: Yeah.

Helen: Well, I think it’s so fun to have you on Love to Sew, in part because some of our garment sewing listeners may not know you, may be interested in trying your patterns. And you cannot scare off a garment sewist with a Y seam or a curve. Like, we sew sleeves and collars and plackets, so we got it. We’re good.

Suzy: I love that. A garment sewer taught me how to use a tailor’s clapper and it’s my favourite tool to use.

Helen: Oh, yes, incredible.

Caroline: Ooh, cool.

Helen: Well, at the time of recording this, your newest pattern is Planetarium, and it has these really fun giant blocks. It’s so gorgeous. Can you tell our listeners a little bit more about it?

Suzy: Yeah, so again, this one has some curves in them, and I knew that was going to scare people. Again, this was a pattern where I just thought, “Maybe the design is cool enough that people will want to, want to make this.” And also, with quilting, I know if I ever do a slightly tricky technique, I have to include so much education. So I recorded tutorial videos and we’re doing a sewalong and I’m in the Facebook group all the time answering questions and, you know, I have a team of people also answering questions because, again, quilters are very different than garment sewers. I think garment sewers go into a project knowing they’re going to be troubleshooting the whole time. And so they see this mountain and they think, “Let’s do it.” Whereas quilters see a hill and they’re like, “No, no, no, no, no. I’m going to go for a gentle walk on my flat surface and I don’t want a single curve,” you know? And any kind of troubleshooting is going to wreck their simple meditations that they were banking on for their quilting process. So I have to really hold hands and ease worries, do a lot of talking about it. Yeah.

Anyway, so this one, it’s, it’s a modern representation of the moon and stars. And the way we, we make these kind of slices of the pie of these, I guess in quilting, the traditional block is called a Drunkard’s Path, where it’s a quarter circle, it’s a square, and then one corner of the square is a quarter circle. And that, in this pattern, is sliced in half. So, but we don’t, we aren’t sewing the quarters, we’re sewing rectangles together and then using a template to cut it into a drunkard’s path. So I think that made it, it makes it easier for people. But again, you have quilters who see the finished design and they think, “That’s hard. I’m not going to make that.”

Helen: Well, it is so pretty. I especially love the circular, like, radiating quilting that you did on your primary sample. It looks so good. It’s very, like, orbit-y, it makes me think “space.” It’s gorgeous.

Suzy: Thank you. That one of the things that excites me the most about quilting, is pulling from the heritage of quilting. So I hand quilted that. I used a really fluffy high loft wool batting so you can see all the hand stitches. It’s very puffy. It’s very cozy. I used a flannel backing. But at the same time, the actual patchwork itself is rather modern. So you have this juxtaposition which I think really flows well together and is exciting because, you know, we’re not quilting in the 1800s. We’re quilting in 2024. So things do need to evolve. I don’t need to be sewing with Civil War reproduction fabrics still. And I know there’s a lot of quilters that don’t want things to change. They want quilting to stay traditional. And I think that’s lovely because history is so cool. But for people wanting to come in, you know, younger people who get excited by fabric motifs, by colours, uh, maybe they want, they really want to decorate their home with this quilt. It’s exciting if you think it’s going to vibe with the rest of your modern home.

Caroline: And do you have a theme for your patterns in 2024?

Suzy: Um, no.

Helen: That’s okay.

Suzy: You know, 2024, I’m having a baby, the first week of April. And, I, for the most part, designed the quilt patterns to go with the fabric that I have out. Only three are coming out, because four just seemed like a lot, plus a baby, who’s like, “Oh, that’s too many launches, launching too many things in 2024.” Yeah, so there’s not really a theme that, you know, I think I’m, I’m always trying to shake things up because if I am like, “Alright, let’s do another theme for 2024. What’s the theme for 20…?” I get bored. And as soon as I get bored, I think everyone else is getting bored too.

Caroline: For any of our listeners who maybe aren’t super familiar with your work, and obviously, folks, we will be linking everything in the show notes, but could you describe your design aesthetic in three words?

Suzy: I don’t know how helpful this is going to be, but I would say: traditional, minimal, modern. Is that helpful at all?

Helen: Ooh, yes, I like that. I do think that your designs blend that tradition and the modern aesthetic really beautifully. I definitely think of your patterns as modern and I think in part that’s because of the fabrics that you’re using. And I was wondering if you had any tips for quilters who maybe want to make their quilts look more modern?

Suzy: Honestly, an easy way to make any pattern look modern is to just use solid fabric, solid colours. That just makes it pop and makes it so bold. If you even just take a really traditional nine patch, like the first block I made in all beige, and you make that in a stark, let’s just say, blue and white. I mean, bam, that’s a, that’s a striking modern-looking quilt, because really, fabric wasn’t typically solid when quilters were, you know, first making patchwork. They, they were repurposing clothes, you know, there were different prints going on. A lot of fabrics were more muted. There’s, like, a whole history to that, which I’m sure, I’m sure you probably even covered on your podcast. So to have like a punchy, bold, solid fabric is really just an easy way to make it look very, very modern.

Caroline: Okay. Beginner, or maybe, non-quilter over here question. Sorry if this is a stupid question, but, for anyone else who’s wondering, what is a nine patch? What does that mean?

Suzy: Oh, sure. Oh my goodness. You know, I have, I’ve done a handful of podcasts, and it’s always, they’re quilting podcasts. And so I never want to insult anyone’s quilting intelligence, but why, why would you know what a nine patch is? It’s nine squares. So it’s three by three by three. And let’s just say it’s two different fabrics. We’ll call it light-dark. The corners and the center are typically dark and then the other four are light. If you put a bunch of nine patches together, and you use that same light-dark motif, you get a traditional Irish Chain, and it, because the squares look like they’re chaining together. So people use a lot of nine patches as, like, a setting for maybe a central motif quilt block. And that, that’s a very traditional thing to do. So a lot of traditional quilt patterns, even if you’re not thinking about making a nine patch, it incorporates nine patches as just, like, a background setting.

Helen: Mmhmm. There’s also four patches, which is just four squares together. Also very common. Um, Caroline, I know you’re a huge fan of checkerboard. So this is how you get your, your dream checkerboard quilt. Yeah.

Caroline: Yes, thank you. Perfect. I’m taking notes over here.

Suzy: And nine patches are wonderfully easy to make. There’s a lot of really fun, you sew strips together, and then you slice up the strips, and then you sew the, the, the strip sets together. So it’s not like you’re sewing little squares. So people love them also because of the unique way they get to be assembled.

Caroline: Yeah. It does feel very approachable, just sewing squares together, especially for a beginner quilter, so yeah.

Helen: Yes. Exactly. No angles, no curves.

Caroline: No curves. No Y seams.

Helen: That is, honestly, one of my favourite things about quilting, is all of the little, I don’t know, they’re almost like productivity hacks or like, special ways that you can create multiples of things, or just make, like, a really interesting block with such simple techniques. It’s, like, truly magical.

Suzy: It is. It really is. And it’s a mathematician’s dream, because if you are at all into geometry or, you know, trigonometry, cause you’re, you’re figuring out the angle of things, you can do some really cool stuff. And you wouldn’t believe how many engineers get into quilting because of that.

Helen: Yeah.

Suzy: Yeah, and so you can get a lot of people who are very detail-oriented who like quilting. And then you can get people like me who kind of you know, ehh…

Helen: There’s something out there for everyone. There’s, like, painterly quilting and then there’s very organized quilting. I mean, it really runs the gamut. And I think in the garment sewing community too, we have a lot of engineers, mathematicians, scientists. It attracts a certain kind of mind, wanting to puzzle and piece together this three-dimensional object.

Suzy: I bet. Oh, and you all, after you finish a garment, I bet you think how you could have made it a little bit better or fit better or, yeah.

Helen: Oh yeah. By the end of this interview my goal is to have you wanting to sew a garment, Suzy.

Suzy: I do. I do want to sew garments. It’s hard to pick up a new skill when you have little kids.

Caroline: Okay, I want to circle back to fabric, selfishly, but you had mentioned that your patterns coming out in 2024 work with your fabric collections. And I want to know just a little bit more about your process for designing fabric. Your newest fabric collection with Art Gallery Fabrics is called Evolve. It is so gorgeous. And we just want to know, like, what was on your mood board for this collection?

Suzy: So, this collection was designed for quilters. And with that said, quilters typically gravitate toward lightweight quilting cotton, which is sometimes called broadcloth. It’s really easy to quilt with, because we have, we have a lot of seams in our patchwork. And so you don’t typically see us quilting patchwork with thicker fabrics, like even linen, linen can be kind of fussy and we don’t get the precision we like. You know, flannel quilts, although they’re so cozy, they can make some bulky seams. So, you see, quilters are basically using broadcloth, which we have just taken to call quilting cotton, and we also, because we’re cutting things up into little pieces and then sewing it back together, we typically gravitate toward fabric that is smaller in scale. So, you know, you wouldn’t see a huge leopard print on quilting cotton because, you know, you’d get a head and then you’d get a tail and then you’d get a torso and, you know, cause you’re, you’re chopping up that leopard all very, very small. I also think, because quilting is so dominated by women, we have a lot of florals. There’s a lot of very feminine fabric, a lot of fabric actually that’s quite juvenile, that’s geared toward children, because when do women learn to sew? It’s when they’re pregnant and they’re nesting and they want to make things for their baby. Or it’s when they’re married and, you know, they’re making things for their home. So I really wanted to inject something that had a different voice into the world of quilting fabric.

And my family and I have been traveling to Key West for a few years and we just love the vibe of Key West. It’s, like, kind of gritty, because you know, we’re used to Chicago grit, but it’s tropical. It’s very laid back. But in the 60s there was this flight from New York, uh, of people moving from New York, and kind of bringing this almost higher fashion side to a very laid back, tropical world. And, and it’s very small. So it’s like this intense melting pot. And I, you know, the last couple of times I was in Key West, I kept thinking, what would Don Draper wear if he was part of that flight from New York and he came down to Key West? And I was thinking of 1960s fashion fusion with laid-back tropical motifs. I mean, it sounds kind of wild. And it was just like, I needed it to simmer in my head for a long time. And it did, before my first collection came to fruition. So I, I didn’t, I really challenged myself to not use pink, which is funny, because I love pink, but I thought “There’s enough pink. There’s, there are enough florals and there’s enough pink.” So my first collection has, has no pink. I really wanted people to quilt with it like they quilted in the past, where they would cut up clothes, and think of it almost like that. So that was Duval. And then from Duval, I also came out with a 20 collection of signature solids. So quilters also, I don’t know if garment sewers are like this, quilters can worry. And it makes so much sense, because it’s not cheap to make a quilt, okay? By the time you have purchased your fabric and your batting and even just done your quilting you have dumped so much money and time into this thing that if it doesn’t look good it is a huge disappointment, okay? So quilters really fret about if their fabric is going to look good. And so I wanted to create a capsule collection of colours where you could just not worry. And you just knew these colours were meant to go together. They all kind of have this vintage vibe. So even though there is a quote unquote “black” in the colour collection, it’s called “truffle,” it’s a vintage black. So it’s a warm black that in some lights can even look a little brown. If you put it up to a jet black, it would look brown, but on its own, it looks black. So everything has a warmness to it, which I think kind of just hearkens the tradition of quilting, but again, brings it into this more modern, bold aesthetic.

So then that brings me to Evolve. So with Evolve, I took some of the motifs of Duval and I played around with them, almost like I was using moulding clay. Like I took some of the leaves and some of the birds and I, I stretched them and I morphed them and I thought, “What can I make from this?” And it just evolved into different motifs. And that got me so excited. And I wanted it to look very springtime-y, and so I added this key lime green colour to the collection. Again, it all still pulls in with the signature solids, and then in with Duval. So the three collections work really seamlessly together. And this is kind of my dream, to create an ecosystem where quilters can live and they can live in comfort and ease and not worry that their fabrics are going to clash or look bad, or, you know, “Is this going to make a good quilt in the end?” Because it is. That’s how it was designed.

Caroline: That’s one of the things that I love about quilting and, and looking at quilting fabrics, is that you kind of take that guesswork out of mixing and matching if you’re using different fabrics from the same collection. And it’s so, it’s so great, especially as someone getting into quilting or just starting out, Being able to, kind of, look at one collection and just pull different prints and solids together and know that it’s all going to go together, because like you said, it just takes so much time to make a quilt. And this collection is so fun, Evolve, with the key lime. It’s so fun and bright and still has that kind of, like, faded, vintage-y vibe. I hope our listeners will go check it out, because it’s a great collection.

Helen: Stunning.

Suzy: Yeah. Thank you!

Caroline: Beautiful, yeah. How does it feel to make a quilt with fabric that you designed?

Suzy: Awesome. I mean, it just feels right. It’s just like, “Yes, this is the culmination of where I wanted to go.” I’ve always loved sewing with all different kinds of fabric. I mean, even that Civil War reproduction fabric. I loved it. And when I was 15, the modern fabric artists out there, you may remember Amy Butler, Kaffe Fassett, Tula Pink came on the scene and it was all floral and it was all hot colours. And you know, I was there for it, ‘cause I was 16. I was like, “Let’s do this,” you know? But since then, uh, things have evolved…like the collection. You know, my aesthetic has, has changed. It’s exciting to sew with fabric…like when I designed this fabric, because my background is so deeply into quilting, I designed the fabric I wanted to quilt with. Whereas I think a lot of fabric designers are not sewers, and so they’re designing really cool fabric without thinking about it being in a quilt or in a finished project. But that’s, when it comes to scale and colour and even just thinking about, okay, this fabric could get cut up into two inch squares. I thought about that and what it would look like when it was paired with another print in the collection. So I find it really fun to use my fabrics because I don’t think they’re matchy-matchy. I think they just, they just flow.

Helen: Oh, they sure do. And there’s even a picture of you wearing a dress made out of one of these fabrics. And I have to say, it’s stunning in a garment as well. And our listeners might not know this, but Art Gallery fabrics are actually lawn fabrics or cotton lawn. So they’re a little bit nicer to work with than some of the other quilting cottons. As far as sewing garments, you can actually do it with the Art Gallery fabrics. So that’s something that our listeners might be interested in checking out.

Suzy: I’m really glad that you brought that up, because it is a higher thread count, making it have a nicer drape. And the weft and warp thread count is different. Again, adding to the niceness of the drape if you were to just use their quilting fabric. My collection has a rayon. So both Duval and Evolve have rayons. And if you’re thinking about that Tate Romper…

Caroline: Yeah, that’s actually a, it’s a jumpsuit, right?

Suzy: Yes, it had, it was pants, but it’s so flowy. It looks like a dress. And the designer of that pattern, she just came out with, like, a hack on how to make that a dress.Bbut it’s adorable. And I mean, what’s fabulous about it is, you know, I’m so pregnant. I’m like 33 weeks pregnant. So talk to me in two months and we’ll see if the romper fits. But I kind of think it will because it’s, it’s designed to be very, very loose and flowy.

Caroline: Yeah. It’s such a cute garment. And is this with one of the rayons or is it a cotton?

Suzy: Yeah. No, that’s with the, uh, Evolve rayon. And Duval also has a rayon that’s in that dark, vintage black truffle colour.

Helen: Ooh, oh my gosh.

Caroline: Oh yeah, it’s so beautiful, the way that the fabric holds the gathers, it’s drapey, it, it looks absolutely stunning. We’ll definitely include some pictures of this make in our show notes this week. Okay, we’re gonna have to take a quick break and then we will be back.

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Caroline: Okay, and we’re back with Suzy Williams, aka Suzy Quilts, and we want to talk a little bit about making quilts. So can you tell us, just when you’re shopping for fabric that you haven’t designed, what do you look for?

Suzy: I have gotten to the point in my quilting career that I, this is going to maybe surprise people, where I don’t have a ton of time to actually sew. So when I actually do sew, I want to make sure I’m using really high quality fabric. I know, you know, when I was 15 and working, like, my fabric allowance was my actual allowance from my parents, you know? I would need to go to the big box hobby store and I needed to buy whatever was cheap. And I think there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. But I think if you can afford higher quality cottons, you know, I’m, I’m partial to Art Gallery Fabrics because of the higher thread count and that’s another thing that I think feels good when you’re just sewing with something. But honestly, you just gotta work with your budget. And if you don’t have a budget at all, you can cut up your clothes and make quilts, because that’s how quilts were made for hundreds of years.

Helen: It’s so true. And our listeners have a lot of scraps left over from their garment sewing and I think that’s a deep well that we can dip into as well.

Suzy: Definitely, and I know if people have the time to join a sewing group, or in my world, a quilt guild, there are so many fabrics that get swapped and thrown on a table, you know, “This is the free pile.” So that’s also a great resource.

Helen: You mentioned that for a new quilter, or for quilters in general, choosing fabrics is kind of the nerve-wracking part of the process where you really want to make sure that you’re choosing correctly so that things look good at the end. So what do you think is a common mistake, say, that newbie quilters make when they’re choosing fabrics?

Suzy: I think the easiest mistake to make is to pick all your favourites.

Helen: Dang.

Suzy: It’s kind of like, it’s kind of like if you were making a meal for someone and you brought out steak and cake and all the rich foods and you forgot to bring out a salad and maybe some bread and water for people to drink, you know? I think if you come out hard with these big splashy prints and everything is big and everything is bold, you’re going to really lose how special those prints are because they’re all going to be in competition with each other.

Helen: Oh, this is such a perfect analogy. I love it.

Caroline: It’s so true. It’s like you need those, like, almost filler complementary fabrics to really let those special ones shine, right?

Suzy: And I I even tell people, this isn’t everyone’s jam, but I, I like to just stick with the rule of thumb of 50 percent solids, 50 percent prints. And if you don’t, unless you want to go 100 percent solids. But that’s a great balance. I think unless you are very confident in your fabric picking skills, that’s a great balance.

Helen: Okay, that is great advice. Also, I think to, like, contrast because sometimes you lose design ideas if you have fabrics that don’t have enough contrast, and then you can’t see the piecing work as well. So I always like to make sure i’ve got that contrast in there.

Suzy: And you know, sometimes you want a vibe. And if you want your vibe to be very gentle and soothing and you want that low contrast, that can look awesome. But if you want the vibe to be, even just a two colour quilt where it’s bold, then like you said, the contrast is really important.

Helen: Oh, I love a two colour quilt. We can’t get into that right now.

Suzy: I know.

Caroline: We gotta stay on track.

Helen: I know, we’re gonna get lost. Okay, I would love to know, Suzy, what’s your favourite step in the whole quilt making process?

Suzy: Oh my goodness. Well, my least favourite step is cutting the fabric, but maybe that’s everybody’s least favourite step? And maybe that’s because I have some residual trauma from cutting off my finger.

Helen: Yes, that could be, that could be.

Suzy: You know what? My favourite steps are the steps where you can shut off your brain. I do love that excitement, that angst you can feel in the beginning when you’re preparing. You know, you’re figuring out the pattern and you’re figuring out the fabric. I do love that. That’s kind of like the firework show, really for me, even more so than the finished project. But the calming, like, “Sayonara family! I’m gonna go sew” – that. Like, what gets me up the stairs to actually do that is just flipping on my machine, chain piecing, doing the steps that are repetitive and calming.

Caroline: Yeah, I also love the calming aspects of sewing when you can just turn off your brain, so that makes a lot of sense. You have had such an incredible career journey as a sewist and quilter, and I wonder, what has been your proudest moment as a quilter?

Suzy: What a good question. My proudest moment as a quilter was, you know what, I didn’t know it was at the time. So, I don’t know how many of your listeners have heard of a quilt show called QuiltCon. It happens every year, unless there’s a pandemic. It’s put on by the Modern Quilt Guild and it is part quilt show and part quilt classes, part quilt vending, you know, shops. My first year going, my first year entering the show, I won an award. And because it was my first year, I thought, well, this is no big deal. Everybody must win awards, you know? And since then, I realized probably what beginner’s luck I had, but what a fool I was for thinking that. And I look back and I look at the pictures. I think it was back in 2015, maybe. And I was so young, so wrinkle free. I was so proud, but I look, I was proud then, but I look back and I think I’m even prouder. You know what I mean? For who I was, how hard I tried, how I didn’t even know where things were going to go, but things were going to keep going and, you know, getting really exciting even from there. So that was a special moment.

Helen: Oh, wow. I can only imagine. That is so, so cool. I really want to see this picture that you’re referring to. So kind of in contrast to that, was there maybe a lower point along your quilting journey and how did you get through it?

Suzy: Yeah, I’m like, where do I begin? Where should I start? So many lows.

Helen: I mean, other than the finger thing, that, that was pretty bad.

Suzy: No, that’s just a funny memory. That’s not even a low. Oh my goodness. Okay. So, you know, I was so ambitious, okay? I was ambitious before I even started quilting. I started my own freelance graphic design business after I branched off of my ad agency job and I just wanted bigger clients and I don’t know what it is in me. I’ve chilled out, okay? But I, I just always want the next thing. Maybe that’s why I can’t love the quilts I make, because I’m like, “Alright, next.” Anyway, I’m in therapy for this. Okay, so, before Suzy Quilts was what it is, like, making all these patterns, whatever. Instagram was new and I was just making quilts. Okay. I was designing quilts and I was making quilts and I was, like, crossing my fingers hoping anyone would buy these quilts, but that wasn’t really happening. So I was kind of just making these quilts as my, as my hobby. And I made some connections. What I really wanted to do was license my quilt designs to Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel, at the time Crate and Barrel’s offshoot called the Land of Nod, which is now just Crate and Kids. But I had this idea of being a textiles designer that didn’t actually do the quilting, but did the designing. And so I had a couple cool breaks where I did some licensing with those companies. One of those companies ended up just stealing one of the designs without paying me. So that wasn’t awesome. That was another low, but not the low I’m talking about.

Okay, so Coach; designer handbags is usually what we know them for. They were going to celebrate some kind of, I don’t know, anniversary. I don’t even know which one. And they needed a quilter to make these statement quilts for their 12 flagship stores all across the world, okay, and somehow I had come onto their radar. They wanted me. I was, I had signed a contract. I was meeting with their art team. I was like shooting designs their way. I was pitching them stuff. I had been talking to, I was like, this is gonna be a huge commission, so I need help. I was talking to my sewing friends like, “Are you in it? You want to do this with me?” And then in one email, it was like a Friday afternoon, I just got an email saying, “Eh, we’ve canceled the project. We’ve moved a different direction. Have a good life.”

Helen: Oh.

Caroline: Oh.

Suzy: And I wasn’t used to that level of rejection. I wasn’t used to it. I just didn’t know it, it could be so mean. And so I remember that night I just had a glass of wine in the bathtub and I was, like, loudly moaning. You know, I was, I think I’d been married for maybe two years and some, but thankfully my husband knew the kind of person I was. So he wasn’t, like, that concerned with my loud, guttural sobbing, but it was…that one, that one stung.

Helen: Oh, yeah. I’m feeling the pain of that, just hearing the story. God.

Suzy: Yeah, so I’ve turned, actually, a couple of those designs into patterns. One of them is called Fly Away, and one of them is called Campfire, so you can look those up. And they, they’re awesome, and they would have looked great in their stores, so, their loss.

Helen: Oh my gosh. I mean, Campfire is, like, a sensation in the quilt pattern community, I feel like.

Suzy: Thank you.

Caroline: Well, good riddance. And look at you now.

Helen: Yeah, exactly. Such a strange, combo of things too, like designer handbags and quilting? I mean, it’s interesting.

Suzy: Yes. Well, they were trying to tap into this, you know, like small batch, artisanal, heritage, all the buzzwords. And they were like, “Let’s do this.” And, I don’t know, they wanted me to use their leather, and they were, they were going to incorporate the quilting motifs into next gen handbags. It was so exciting. It was like, “This is going to be awesome. And this is going to make a name for me.”

Helen: Yeah. It would have been cool.

Suzy: Yeah. My little ambitious, my little ambitious heart was like, “Let’s do it!”

Helen: Well, a good experience regardless, because like you said, experiencing that kind of rejection is probably a good building experience for you. I don’t know, trying to put a silver lining on this.

Suzy: It’s like the cheesy saying of every closed door is an open window, or I, something like that. I don’t know.

Helen: Yeah.

Suzy: I mean, I picked myself up, I dusted myself off. I kept going. I don’t know. I still think that would’ve been a really cool thing, .

Helen: Yeah, yeah, oh, so true. Well, in a similar vein, as quilters and garment sewers as well, I think we tend to be more pretty hard on ourselves a lot of the time, especially if we make mistakes or we’re not happy with our work. So I was wondering if you ever struggle with that and how you handle your inner perfectionist.

Suzy: This is such a great question, and I’m so glad I brought up therapy earlier, because this is a big one for my therapist. She, she’s, like, really talked to me about this. My dad was the principal of my school. And so I had this, I felt like everyone was watching me and teachers were kind of tiptoeing around me and I needed to be perfect. And it’s this, I never thought of myself as a perfectionist until someone was like, laughed at me when I said, “Oh, I’m not a perfectionist.” And they just laughed in my face. Like, “Are you so out of touch with yourself that you don’t think you are?” Um, so I think sometimes we don’t even see it in ourselves and it comes out in different weird ways. But with my perfectionism, this is one thing that has helped me immensely, is before I start, like, with fabric, especially, because this is, it’s kind of a newer thing for me. Before I start designing, I sit down and I say, “These are the feelings you’re gonna feel. You’re gonna feel like an imposter. You’re gonna feel like you don’t, you aren’t good at this. You’re gonna want to give up. And you’re gonna step back and you’re gonna worry that people aren’t going to like this.” Okay. So before you even start, just know that you’re going to feel this. So when you feel it, it doesn’t shock you and it doesn’t stop you in your tracks. And that has been so helpful for me.

Helen: Oh, wow. You’re blowing my mind right now. I need to try this.

Caroline: Yeah, You’re like, preemptively feeling the feelings and then it’s not a big deal.

Suzy: I’m identifying it and I’m saying, “This is the journey, this is happening. So accept it, let it, let it happen, move past it because you’re going to get through it.” And with Evolve, I wrote about this in a blog post, there were some ugly stages where it was just like, “This isn’t working. I don’t know if I can come out with another collection. Like, maybe I’m just a one and done.” You know, that’s the lie that loves to just, like, try to grow some roots, you know. But knowing preemptively that I was going to have that exact thought, it’s like, “Okay, okay, okay. You’re good.”

Helen: You’re evolving.

Caroline: That’s the theme of this episode, it sounds like.

Helen: It is so hard. I mean, just working on personal projects and sharing them online, like a lot of people like to share in the community and just that comparison trap that we can all get stuck in sometimes can be so challenging. And it’s amazing to hear someone like you, with all of your incredible designs and your amazing patterns and this fabric collection, experiencing these same feelings. So it is, it’s nice and relatable and I appreciate that. So thank you.

Suzy: Yeah, I think every work of art goes through an ugly phase. Every single one. And if you haven’t gotten to the ugly phase yet, then you need to keep working that, that piece of art. And so that really helps me when I hit the ugly phase and it’s like, okay, this is, this always happens. We’ve just got to move past it.

Caroline: Yeah, it’s like a rite of passage. And you can be like, “I’m in the ugly phase. That means that I’m on the right track.”

Suzy: Yes. And to be totally frank, not every work of art gets out of the ugly phase.

Caroline: Yeah.

Suzy: Not everything works. There are failures. There just are. I mean, I, for, let’s say I have a collection of 16 different prints, you know, I designed 24 things and 8 of them are duds. Or maybe they just aren’t ready yet. They’re for next time.

Helen: Oh, I can’t wait to see where you go next with your fabric creation journey. I’m assuming there’s more on the horizon.

Suzy: Well, the way this, I don’t, I’m, I’m an instant gratification person. So the year long waiting game of, I already submitted my next collection and it’s not coming out until 2025. I’m like, “Ughhh. Okay.”

Caroline: Yeah, that’s tough. Tough to sit on that. Oh my gosh. Well, you do so much. And we also wanted to talk a little bit about some of your other projects. You have so much helpful instructional content on your website. You have YouTube, you have Instagram. We wanna just pick your brain a little bit, and one of the things we wanted to touch on was The Cutting Table, which is something pretty unique among quilt designers. So can you explain what that is for our listeners?

Suzy: The Cutting Table has, has actually been hard to explain, which I think has been a problem. We’ve been calling it a digital mini-magazine and really what it is, it’s a subscription to a little quilting world. And as a subscriber, you get access to the entire world. So it’s like as if every month you get a little magazine, but instead of having a pile of magazines, you can log into your account and you can access tutorials, articles, quilt patterns, videos, you know, different things like that. And we expand outside of quilting. So we’ll do different things like, we really wanted it to be a place where our creative team could kind of play. That’s one of our key words, is how could we, how could we just push this a little bit and really play? So with our last issue, the theme was upcycling. And one of our creative contributors took an old pair of jeans and turned it into a fanny pack. And the jean pocket was a pocket in the fanny pack. And I just thought that was so cute because with just a few seams, a few cuts, she had a great little bag that already had a pocket. And she added, she bought a really cool strap and added the strap. And it was a quickie little project, which quilters love, you know, because they’ll labour over a quilt. But if it’s a handbag and it takes more than a day, I think that can get really frustrating. I don’t know why. So, uh, just as a subscriber, you immediately get a monthly download from our pattern shop. So, because our patterns are typically $14 to $15 and subscriptions are only $13 a month, already, like, you’re getting patterns for cheaper. And then in addition to that, you get tons of monthly content and you get a pattern, like an exclusive pattern that’s designed just for The Cutting Table that we revamp every year.

Helen: Wow, this sounds like a really big project. How has it been, working on this project and getting it out there?

Suzy: It took a year to get it up and running. It was, it was stressful because I really wanted it to live on the Suzy Quilts website. There’s a lot of different membership platforms where you go to, you know, like, I don’t know, members-r-us slash Suzy Quilts, you know? And I wanted people to be able to go to Suzy Quilts and just get all their stuff and not get confused. And they could log into their one account, they could have access to all their downloaded quilt patterns that they’ve been doing for years, and they could also get into their Cutting Table accounts and see all of the new, fresh content that we’re putting out.

So, oh, oh, and we just started a block of the month! Yeah, and that’s something that garment sewers are going to be like, “What?” But it’s, every month you get a new block design. And what’s, I was like, well, a block isn’t enough. Let’s give them a block pattern and give them a bonus tutorial. So last month, they turned it into a cool pillow. The month before that, it was a baby quilt. They’re, they’re going to get very, very fun. And then in December, the final tutorial will be a big sampler quilt. That, you know, you have all the blocks for. It’s, and, and when I design the blocks, I design them so that they all work really cohesively, because I, my hesitation, this is our first time doing a block of the month, is I just don’t like the look of a sampler quilt. I love a, like, a bold cohesive design, you know, like Campfire, how it’s that medallion, you know, or Maypole, that it looks like ribbons intersecting each other. And so I’ve always just been dragging my feet about the block of the month, even though quilters love a block of the month. So this one is very cohesive.

Helen: Oh, fun. And I think, honestly, a block of the month is such a great way for people to get introduced to quilting, because each block will have different techniques, different things you’re working with, and it’s small scale. So you’re not worrying about a huge project. You’re just focusing on a small area. And at the end, you have this really cool, almost timeline of your journey, learning all of these new skills. So it’s so fun.

Suzy: A timeline. I love that. I’m going to use that.

Helen: You go ahead. I would be honoured. Well, I admire you so much because of all of your amazing business acumen, the things you’ve accomplished over the years. Honestly, you’re a big inspiration to me and I was wondering if you had any advice for other small business owners in the home sewing space who are looking to grow their business.

Suzy: I would say two things. I would say you have to follow your excitement, because like I said earlier, if you start getting bored, why would everybody else not be getting bored too? And two, sometimes you just have to put in the work. When I was first starting out, I knew I needed to build up the search engine optimization of Suzy Quilts. I needed people to just organically find Suzy Quilts. So I just wrote blog after blog after blog, thousands of words, and I don’t, I did not enjoy writing. I’ve now kind of learned to enjoy it. But it was a lot of research writing, you know, what’s the best needle? What’s the best ruler? What’s the best all these things that quilters wanted to know? And they wanted to be able to go to one place to just know, you know, “What do I use? What fabric do I use?” And so I knew it was going to be a great resource and I wanted it to just exist. But the plodding away and getting there, it was, it was a lot of work.

And I’m not a tech person, which you two know, because it took us 30 minutes to figure out my headphone situation before recording this. And so, working with, web designers, I mean, oh my goodness. You guys know this, but the amount of back end web stuff that you have to deal with to keep, like, traffic flowing smoothly on a website. It is so much harder and more work than people realize, especially when your website gets to a certain level of visitors. It’s just bots. We’ve been having a lot of bots trying to attack us. So we’ve had to up our spamware. Well, then people couldn’t sign up for The Cutting Table because our spamware was working at overdrive. I was just like, what’s happening? Nothing’s working. I feel like with every pattern launch, our website crashes, no matter how much I prepare for it to not crash. And people think, “Oh, what a good problem.” And I…no! It’s not, actually, really horrible, is people don’t come back. They see a little broken website, then they forget about you. So it’s, you know, two steps forward, one step back.

Helen: Mmhmm. Yeah. I think, like, that is really good information to have, like, knowing that there is going to be bumps in the road, that it’s not always easy and smooth sailing, and if you’re running into issues or having trouble getting things done, accomplished, you’re not alone. Like, every business owner is experiencing that kind of thing.

Suzy: They are. And the amount of things that you could be working on could really just drive you crazy. Because as a business owner, you could always be working on something else.

Helen: Mmhmm.

Caroline: Yeah.

Suzy: And you’ve got to take time for yourself and to feed your own creativity and to be with your family and your friends. And that doesn’t make you any money.

Caroline: Speaking of creativity, I wonder if you ever feel blocked creatively and how you kind of get your sewjo flowing again when that happens?

Suzy: Well, I have a four pattern mini series called Sew Mojo because they came from a time when I was just so burned out. I was so blocked. I felt, I felt like I’d kind of hit a plateau, uh, and people who knew about me and my sales, things weren’t moving quite fast enough for me, you know, because it really is a slow process. It’s a marathon. And I just started sewing fabric together and playing and putting colours together, you know. These little, little mini quilts came out of it and they just brought me so much joy. I ended up turning them into a pattern, which, looking back, you don’t have to turn everything into a money making thing.

Helen: What?

Suzy: Yeah. I think that’s part, that’s hard for entrepreneurs because we’re always thinking, how can I turn this into money? Like, how can I turn this into my business moving forward? And I’ve, you know, after being in this for, since 2015 and even before that with my graphic design, that is the challenge. Is to just let myself have some fun.

Helen: I needed to hear that today.

Caroline: Yeah. That’s great advice.

Helen: Okay, Suzy, we do want to check in and see what’s coming up for you in 2024, obviously aside from having a baby, which is huge and should be out by the time this episode comes out. So congratulations.

Caroline: The baby will have launched by the time this episode…

Helen: Yes. So what, what are you up to in 2024? Do you have any plans you want to share with our listeners?

Suzy: Well, uh, you know, I’m trying to sprint my way to having this baby. But I just am not fast. So it’s like the, the funniest looking thing, probably, because in my head I’m like, “Sprint! Sprint! Go! Just get all the stuff done and then you can have an easy maternity leave.” But I’m actually going very slow because I’m tired and, you know, things are hard when you’re pregnant. Standing’s hard. And I don’t know, I’m hungry all the time. So I’m not probably getting done the things that I thought I could get done. And already I was going to launch four patterns this year and we already cut one. So we’re just launching three. So we launched one January, March, and then our final pattern for the year, it’s going to be a Christmas pattern or a holiday pattern, and that’s coming out, um, in the fall, in August, because quilters like to start planning for Christmas in the summertime.

Caroline: Of course.

Suzy: But you know, what I love about The Cutting Table is that it, we, we plan it, we do a big planning, you know, for the whole year. So it’s already planned out. It’ll just keep landing in people’s inboxes every month. We have so many talented, creative people writing for it. I feel like I’ll be able to step back and be a little bit in the shadows while other people get to shine a little bit more, which is a very exciting thing about being a boss, I guess, and, and hiring people who are very capable and just stepping back and knowing that you got this.

Caroline: Yeah, that’s incredible. We can’t wait to see these new patterns that you have coming out and follow along on your journey. And can you tell our listeners where they can find you online?

Suzy: Yeah, suzyquilts.com. That’s S-U-Z-Y quilts dot com. Uh, you could sign up for The Cutting Table and you can find all of the patterns there. You can find Suzy Quilts fabric in a lot of quilt shops. I guess you could just google “Suzy Quilts fabric.” It’s in retail shops. And of course, if you feel like being a part of a, you know, a really sweet and talented and helpful community, the Suzy Quilts Patterns Facebook group is actually a lovely place to be. If I’m ever kind of feeling down, I’ll just hang out there. It feels like I just kind of open a door and walk into a room and it’s like, “Ah, my people!” But it really is wonderful. And I don’t spend time on Facebook aside from just going directly to that one group. And then I’m also on Instagram, I have a TikTok, which just, I don’t know, you can ignore that. And Suzy Quilts on YouTube. We, uh, definitely on YouTube. A lot of videos there.

Helen: Yes. So much amazing beginner-friendly content and beginner-friendly patterns. So if this episode has made you want to dabble in quilting, Suzy Quilts is an excellent place to start.

Suzy: Thank you. We do have, one of our big website overhauls was organizing our blog because we have so much content. So if you just go to the blog tab, there’s a Quilting 101 tab, and then that’s even categorized into Fabric, Cutting, Binding, you know, all the different steps of making a quilt. So from each little step, you can even dive deeper and deeper. So I, I really hope that if people are interested in quilting, they, they could find answers to all their questions or maybe, maybe even questions they didn’t know they, they had, you know. I wrote a blog post on black batting and I didn’t even know that was a thing until I researched it for the post. And now I think black batting is really cool. So that’s a thing.

Helen: That is amazing. I have not heard of black batting. I’m going to go Google that right now.

Suzy: Yeah, it can really make your colours pop a lot more than white batting.

Helen: Oh, fascinating.

Caroline: Very cool.

Suzy: These are things you just learn on the internet, right?

Helen: Yeah, so true. Oh my gosh. Suzy, thank you so much for joining us today while you’re pregnant, taking some time out of your busy schedule. We really appreciate it.

Suzy: It’s my pleasure. I’m really, really flattered that you wanted me to be on your podcast. Thank you.

Helen: Oh, you’re so welcome.

Caroline: Oh, thanks so much.

Helen: Take care.

Suzy: Bye.

Helen: Bye.

Caroline: Bye. That’s it for today’s episode of Love to Sew. You can find me, Caroline, at Blackbird Fabrics and BF Patterns and Helen at Helen’s Closet Patterns and Cedar Quilt Co. We’re recording in beautiful British Columbia, Canada.

Helen: You can support Love to Sew and get access to bonus content by subscribing on Patreon or Apple Podcasts. You even get access to the back catalogue of bonus episodes. That’s over 75 hours of Love to Sew. Go to patreon.com/lovetosew or check out our podcast page on Apple Podcasts for more info.

Caroline: You can head to lovetosewpodcast.com to find our show notes. They’re filled with links and pictures from this episode. And if you’d like to get in touch with us, leave us a message at 1-844-SEW-WHAT. That’s 1-844-739-9428. Or send us an email at hello@lovetosewpodcast.com.

Helen: Thanks to our amazing podcast team! Lisa Ruiz is our creative assistant, Jordan Moore of The Pod Cabin is our editor. And thank you for listening. We will talk to you next week.

Caroline: Bye!

Helen: Bye bye!

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