MS episode 131:: HollyAnne Knight of String and Story

art 131 string and story

My guest today is HollyAnne Knight from String and Story. I got to meet HollyAnne in person at Quiltcon in Savannah, Ga. We quickly started chatting all about fabric, quilts, sewing, and podcasts. She needed to charge her phone and several of us were in the podcast booth hanging out so HollyAnne joined us. That little group of amazing people in that booth watching everyone walk by us was so much fun. Maybe one of my favorite parts of the whole trip. HollyAnne is a quilter who shares her love of mastering techniques with her blog readers. She also has several new eBooks out as well. As if that isn’t enough to keep her busy she also helps with a charity that is near and dear to her heart, Quilts for Cure. You will find out all about HollyAnne and her journey into quilting in this episode. Click the link to listen.

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The Stych – My Weekly Newsletter

The Stych

I thought I would do something different with my weekly newsletter this week. I love sharing my newsletter picks each week – it is my sunshine to my subscribers. So welcome if you are new here and welcome if you are coming over from your weekly email.

This week has been full of wishy washy for me. I have this gut feeling that I am going in the right direction but where I am going is fuzzy. These are the things I know lately and get ready because they are random so hang with me:

  1. I know the book is something that I have to do and I have imposed a deadline on myself to have the proposal ready to send out by Sept. 1. I have asked several close colleagues to look it over before I officially send it out. I have worked on one project for that this week but I think it could have been more.
  2. I know the podcast is something I feel compelled to do. I think it is a gift I really enjoy sending out into the world. I actually wish it was easier to make money with it. That will happen – I feel it. I am not letting go of what I feel in my heart on this.
  3. I know this community is filled with some of the coolest people on the planet. They make the world a better place with their creativity and kindness. It is humbling.
  4. I have the best listeners a girl could ever ask for. I have gotten some of the sweetest comments, messages, and emails this week that made me smile. My heart filled up with happiness. I am truly blessed.

We all have seasons in life and I am in a listening season. I am okay with that and I think being quiet and listening is an important part of the creative process. I wonder how much easier this quiet time was before so many distractions like technology. If only my grandma was around to have a chat with on the screened porch.

One distraction that is welcome around my house is talking about the Total Solar Eclipse. My husband took the day off and the kids were home so we could all watch it. We were in 88% totality and it was really cool. I think my husband and I were the most excited about it, lol. On a completely different note, we visited with friends from England that were in town and now my kids and I are all chatty in our British accents. So, as you can imagine, we are just a crazy crowd this week.

NOTE:: There are affiliate links in this post. If you click through and make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no additional cost to you

On to the links:: (I had to include some eclipse stuff but I promise only this one time!)

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MS episode 119:: Cheryl Arkison

cheryl arkison podcast episode 119Cheryl Arkison is someone I could chat with all day long about sewing, quilting, fabric, family, and how I love warm weather and she loves cold weather. She just inspires me to look at my process and think about it in a new way. We chat about her new fabric line with Connecting Threads called Tag. She also shares why she thinks her time in the morning being creative helps her to stay creative even when she may want to take a break. I need to adopt her process in some way because I think it would help me to stay in the creative zone. I tend to stray sometimes and getting back on track can be difficult. I wanted to know all about her process of sorting scraps. We really just had a great chat and I can’t wait for you to listen. Cheryl always has some great tips and advice. Click on the link to listen.

Cheryl Arkison

Cheryl’s new fabric range, Tag

tag fabric from cheryl arkison for connecting threads Screen Shot 2017-05-04 at 1.11.53 PM Screen Shot 2017-05-04 at 1.12.02 PM

Cheryl’s morning routine we chatted about (create before consume)

Cheryl Arkison on YouTube (it is so so so awesome! I can’t wait to see more)

Go take a class with Cheryl

Cheryl’s Craftsy Class and patterns

Cheryl’s CreativeLive Classes

Connie Christine’s class on illustrator that Cheryl mentioned

Flashback:: Cheryl on the Modern Sewciety podcast – episode 048 and episode 066

 

MS 075:: Melanie Ham and Rachael from Imagine Gnats

ep75art

Melanie K Ham

Melanie K Ham Instagram

Melanie Ham on YouTube

Melanie’s tutorials

Melanie on Instagram

Melanie K Ham Shop

Melanie’s Sister-in-Law on YouTube, Rachel Talbott

Melanie’s Brother-in-Law, Byron Talbott 

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Rachael from Imagine Gnats

Imagine Gnats Instagram

Imagine Gnats Shop

Imagine Gnats Pattern Shop

Imagine Gnats tutorials

Imagine Gnats Halloween printable