February 26, 2025 • 31 mins
In this episode, I welcome world traveler Kim Caskey to the podcast. You can find out more about her from her website at www.kimcaskey.ca and more about her world tours at www.kimcaskey.ca/tours as well as on Facebook and Instagram.
Kim has the enviable job of coordinating and organizing textile tours around the world, including Ireland, Scotland, France, England, Wales, Japan, France, and Italy. Kim frequently likes to tie in quilt festivals into these tours, as these are great ways to explore the different styles and subjects of the quilts of the world.
I'm excited to announce that I'll be joining Kim on her July 2025 Birmingham London Tour!
Kim's cohost will be Paula Rafferty, an Irish quilter, who is a certified judge, and part of the tour will include her guiding the tour participants through the Birmingham Quilt show through the winning quilts through a judge's eye.
In September of 2025, Kim will be joining special guest Pam Holland in Australia!
Several special guests in Australia will include Jen Kingwell and Kathy Doughty.
Visit my blog to download the brochures
00:00 Introduction to Season 5
01:07 Guest Introduction: Kim Caskey
02:27 Quilting Tours Around the World
05:02 Upcoming Birmingham and London Tour
13:35 Exploring the Australia Tour
15:01 Kim's Journey into Quilting
26:14 The Art of Custom Quilting
Want to try free motion quilting but don't know where to start? Here's 3 simple steps to get going.
Are you looking to ADVANCE your machine quilting skills?
Machine quilting can be very solitary, especially on a longarm. It's just not that easy to pack up your machine and head to a friend's house for the day, right? But it's important to have that community - that sharing of ideas and tips, encouragement and motivation.
For more information and to sign up, visit our website.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:04):
Welcome to Season 5 of MeasureTwice, Cut Once.
This whole season is anexploration into behind the
scenes of not just quilting, butbuilding a creative business
that truly lights you up.
As someone who's navigated theexciting, sometimes bumpy world
of turning a passion into aprofession, I'm excited to pull
back the curtain and share myown experiences.
(00:26):
Some episodes will be just me.
Diving deep into my personaljourney, while others will
feature guests who are alsonavigating the world of creative
entrepreneurship, will explorethe nitty gritty of building a
creative business, the lessonslearned and the unexpected
challenges that come withtransforming your craft.
Into a thriving enterprise.
And don't worry, I'm not leavingstorytelling behind.
(00:48):
Instead, I'll be weaving theminto the conversations about
what it takes to grow a businesswhile staying true to your
creative spirit.
So whether you're dreaming ofstarting your own business, or
you just love hearing aboutcreative entrepreneurship, this
season is for you.
Susan (2) (01:04):
I have got a treat for you today.
My friend Kim Caskey is joiningme in the studio.
Kim is a fellow Canadian and shehas the job of coordinating and
organizing textile tours aroundthe world.
Oh my goodness.
What a fabulous job that mustbe.
Anyway, Kim's going to join meand we're going to chat about
(01:24):
some of her upcoming tours thatshe's planning and some of the
great activities that are inthem.
And I tell you what, it's goingto whet your appetite so good.
So stay
Susan (01:33):
tuned.
Susan (2) (01:34):
tuned.
Well, hey, Kim, welcome to thepodcast.
Hi there.
Hi, Susan.
How are you?
I'm good.
You are tuning in from quitenorthern Canada, which is my
stomping grounds.
Whereabouts are you located?
I'm in Edmonton yeah, I guessit's more north than where you
are, but yeah, We've talked acouple of times, but I don't
know if you knew this.
I grew up in Fort St.
John and in fact, lived theretill about a dozen years ago.
(01:55):
So I totally know about North.
For our listeners.
I was living at the Southern tipof the Alaska highway, and
you're a little east of that inthe little South of that anyway,
Northern Canada, chilly, andit's winter right now as we
speak.
Yeah.
Kim (02:09):
It's actually about plus two today.
So it's, yeah we're having a bitof a Chinook come through here.
So it's great.
plus two now that's plus twoCelsius.
So that's just over zero for youguys.
But
Susan (2) (02:19):
right.
So just above freezing, butstill very pleasant.
We'll take it.
Yes.
I'm so excited to have anopportunity to talk to you.
You and I have been in touchbecause we're talking quilting
tours.
So let's just dive right intothe middle of things.
What cool quilting tours do youdo?
And what are some of the onesthat are next up on your
horizon?
Kim (02:39):
Oh, wow.
yes.
And thanks for this opportunityto chat about them.
I, going on the cruise next weekwith you.
I'm really looking forward tothat kind of a tour as well,
even though we'll be on the shipfor most of it.
the quilts and textile toursthat I've been doing for about,
oh boy, since 2013 was my first,quilt tour that I did.
we go to all over.
(03:00):
places all over the world.
Ireland, Scotland, France,England, Wales, Japan, France,
Italy, all, kinds of places, allkinds of places.
And I like to tie in a quiltfestival that happens in those
countries.
And, in my experience and in theexperience of my travelers,
those quilt festivals,exhibitions or quilt shows are
(03:21):
just absolutely phenomenal, justphenomenal.
Many quilters have been toHouston and they, know the Big
Quilt Festival that happens downthere every year.
but certainly the ones over inEurope are the ones, they're
just magnificent.
The quality of the quilts, thedifferent, the different styles
of quilting and the differentsubject matters that the makers,
make their pieces all about.
(03:42):
It's just fascinating.
Just fascinating.
Susan (2) (03:46):
So when you say that you tie them into a quilt
festival, That's not all thetour is though, right?
It also includes more, moreintimate, more personal things
with a small group.
Am I right?
Kim (03:56):
Yeah, absolutely.
Absolutely.
Yeah, so I would say, probablyfirst and foremost, it is a
sightseeing tour, but it'sgeared towards quilted textile
venues.
I explain it to people like youcould go on perhaps a golf tour.
And play a couple of rounds ofgolf somewhere, but still go and
see some of the, the must seeplaces of those countries.
(04:16):
And same thing with our tours.
for example, in Scotland, wemight go to a kilt making
factory.
So that's textiles, tells us alittle bit about that.
Very interesting, yet still veryScottish.
in Ireland we always go to,Triona Designs, which is a,
company that, that createsgarments and pieces and so on
out of wools and tweeds and,Donegal tweed is very famous
(04:39):
and, yeah, so those kinds ofthings, as well as, like I say,
as well as a quilt festival.
We usually spend one or two daysat a quilt festival and, yeah.
Yeah, it's really fabulous wherewe travel on a luxury motor
coach.
Tony is our driver for, most ofthe tours that we do in Ireland,
Scotland, Wales, the UK, thosekinds of places.
it's just like summer camp onwheels for quilters.
(05:00):
It's, great.
Susan (2) (05:02):
I think this is the first time I'm saying this out
loud, but I'm coming with you ona tour this upcoming summer.
Tell us about that onespecifically.
Kim (05:11):
Yeah, so that one is the Birmingham London, tour, and
it's a little bit shorter tourthan we normally do.
Normally our tours are about 10or 12 days on the ground.
This one is a little bitshorter, but still, packed full
of all kinds of fabulous things.
things.
We're going to start out inBirmingham, which is where the
Birmingham Quilt Festival is, doa couple of tours, visits and so
(05:33):
on of different venues, museums,the the Forge Needle Museum,
learning about how needles aremade and where they've been made
throughout all these years.
Watch that, forge in, process.
That, that will be fascinating.
and then we're going to, a craftor artisan market where there
will be all different kinds ofmakers, in and around that area.
(05:55):
And then we'll spend a couple ofdays at the The Birmingham Quilt
Festival, although it is held ina convention center, which is
similar to the Houston QuiltFestival, held in a convention
center, it's so much different.
It's got such incredibleatmosphere.
The way they organize the QuiltFestival, they do it up in
little vignettes, I wouldexplain it to be little pods of
(06:16):
artisans.
And It would be a solo show andthe artist is right there.
And so you get to speak withthem and chat with them about
their pieces and their practiceand so on.
And then, of course, there's aginormous vendor hall, just a
huge vendor hall, which isreally interesting for us North
Americans to see what's new andtrending and a little bit
different, that happening inEurope than what happens over in
(06:39):
North America.
Some of the same, of course,some of the same because we all
need the same kinds of you.
tools and so on.
We all need seam rippers in
Susan (2) (06:45):
our tool kit.
Kim (06:46):
Clover is there and, all those kinds of vendors are there
as well, but it's really neat tofind the new, for me, at least,
the not North American patterndesigners and, textile fabric
people, and, what they're doingwith their stuff.
And it's really neat.
That's the part I enjoy themost, it's really great.
And then of course the hundredsand hundreds of quilts that are
(07:07):
on display similar to Houston.
My co host, Paula Rafferty is,is going to be joining us and
she actually is, from Limerick,Ireland.
She is a very prolific quilterin Ireland, very well known over
there.
She's not only a quilterherself, self, long arm quilter
and teacher and lecturer and allof that jazz, but, she is also a
(07:27):
certified judge and she is, notonly is she a judge, but she
teaches the judging program forthe Quilters Guild of the
British Isles.
The Quilters Guild of theBritish Isles is the group that
puts on the, Birmingham QuiltFestival.
They're similar to, the ModernGuild, where there's one kind of
mothership.
And then there's a whole bunchof little branches or little
(07:47):
guilds around that.
That's the same thing as theQuilters Guild of the British
Isles.
And yes, and so she's going tobe coming with us.
And part of what, what she'sgoing to be doing for our group
is, when we're at the show,she's going to be giving us a
tour of the winning quilts fromthe judge's eye.
So she'll be able to give us abit of an insight as to, what
quilts are is this quilt allabout?
(08:07):
And what makes it different fromsome of the others?
And, things that maybe theaverage quilter may not really
realize, or understand.
And, that part is fascinating aswell.
I agree.
Susan (2) (08:18):
I'm looking forward to that.
I find that in my local town, wehave a sizable quilt show every
fall, too, and usually have fiveto six hundred quilts hanging.
But a lot of the ribbons areawarded just on viewer's choice.
And so you find that, andthere's nothing wrong with that,
it's just one way to do it whereit's popularity and it's what's
(08:38):
eye catching and it might more,be more likely to be color
necessarily than quilting skillsor content or.
details.
So I'm really fascinated to havean opportunity to tag along in a
judge's wake and see what arethe things that they look for,
because that interests me.
How can I better my own skillset to measure up a little bit
(08:58):
and what sorts of things do theylook for?
I'm not a huge one forcompeting, but just for my
personal knowledge about my ownskill set.
Kim (09:06):
Absolutely, and I'm glad you said that because oftentimes
I hear people say, Oh, I wouldnever ever enter a quilt.
I don't want to be judged.
My quilts aren't good enough or,whatever the reason is, and
that, and that's fine too.
Like you say, certainly we'renot necessarily in it for the
ribbon, or whatever.
It's, It is nice.
I appreciate getting somefeedback about, okay, how can I,
(09:27):
do you know, can you, judgescomments may often say things
like, have you considered, oryou might consider or something.
There's never any right andwrong.
It's just, yeah, all, all aboutupping our game and, and
learning new tech tricks and,techniques and so on to, to just
make our quilts a little bitbetter.
So it's really fascinating.
Here the group, we did this tourlast year and, the group was
(09:49):
saying how much they appreciatedit, although they were a little
trepidatious about going into ajudge's comment tour that, of
the winning quilts, but theyreally appreciated Paula's take
on it and understanding and,allowed them, a little bit more
understanding of the judgingprocess.
More of a celebration of ourfinishes than it is anything
else.
Susan (2) (10:08):
I was going to say that.
I feel like.
Those of us who are there inperson, probably it will take
some of that mystery out of it.
the judge seems like a kind ofdistant star.
You know what I mean?
And so it'll take a bit of thatmystery out and maybe be a
little more relatable and feel alittle more reachable to attain
some of those skills.
Okay.
So for our listeners, the pointof all this is you all are
(10:30):
invited.
If anyone just is getting soenthusiastic as I am about this
English tour and wants to comealong, we'll put some links in
the show notes.
Do you want to say anythingfurther about where they could
find information, like maybe geta newsletter?
Kim (10:43):
Absolutely.
I can.
I will do all of that as well.
And I just also wanted tomention that After the
Birmingham Quilt Festival, thenwe're going to travel up and
spend a few days in London andwe've got some phenomenal things
lined up for the London portion,including meeting up with
Rebecca Devaney, who is a, sheactually is, her website is,
Textile Tours of Paris.
(11:04):
She's an Irish girl living inParis, living the absolute
dream.
This young woman, grew upwanting to be an embroiderer of
all things.
Can you imagine wanting tobecome an embroiderer and making
that your living?
And she has done it.
She's gone to art school and,she's a haute couture,
embroiderer for all the big namedesigners and so on.
(11:24):
And she's going to take us on aphenomenal, walk.
A walking tour of some of themost fascinating textile places
right in London.
So That would be fabulous aswell.
Rebecca Devaney's textile toursare, they're, her walking tours
are just phenomenal.
She's going to meet us.
We're going to, ChristopherWilson Tate, Antique Textile,
shop.
His shop is right down on AbbeyStreet, almost right across from
(11:46):
Buckingham Palace.
So it's, that's a great place tovisit as well.
She, they do a big lecturepresentation and show us some
unbelievable art.
antique textile quilts.
and then of course we'll do theV& A Museum and, the textile
exhibits there and, also theWilliam Morris Gallery.
So if you're at all interestedin William Morris prints, you
(12:07):
get to see, yeah, that's afascinating visit as well to see
exactly, where it came, where hecame from and, that whole
museum.
So yeah lots of neat thingsplanned for that tour.
But yes, I would be happy tosend you a link or I can, I will
definitely put it in mynewsletter.
It's all over my website, whichis easy.
It's just kimcalski.
ca.
And, yeah, it, yeah, we'd loveto have some more people come
(12:29):
along.
It is a smaller tour.
We're only going to take about15 or 20 people at the absolute
most.
makes it doable, makes it a nicesize that we can do, these
exhibits as a group and not haveto be split up or, do it in
different stages.
But, yeah, I love that
Susan (2) (12:44):
aspect of it.
I feel like with a smallergroup, friendships are going to
get formed.
We do that anyway in thequilting community, but in that
small group, I just think it'sgoing to be a wonderful
opportunity.
So the subtext here is hurry.
If you want to go and find theinformation from Kim and sign
up.
So we will put the direct links.
All in the show notes.
So look there for Kim's websiteand you can sign up for her
(13:06):
newsletter and also moreinformation about the tour.
Okay, so let's talk a littlemore about additional upcoming
tours because you have onehappening this year.
Kim (13:15):
I do.
I have another one happening inSeptember.
So the Birmingham London one istowards the end of July, early
August.
The Birmingham Quilt Festival isdriving that date because of
course they, they have theirquilt festival usually the first
weekend in August every year.
But the next tour that we'redoing is to Australia.
And that's happening inSeptember.
(13:37):
Yeah, that's been, this one hasbeen on my bucket list to do
quite a few years now.
And just the stars all aligned.
And I'm working with PamHolland.
Now, I don't know if you knowwho Pam Holland is.
She is an Australian artist.
She is an unbelievable textileartist.
She also does tours on her own.
She goes to India and placeslike does all kinds of textile
(13:59):
tours in India all the time.
But, she has agreed to, to stayhome for a couple of weeks and,
host this tour for us.
And we're so excited.
Melbourne and Sydney, we're alsogoing to Uluru, which you may
know it as Ayers Rock,politically correct, we're not
supposed to call it thatanymore, it's called Uluru.
And, Yeah, so we're doing a fewdays in Uluru as well and, of
(14:20):
course, we couldn't go to, toAustralia without visiting some
of the big names that we know.
So Jen Kingwell, of course,she's going to, she's going to
welcome us with open arms.
And also Cathy Doherty in,Material Obsessions in Sydney
and doing a couple of workshopsthere.
And Pam Holland is actuallygoing to run a workshop for us.
it's all included.
It's, we'll be right at thehotel.
So it'll be a lovely day of restup from some of the.
(14:43):
Some of the sightseeing stuffthat we've done.
So I look forward to that and itshould be a good time of year.
Not too hot.
Just nice and comfortable.
So yeah,
Susan (2) (14:51):
beautiful.
So it makes me wonder it soundslike you're in the world of
people that do tours.
You and some of the people thatyou're meeting with do tours
also.
What brought you into that kindof circle in the quilting
community?
Kim (15:05):
I can tell you it was one of those There's a story
Susan (2) (15:07):
here, I can tell.
Susan (15:08):
Yeah, it was one of those fall out of the sky kind of
things, I can tell you.
I had always wanted to go toIreland.
And I don't exactly know why.
I'm not, I don't have a lot ofIrish roots, maybe way, way far
back there I do, but I don'thave anybody who lives in
Ireland or anything.
I must have done a book reporton it at school or something,
but I always wanted to go toIreland.
(15:29):
And so an opportunity came upfor me to be a traveler.
on a quilt and textile tour toIreland in 2012.
And I went, very, I'm going allby myself, and oh, what if I get
lost, and oh, I don't want to bea third wheel, and all of those
excuses under the sun.
And, my, it was my girlfriend,actually, who said, what are you
(15:51):
waiting for?
You just go.
And I thought, okay, here we go.
But what if I got lost and allof this stuff?
What happened?
I got left at the airport.
I got left at the airport.
Oh no! It happened! Day one!That's the first thing I thought
of was my girlfriend.
I told you anyway, and as itturned out, I it's a bit of a
long story, but I, all of mystuff, my phone, my suitcases,
(16:13):
my everything was already on thecoach.
I just happened to have gone in.
Yeah, it was a long story.
But anyway, so I got back out tothe coach park and the coach was
gone.
And I thought, Oh my god, whatam I gonna do?
I thought I could just sit hereand wait for 10 days and they'll
be back, but I actually foundanother coach driver in the same
park and I just, humbly wentover and said, do you know the
(16:35):
driver that was just here?
I was supposed to be on thatcoach and, thinking he was not
going to be able to help me atall.
He, of course, being a charmingIrishman, said, Puts his arm
around me and says, Oh, honey,if you'd been with me, I would
have never like this.
Anyway I eventually caught upwith the coach and of course
that driver who is Tony that Ijust mentioned before.
(16:57):
so he became, he and I becamegreat friends, but only because
of this mishap.
He would, from then on he would,drive forward about 10 feet and
then stop and get on the mic andis Kim here?
Is Kim here?
Anyway, with the following year,I was asked to be a host for
this same tour company and Ithought, yeah, wow, that would
(17:19):
be great.
Sure.
So I did do another, tour thenext year.
it was with a different companyand, I met up with a friend, on
that tour.
She was working from the Statesand she was doing a lot of other
tours as well.
And she said, we could do this.
I think we should, I think weshould be, I think we should do
this.
And I think we should do this inour own, on our own time and to
(17:39):
the, our own destinations.
it just fell together and we'vebeen doing it ever since.
And, yeah, It's just been great.
Like I say, we've been to somany destinations and the one
thing that I, that I find isquilters are quilters worldwide.
And you may not speak the spokenlanguage, but boy, we all speak
quilt and we all, understandeach other and we're, we may not
(18:02):
know each other, we still havethis bond right away.
So our groups gel and mesh rightaway and it's great.
Yeah, it's really great.
Susan (2) (18:09):
So I'm curious in the foreign ones then, say in Japan
or in France, do you havetranslators then or your
teachers I would imagine perhapsthat are doing your workshops
and things speak English.
How does that play out?
I'm sure you've got
Kim (18:21):
it.
Yeah, absolutely.
We have a guide.
so the only place in, in that wego to is Ireland.
Can, the driver can be the guideon the mic at the same time.
That's the only country that cando that.
Everywhere else, it's a separatedriver and a guide.
So somebody else on the mic.
And so yes, in those foreigncountries, our guides are all
English speaking guides, butthey also speak the other
(18:42):
language, which is nice.
Cause they need to, they need totranslate or they need to, get
some last minute instructions orwhatever.
so yeah, that works out verysmoothly.
Actually, I haven't reallyfound.
English to be much of a problemanywhere that we've gone, even
Japan, France, Italy, thoseplaces, everybody speaks a
little bit of English, or, ofcourse, we've got Google
Translate, which has also been agood help over time.
(19:04):
yeah, we've used that.
yeah, it's not, no, it's notusually a problem.
No, the translate, the languagetranslation isn't usually a
problem.
Susan (2) (19:11):
Good.
I am so looking forward to thetrip to England, to Birmingham
and London, partly because I doa lot of hosting and organizing
myself and the novelty to me togo on a tour with you, that is
all pre thought out and entirelyplanned for me.
And I just get to get in thatcoach and go along for the ride.
I just think that's wonderfulbecause you've done all the
(19:32):
thinking, all the hotels, etcetera, et cetera, is all done
for us.
So that's so wonderful.
Kim (19:37):
And there's a lot, as you well know, there is a lot of
behind the scenes stuff thathappens and, as, as smooth, you
think you've got it all arrangedand all organized and always
last minute, there's, a fewlittle changes that we just have
to surrender and go with theflow.
But and, all in all, it worksout and sometimes it works out
even better.
plan B can sometimes be evenbetter.
(19:57):
But yeah, it's really beenremarkable.
How well these tours have cometogether and continue to go to
continue to work on so good.
Susan (2) (20:08):
Kim, I would love to hear a little bit more about
your personal story.
How did you become a quiltmaker?
And maybe what part of the quiltmaking is your very favorite?
Is it just traveling and seeingwhat others do?
You have your own.
quilting aesthetic.
Kim (20:22):
I can tell you, I'll tell you the story that my mom tells
people, all the time, how I gotstarted sewing was I was born,
yes, on the 5th of January,which was just this last Sunday.
I was born on the 5th of Januaryand when I was, going into grade
one, you had to be six by theend of December.
And so I missed that deadline byfive days.
(20:44):
And so I had to stay home awhole extra year.
So I at that during that year,my mom had my brother and sister
to take to, care for as well.
And so she plunked me down ather sewing machine and taught me
how to sew.
That was the way she entertainedme.
And apparently I made littledrawstring bags for, everybody
on the planet.
I don't remember any of that.
(21:05):
I don't remember any of that,but I do remember that.
my mom was very patient over theyears and taught me lots about
dressmaking and, sewing and thatkind of stuff all from her
machine.
She, obviously she had a goodold Kenmore, like we all did in
the old days and, workhorse of amachine.
And, I, didn't have any troublewith it.
So I, it might've been adifferent story if I had tension
(21:25):
issues and, it was frustrating,but I just thought it was great.
I thoroughly enjoyed the makingprocess, of anything I learned
to embroider and knit from mygranny and I learned all kinds
of, maker kind of of skills andso on along the years.
So if then.
Actually, fast forward, I didactually go to NAIT, which is
our community college here, justout of high school, and I took
(21:45):
tailoring, the tailoringprogram.
They're all about men's threepiece suits and dressmaking,
women's dressmaking and patterndesign and so on.
I learned all of that.
Really fine tuning making orsewing kind of skills.
And then just by chance, my momhad signed up for a rotary
cutting class, and she couldn'tattend, and she asked me if I
(22:06):
wanted to take her place.
This was, years later, and Isaid, Oh I'm sure what's it all
about?
Quilting and it's this is,learning to use the rotary
cutter.
And all I could think of,honestly, all I could think of
was three hours to learn how touse a pizza cutter.
Really?
What kind of a course is this?
Anyway, I went.
thinking, Oh, this is going tobe interesting.
And I haven't looked back.
(22:27):
That was in 1992.
And I, I don't even think I'vesewn much of a much garments,
since then I've really justembraced quilting.
I just loved it.
I, there's a lot, all kinds ofaspects from your regular sewing
or garment sewing that you cantake into the quilt making
world, but there's so manydifferences as well.
Like it fits the first time.
(22:47):
I was just gonna say
Susan (2) (22:48):
one of them is the quilt always fits.
It's always flattering.
Kim (22:53):
Exactly.
It can be a little wonky, butthat's okay.
But yeah, it's not like puttingin a sleeve or a zipper or
anything like that.
So yeah and I, from there, Iyeah, I was absolutely hooked
and I went through a, I was withEarthly Goods Quilting shop here
in Edmonton was a very prominentquilt shop for many years.
They closed in, I think, 2017.
(23:15):
But I was part of their, theyeventually became part of their
teaching faculty and we had puttogether a program called
Quilting by Degree, which was abit of a play on words, but it
was meant to be a whole program,not just a project by project
classes it was a series of 11different basic quilt making
classes that really took youfrom bare bones beginner right
through and, to allow you theconfidence to, take any pattern
(23:38):
and go with it.
So yeah, that I'm Yeah, I just Ihave really enjoyed the whole
process.
And of course, meeting all thepeople that the connections and,
talking about tours, meeting thequilters from around the world.
That's just been fabulous.
Just excellent.
And yeah, a real community forsure.
Susan (2) (23:57):
It's so interesting.
I feel like we I've heard thisfrom other guests, particularly
younger ones who will say Earlyon when I thought about the idea
of quilting, I thought, I don'twant to do that.
That's, that's a grandmother'scraft.
And then my eyes were openedwhen I saw, X, Y, Z quilts,
often contemporary or modernquilts, but I think the same.
We don't know what we don'tknow.
(24:19):
That same mentality applies whenwe think about international
quilting.
I have only ever seen quilts inNorth America.
I've only ever been to NorthAmerican shows.
So I am so looking forward togetting to experience just new
outlooks and maybe broader, butalso they might even be smaller
in terms of availability offabrics or things like that.
(24:42):
But inevitably they'll bedifferent.
And I'm so looking forward tothat richness of experience.
Kim (24:48):
Yeah, absolutely.
I'm, that has me thinking I havea quilt on my machine right now.
I'm a long armor and I have aquilt on my machine right now
that the quilt top was made by alady in Belgium.
Her name is Crystal Salgarelloand she was the workshop
facilitator for our group.
I think it was two years ago nowwhen we were in France.
(25:09):
She came down from Belgium andtaught this phenomenal project.
piecing class and one of mytravelers actually bought this
quilt top from her.
She was just enamored by thisincredible quilt top and and it
just opened the doors for all ofus to learn about, what, so what
is so different about quiltingin Belgium or what this gal,
(25:30):
does that's, That's different inNorth America and being able to
learn right directly from herand, and actually it was a two
day class that we did with two,started on two different
projects.
And yeah just new techniques,different ideas.
It was a log cabin, a derivativeof a log cabin pattern that she
was working with, but yeahreally fascinating.
And yeah, really opened oureyes, like you say, to all
(25:53):
different.
things that go on in, in thedifferent countries and
especially with this cow.
So I'm looking forward tofinishing this quilt.
I'm hopeful to get it finishedbefore we go on our cruise
Susan (2) (26:04):
next week.
Awesome.
Of course, by the time thispodcast airs we'll be on the
cruise.
It'll probably be over.
And so I'll ask you on thecruise, did you get the quilt
done?
And we'll want to hear moreabout that.
Is it custom quilting, Kim?
It is.
Yeah,
Kim (26:17):
it is.
It is.
Yeah, it's yeah, one of those.
Oh, my gosh.
And then, yeah, you dive into itlittle by little, I know what to
do in this corner, or I knowwhat I'm going to do over here.
And then pretty soon it justcomes all together.
Susan (2) (26:28):
Yeah it's so interesting to me how different
people approach custom quilting.
I don't do a ton of it myself.
Yeah.
And partly that's the reason,because I'm always stuck
standing and staring at thebeginning.
But I have found too, over time,that if I just start, if I
figure out some element that'sgoing to be within the quilt,
ruler work maybe, and just getstarted, then the ideas and the
(26:50):
inspiration starts to flow.
Do you find the same thing, ordo you plan before you go?
Kim (26:54):
Yes, absolutely.
And Karen McTavish was actuallymy very first longarm, expert
instructor.
And she said, just know Just dowhat you know.
Start with what you know.
And basting it or ditching, youneed to ditch around a couple of
blocks or whatever.
Start with what you know, andthen, yeah, you just relax into
it and you're right.
Then the idea sometimes comefaster than others.
(27:16):
Sometimes it's a mad, like thestand and stare, as you say,
what am I going to do?
But, yeah, but Generally thatworks
Susan (2) (27:23):
just sometimes the deadline is what causes the
ideas to come.
I just have to do somethingYeah, but again, I think falling
back on what you know is stillgood advice Like you do not have
to know how to quilt everythingTo be a good custom quilter.
You just need to know a fewthings that you can pull out of
your back pocket.
Yeah.
Yeah, exactly.
This has been lovely chattingwith you.
(27:44):
Any words of wisdom that youwant to leave with our listeners
before we go?
I'm springing this on you.
Kim (27:49):
What comes to mind is just try it, just do it.
And that can apply to so manythings.
That was a word of advice thatwas given to me early on is just
go for it.
Just go for it.
That whether that's jump in andjust go as a single traveler,
all by yourself to I'm from aforeign country.
That was a big leap.
But yeah, but look where, lookwhere it's gotten me.
(28:10):
And, just do it.
Just try it.
Was, I remember being my veryfirst machine quilting class in
my domestic machine thinking, ohmy God, I can't do this.
I can't do this.
I can't do this.
And it was the instructor whosaid, just try it.
Just try it.
What have you got to lose?
And so I think that would be mywords of wisdom to pass on is
just do it.
Just try it.
(28:31):
That's excellent.
Susan (2) (28:32):
Thank you so much for joining me.
It has been a real pleasure.
Kim (28:35):
Oh, thank you.
Thank you for having me.
We've been visiting with KimCaskey of Kim Caskey Tours for
more information and for somefabulous color brochures on all
the upcoming tours that arecoming up this year in 2025.
Visit Kim's website atKimCaskey.
com.
We will have a link also forthat in the show notes.
(28:57):
Thanks so much for joining me.
If you have a If you feel wouldenjoy this episode, I'd love if
you would share with them.
And I'd also appreciate so muchif you would give a rating and a
review wherever you listen toyour podcasts.
So until next time, may yoursorrows be patched and your joys
be quilted.
Welcome to Season 5 of MeasureTwice, Cut Once.
This whole season is anexploration into behind the
scenes of not just quilting, butbuilding a creative business
that truly lights you up.
As someone who's navigated theexciting, sometimes bumpy world
of turning a passion into aprofession, I'm excited to pull
back the curtain and share myown experiences.
(00:26):
Some episodes will be just me.
Diving deep into my personaljourney, while others will
feature guests who are alsonavigating the world of creative
entrepreneurship, will explorethe nitty gritty of building a
creative business, the lessonslearned and the unexpected
challenges that come withtransforming your craft.
Into a thriving enterprise.
And don't worry, I'm not leavingstorytelling behind.
(00:48):
Instead, I'll be weaving theminto the conversations about
what it takes to grow a businesswhile staying true to your
creative spirit.
So whether you're dreaming ofstarting your own business, or
you just love hearing aboutcreative entrepreneurship, this
season is for you.
Susan (2) (01:04):
I have got a treat for you today.
My friend Kim Caskey is joiningme in the studio.
Kim is a fellow Canadian and shehas the job of coordinating and
organizing textile tours aroundthe world.
Oh my goodness.
What a fabulous job that mustbe.
Anyway, Kim's going to join meand we're going to chat about
(01:24):
some of her upcoming tours thatshe's planning and some of the
great activities that are inthem.
And I tell you what, it's goingto whet your appetite so good.
So stay
Susan (01:33):
tuned.
Susan (2) (01:34):
tuned.
Well, hey, Kim, welcome to thepodcast.
Hi there.
Hi, Susan.
How are you?
I'm good.
You are tuning in from quitenorthern Canada, which is my
stomping grounds.
Whereabouts are you located?
I'm in Edmonton yeah, I guessit's more north than where you
are, but yeah, We've talked acouple of times, but I don't
know if you knew this.
I grew up in Fort St.
John and in fact, lived theretill about a dozen years ago.
(01:55):
So I totally know about North.
For our listeners.
I was living at the Southern tipof the Alaska highway, and
you're a little east of that inthe little South of that anyway,
Northern Canada, chilly, andit's winter right now as we
speak.
Yeah.
Kim (02:09):
It's actually about plus two today.
So it's, yeah we're having a bitof a Chinook come through here.
So it's great.
plus two now that's plus twoCelsius.
So that's just over zero for youguys.
But
Susan (2) (02:19):
right.
So just above freezing, butstill very pleasant.
We'll take it.
Yes.
I'm so excited to have anopportunity to talk to you.
You and I have been in touchbecause we're talking quilting
tours.
So let's just dive right intothe middle of things.
What cool quilting tours do youdo?
And what are some of the onesthat are next up on your
horizon?
Kim (02:39):
Oh, wow.
yes.
And thanks for this opportunityto chat about them.
I, going on the cruise next weekwith you.
I'm really looking forward tothat kind of a tour as well,
even though we'll be on the shipfor most of it.
the quilts and textile toursthat I've been doing for about,
oh boy, since 2013 was my first,quilt tour that I did.
we go to all over.
(03:00):
places all over the world.
Ireland, Scotland, France,England, Wales, Japan, France,
Italy, all, kinds of places, allkinds of places.
And I like to tie in a quiltfestival that happens in those
countries.
And, in my experience and in theexperience of my travelers,
those quilt festivals,exhibitions or quilt shows are
(03:21):
just absolutely phenomenal, justphenomenal.
Many quilters have been toHouston and they, know the Big
Quilt Festival that happens downthere every year.
but certainly the ones over inEurope are the ones, they're
just magnificent.
The quality of the quilts, thedifferent, the different styles
of quilting and the differentsubject matters that the makers,
make their pieces all about.
(03:42):
It's just fascinating.
Just fascinating.
Susan (2) (03:46):
So when you say that you tie them into a quilt
festival, That's not all thetour is though, right?
It also includes more, moreintimate, more personal things
with a small group.
Am I right?
Kim (03:56):
Yeah, absolutely.
Absolutely.
Yeah, so I would say, probablyfirst and foremost, it is a
sightseeing tour, but it'sgeared towards quilted textile
venues.
I explain it to people like youcould go on perhaps a golf tour.
And play a couple of rounds ofgolf somewhere, but still go and
see some of the, the must seeplaces of those countries.
(04:16):
And same thing with our tours.
for example, in Scotland, wemight go to a kilt making
factory.
So that's textiles, tells us alittle bit about that.
Very interesting, yet still veryScottish.
in Ireland we always go to,Triona Designs, which is a,
company that, that createsgarments and pieces and so on
out of wools and tweeds and,Donegal tweed is very famous
(04:39):
and, yeah, so those kinds ofthings, as well as, like I say,
as well as a quilt festival.
We usually spend one or two daysat a quilt festival and, yeah.
Yeah, it's really fabulous wherewe travel on a luxury motor
coach.
Tony is our driver for, most ofthe tours that we do in Ireland,
Scotland, Wales, the UK, thosekinds of places.
it's just like summer camp onwheels for quilters.
(05:00):
It's, great.
Susan (2) (05:02):
I think this is the first time I'm saying this out
loud, but I'm coming with you ona tour this upcoming summer.
Tell us about that onespecifically.
Kim (05:11):
Yeah, so that one is the Birmingham London, tour, and
it's a little bit shorter tourthan we normally do.
Normally our tours are about 10or 12 days on the ground.
This one is a little bitshorter, but still, packed full
of all kinds of fabulous things.
things.
We're going to start out inBirmingham, which is where the
Birmingham Quilt Festival is, doa couple of tours, visits and so
(05:33):
on of different venues, museums,the the Forge Needle Museum,
learning about how needles aremade and where they've been made
throughout all these years.
Watch that, forge in, process.
That, that will be fascinating.
and then we're going to, a craftor artisan market where there
will be all different kinds ofmakers, in and around that area.
(05:55):
And then we'll spend a couple ofdays at the The Birmingham Quilt
Festival, although it is held ina convention center, which is
similar to the Houston QuiltFestival, held in a convention
center, it's so much different.
It's got such incredibleatmosphere.
The way they organize the QuiltFestival, they do it up in
little vignettes, I wouldexplain it to be little pods of
(06:16):
artisans.
And It would be a solo show andthe artist is right there.
And so you get to speak withthem and chat with them about
their pieces and their practiceand so on.
And then, of course, there's aginormous vendor hall, just a
huge vendor hall, which isreally interesting for us North
Americans to see what's new andtrending and a little bit
different, that happening inEurope than what happens over in
(06:39):
North America.
Some of the same, of course,some of the same because we all
need the same kinds of you.
tools and so on.
We all need seam rippers in
Susan (2) (06:45):
our tool kit.
Kim (06:46):
Clover is there and, all those kinds of vendors are there
as well, but it's really neat tofind the new, for me, at least,
the not North American patterndesigners and, textile fabric
people, and, what they're doingwith their stuff.
And it's really neat.
That's the part I enjoy themost, it's really great.
And then of course the hundredsand hundreds of quilts that are
(07:07):
on display similar to Houston.
My co host, Paula Rafferty is,is going to be joining us and
she actually is, from Limerick,Ireland.
She is a very prolific quilterin Ireland, very well known over
there.
She's not only a quilterherself, self, long arm quilter
and teacher and lecturer and allof that jazz, but, she is also a
(07:27):
certified judge and she is, notonly is she a judge, but she
teaches the judging program forthe Quilters Guild of the
British Isles.
The Quilters Guild of theBritish Isles is the group that
puts on the, Birmingham QuiltFestival.
They're similar to, the ModernGuild, where there's one kind of
mothership.
And then there's a whole bunchof little branches or little
(07:47):
guilds around that.
That's the same thing as theQuilters Guild of the British
Isles.
And yes, and so she's going tobe coming with us.
And part of what, what she'sgoing to be doing for our group
is, when we're at the show,she's going to be giving us a
tour of the winning quilts fromthe judge's eye.
So she'll be able to give us abit of an insight as to, what
quilts are is this quilt allabout?
(08:07):
And what makes it different fromsome of the others?
And, things that maybe theaverage quilter may not really
realize, or understand.
And, that part is fascinating aswell.
I agree.
Susan (2) (08:18):
I'm looking forward to that.
I find that in my local town, wehave a sizable quilt show every
fall, too, and usually have fiveto six hundred quilts hanging.
But a lot of the ribbons areawarded just on viewer's choice.
And so you find that, andthere's nothing wrong with that,
it's just one way to do it whereit's popularity and it's what's
(08:38):
eye catching and it might more,be more likely to be color
necessarily than quilting skillsor content or.
details.
So I'm really fascinated to havean opportunity to tag along in a
judge's wake and see what arethe things that they look for,
because that interests me.
How can I better my own skillset to measure up a little bit
(08:58):
and what sorts of things do theylook for?
I'm not a huge one forcompeting, but just for my
personal knowledge about my ownskill set.
Kim (09:06):
Absolutely, and I'm glad you said that because oftentimes
I hear people say, Oh, I wouldnever ever enter a quilt.
I don't want to be judged.
My quilts aren't good enough or,whatever the reason is, and
that, and that's fine too.
Like you say, certainly we'renot necessarily in it for the
ribbon, or whatever.
It's, It is nice.
I appreciate getting somefeedback about, okay, how can I,
(09:27):
do you know, can you, judgescomments may often say things
like, have you considered, oryou might consider or something.
There's never any right andwrong.
It's just, yeah, all, all aboutupping our game and, and
learning new tech tricks and,techniques and so on to, to just
make our quilts a little bitbetter.
So it's really fascinating.
Here the group, we did this tourlast year and, the group was
(09:49):
saying how much they appreciatedit, although they were a little
trepidatious about going into ajudge's comment tour that, of
the winning quilts, but theyreally appreciated Paula's take
on it and understanding and,allowed them, a little bit more
understanding of the judgingprocess.
More of a celebration of ourfinishes than it is anything
else.
Susan (2) (10:08):
I was going to say that.
I feel like.
Those of us who are there inperson, probably it will take
some of that mystery out of it.
the judge seems like a kind ofdistant star.
You know what I mean?
And so it'll take a bit of thatmystery out and maybe be a
little more relatable and feel alittle more reachable to attain
some of those skills.
Okay.
So for our listeners, the pointof all this is you all are
(10:30):
invited.
If anyone just is getting soenthusiastic as I am about this
English tour and wants to comealong, we'll put some links in
the show notes.
Do you want to say anythingfurther about where they could
find information, like maybe geta newsletter?
Kim (10:43):
Absolutely.
I can.
I will do all of that as well.
And I just also wanted tomention that After the
Birmingham Quilt Festival, thenwe're going to travel up and
spend a few days in London andwe've got some phenomenal things
lined up for the London portion,including meeting up with
Rebecca Devaney, who is a, sheactually is, her website is,
Textile Tours of Paris.
(11:04):
She's an Irish girl living inParis, living the absolute
dream.
This young woman, grew upwanting to be an embroiderer of
all things.
Can you imagine wanting tobecome an embroiderer and making
that your living?
And she has done it.
She's gone to art school and,she's a haute couture,
embroiderer for all the big namedesigners and so on.
(11:24):
And she's going to take us on aphenomenal, walk.
A walking tour of some of themost fascinating textile places
right in London.
So That would be fabulous aswell.
Rebecca Devaney's textile toursare, they're, her walking tours
are just phenomenal.
She's going to meet us.
We're going to, ChristopherWilson Tate, Antique Textile,
shop.
His shop is right down on AbbeyStreet, almost right across from
(11:46):
Buckingham Palace.
So it's, that's a great place tovisit as well.
She, they do a big lecturepresentation and show us some
unbelievable art.
antique textile quilts.
and then of course we'll do theV& A Museum and, the textile
exhibits there and, also theWilliam Morris Gallery.
So if you're at all interestedin William Morris prints, you
(12:07):
get to see, yeah, that's afascinating visit as well to see
exactly, where it came, where hecame from and, that whole
museum.
So yeah lots of neat thingsplanned for that tour.
But yes, I would be happy tosend you a link or I can, I will
definitely put it in mynewsletter.
It's all over my website, whichis easy.
It's just kimcalski.
ca.
And, yeah, it, yeah, we'd loveto have some more people come
(12:29):
along.
It is a smaller tour.
We're only going to take about15 or 20 people at the absolute
most.
makes it doable, makes it a nicesize that we can do, these
exhibits as a group and not haveto be split up or, do it in
different stages.
But, yeah, I love that
Susan (2) (12:44):
aspect of it.
I feel like with a smallergroup, friendships are going to
get formed.
We do that anyway in thequilting community, but in that
small group, I just think it'sgoing to be a wonderful
opportunity.
So the subtext here is hurry.
If you want to go and find theinformation from Kim and sign
up.
So we will put the direct links.
All in the show notes.
So look there for Kim's websiteand you can sign up for her
(13:06):
newsletter and also moreinformation about the tour.
Okay, so let's talk a littlemore about additional upcoming
tours because you have onehappening this year.
Kim (13:15):
I do.
I have another one happening inSeptember.
So the Birmingham London one istowards the end of July, early
August.
The Birmingham Quilt Festival isdriving that date because of
course they, they have theirquilt festival usually the first
weekend in August every year.
But the next tour that we'redoing is to Australia.
And that's happening inSeptember.
(13:37):
Yeah, that's been, this one hasbeen on my bucket list to do
quite a few years now.
And just the stars all aligned.
And I'm working with PamHolland.
Now, I don't know if you knowwho Pam Holland is.
She is an Australian artist.
She is an unbelievable textileartist.
She also does tours on her own.
She goes to India and placeslike does all kinds of textile
(13:59):
tours in India all the time.
But, she has agreed to, to stayhome for a couple of weeks and,
host this tour for us.
And we're so excited.
Melbourne and Sydney, we're alsogoing to Uluru, which you may
know it as Ayers Rock,politically correct, we're not
supposed to call it thatanymore, it's called Uluru.
And, Yeah, so we're doing a fewdays in Uluru as well and, of
(14:20):
course, we couldn't go to, toAustralia without visiting some
of the big names that we know.
So Jen Kingwell, of course,she's going to, she's going to
welcome us with open arms.
And also Cathy Doherty in,Material Obsessions in Sydney
and doing a couple of workshopsthere.
And Pam Holland is actuallygoing to run a workshop for us.
it's all included.
It's, we'll be right at thehotel.
So it'll be a lovely day of restup from some of the.
(14:43):
Some of the sightseeing stuffthat we've done.
So I look forward to that and itshould be a good time of year.
Not too hot.
Just nice and comfortable.
So yeah,
Susan (2) (14:51):
beautiful.
So it makes me wonder it soundslike you're in the world of
people that do tours.
You and some of the people thatyou're meeting with do tours
also.
What brought you into that kindof circle in the quilting
community?
Kim (15:05):
I can tell you it was one of those There's a story
Susan (2) (15:07):
here, I can tell.
Susan (15:08):
Yeah, it was one of those fall out of the sky kind of
things, I can tell you.
I had always wanted to go toIreland.
And I don't exactly know why.
I'm not, I don't have a lot ofIrish roots, maybe way, way far
back there I do, but I don'thave anybody who lives in
Ireland or anything.
I must have done a book reporton it at school or something,
but I always wanted to go toIreland.
(15:29):
And so an opportunity came upfor me to be a traveler.
on a quilt and textile tour toIreland in 2012.
And I went, very, I'm going allby myself, and oh, what if I get
lost, and oh, I don't want to bea third wheel, and all of those
excuses under the sun.
And, my, it was my girlfriend,actually, who said, what are you
(15:51):
waiting for?
You just go.
And I thought, okay, here we go.
But what if I got lost and allof this stuff?
What happened?
I got left at the airport.
I got left at the airport.
Oh no! It happened! Day one!That's the first thing I thought
of was my girlfriend.
I told you anyway, and as itturned out, I it's a bit of a
long story, but I, all of mystuff, my phone, my suitcases,
(16:13):
my everything was already on thecoach.
I just happened to have gone in.
Yeah, it was a long story.
But anyway, so I got back out tothe coach park and the coach was
gone.
And I thought, Oh my god, whatam I gonna do?
I thought I could just sit hereand wait for 10 days and they'll
be back, but I actually foundanother coach driver in the same
park and I just, humbly wentover and said, do you know the
(16:35):
driver that was just here?
I was supposed to be on thatcoach and, thinking he was not
going to be able to help me atall.
He, of course, being a charmingIrishman, said, Puts his arm
around me and says, Oh, honey,if you'd been with me, I would
have never like this.
Anyway I eventually caught upwith the coach and of course
that driver who is Tony that Ijust mentioned before.
(16:57):
so he became, he and I becamegreat friends, but only because
of this mishap.
He would, from then on he would,drive forward about 10 feet and
then stop and get on the mic andis Kim here?
Is Kim here?
Anyway, with the following year,I was asked to be a host for
this same tour company and Ithought, yeah, wow, that would
(17:19):
be great.
Sure.
So I did do another, tour thenext year.
it was with a different companyand, I met up with a friend, on
that tour.
She was working from the Statesand she was doing a lot of other
tours as well.
And she said, we could do this.
I think we should, I think weshould be, I think we should do
this.
And I think we should do this inour own, on our own time and to
(17:39):
the, our own destinations.
it just fell together and we'vebeen doing it ever since.
And, yeah, It's just been great.
Like I say, we've been to somany destinations and the one
thing that I, that I find isquilters are quilters worldwide.
And you may not speak the spokenlanguage, but boy, we all speak
quilt and we all, understandeach other and we're, we may not
(18:02):
know each other, we still havethis bond right away.
So our groups gel and mesh rightaway and it's great.
Yeah, it's really great.
Susan (2) (18:09):
So I'm curious in the foreign ones then, say in Japan
or in France, do you havetranslators then or your
teachers I would imagine perhapsthat are doing your workshops
and things speak English.
How does that play out?
I'm sure you've got
Kim (18:21):
it.
Yeah, absolutely.
We have a guide.
so the only place in, in that wego to is Ireland.
Can, the driver can be the guideon the mic at the same time.
That's the only country that cando that.
Everywhere else, it's a separatedriver and a guide.
So somebody else on the mic.
And so yes, in those foreigncountries, our guides are all
English speaking guides, butthey also speak the other
(18:42):
language, which is nice.
Cause they need to, they need totranslate or they need to, get
some last minute instructions orwhatever.
so yeah, that works out verysmoothly.
Actually, I haven't reallyfound.
English to be much of a problemanywhere that we've gone, even
Japan, France, Italy, thoseplaces, everybody speaks a
little bit of English, or, ofcourse, we've got Google
Translate, which has also been agood help over time.
(19:04):
yeah, we've used that.
yeah, it's not, no, it's notusually a problem.
No, the translate, the languagetranslation isn't usually a
problem.
Susan (2) (19:11):
Good.
I am so looking forward to thetrip to England, to Birmingham
and London, partly because I doa lot of hosting and organizing
myself and the novelty to me togo on a tour with you, that is
all pre thought out and entirelyplanned for me.
And I just get to get in thatcoach and go along for the ride.
I just think that's wonderfulbecause you've done all the
(19:32):
thinking, all the hotels, etcetera, et cetera, is all done
for us.
So that's so wonderful.
Kim (19:37):
And there's a lot, as you well know, there is a lot of
behind the scenes stuff thathappens and, as, as smooth, you
think you've got it all arrangedand all organized and always
last minute, there's, a fewlittle changes that we just have
to surrender and go with theflow.
But and, all in all, it worksout and sometimes it works out
even better.
plan B can sometimes be evenbetter.
(19:57):
But yeah, it's really beenremarkable.
How well these tours have cometogether and continue to go to
continue to work on so good.
Susan (2) (20:08):
Kim, I would love to hear a little bit more about
your personal story.
How did you become a quiltmaker?
And maybe what part of the quiltmaking is your very favorite?
Is it just traveling and seeingwhat others do?
You have your own.
quilting aesthetic.
Kim (20:22):
I can tell you, I'll tell you the story that my mom tells
people, all the time, how I gotstarted sewing was I was born,
yes, on the 5th of January,which was just this last Sunday.
I was born on the 5th of Januaryand when I was, going into grade
one, you had to be six by theend of December.
And so I missed that deadline byfive days.
(20:44):
And so I had to stay home awhole extra year.
So I at that during that year,my mom had my brother and sister
to take to, care for as well.
And so she plunked me down ather sewing machine and taught me
how to sew.
That was the way she entertainedme.
And apparently I made littledrawstring bags for, everybody
on the planet.
I don't remember any of that.
(21:05):
I don't remember any of that,but I do remember that.
my mom was very patient over theyears and taught me lots about
dressmaking and, sewing and thatkind of stuff all from her
machine.
She, obviously she had a goodold Kenmore, like we all did in
the old days and, workhorse of amachine.
And, I, didn't have any troublewith it.
So I, it might've been adifferent story if I had tension
(21:25):
issues and, it was frustrating,but I just thought it was great.
I thoroughly enjoyed the makingprocess, of anything I learned
to embroider and knit from mygranny and I learned all kinds
of, maker kind of of skills andso on along the years.
So if then.
Actually, fast forward, I didactually go to NAIT, which is
our community college here, justout of high school, and I took
(21:45):
tailoring, the tailoringprogram.
They're all about men's threepiece suits and dressmaking,
women's dressmaking and patterndesign and so on.
I learned all of that.
Really fine tuning making orsewing kind of skills.
And then just by chance, my momhad signed up for a rotary
cutting class, and she couldn'tattend, and she asked me if I
(22:06):
wanted to take her place.
This was, years later, and Isaid, Oh I'm sure what's it all
about?
Quilting and it's this is,learning to use the rotary
cutter.
And all I could think of,honestly, all I could think of
was three hours to learn how touse a pizza cutter.
Really?
What kind of a course is this?
Anyway, I went.
thinking, Oh, this is going tobe interesting.
And I haven't looked back.
(22:27):
That was in 1992.
And I, I don't even think I'vesewn much of a much garments,
since then I've really justembraced quilting.
I just loved it.
I, there's a lot, all kinds ofaspects from your regular sewing
or garment sewing that you cantake into the quilt making
world, but there's so manydifferences as well.
Like it fits the first time.
(22:47):
I was just gonna say
Susan (2) (22:48):
one of them is the quilt always fits.
It's always flattering.
Kim (22:53):
Exactly.
It can be a little wonky, butthat's okay.
But yeah, it's not like puttingin a sleeve or a zipper or
anything like that.
So yeah and I, from there, Iyeah, I was absolutely hooked
and I went through a, I was withEarthly Goods Quilting shop here
in Edmonton was a very prominentquilt shop for many years.
They closed in, I think, 2017.
(23:15):
But I was part of their, theyeventually became part of their
teaching faculty and we had puttogether a program called
Quilting by Degree, which was abit of a play on words, but it
was meant to be a whole program,not just a project by project
classes it was a series of 11different basic quilt making
classes that really took youfrom bare bones beginner right
through and, to allow you theconfidence to, take any pattern
(23:38):
and go with it.
So yeah, that I'm Yeah, I just Ihave really enjoyed the whole
process.
And of course, meeting all thepeople that the connections and,
talking about tours, meeting thequilters from around the world.
That's just been fabulous.
Just excellent.
And yeah, a real community forsure.
Susan (2) (23:57):
It's so interesting.
I feel like we I've heard thisfrom other guests, particularly
younger ones who will say Earlyon when I thought about the idea
of quilting, I thought, I don'twant to do that.
That's, that's a grandmother'scraft.
And then my eyes were openedwhen I saw, X, Y, Z quilts,
often contemporary or modernquilts, but I think the same.
We don't know what we don'tknow.
(24:19):
That same mentality applies whenwe think about international
quilting.
I have only ever seen quilts inNorth America.
I've only ever been to NorthAmerican shows.
So I am so looking forward togetting to experience just new
outlooks and maybe broader, butalso they might even be smaller
in terms of availability offabrics or things like that.
(24:42):
But inevitably they'll bedifferent.
And I'm so looking forward tothat richness of experience.
Kim (24:48):
Yeah, absolutely.
I'm, that has me thinking I havea quilt on my machine right now.
I'm a long armor and I have aquilt on my machine right now
that the quilt top was made by alady in Belgium.
Her name is Crystal Salgarelloand she was the workshop
facilitator for our group.
I think it was two years ago nowwhen we were in France.
(25:09):
She came down from Belgium andtaught this phenomenal project.
piecing class and one of mytravelers actually bought this
quilt top from her.
She was just enamored by thisincredible quilt top and and it
just opened the doors for all ofus to learn about, what, so what
is so different about quiltingin Belgium or what this gal,
(25:30):
does that's, That's different inNorth America and being able to
learn right directly from herand, and actually it was a two
day class that we did with two,started on two different
projects.
And yeah just new techniques,different ideas.
It was a log cabin, a derivativeof a log cabin pattern that she
was working with, but yeahreally fascinating.
And yeah, really opened oureyes, like you say, to all
(25:53):
different.
things that go on in, in thedifferent countries and
especially with this cow.
So I'm looking forward tofinishing this quilt.
I'm hopeful to get it finishedbefore we go on our cruise
Susan (2) (26:04):
next week.
Awesome.
Of course, by the time thispodcast airs we'll be on the
cruise.
It'll probably be over.
And so I'll ask you on thecruise, did you get the quilt
done?
And we'll want to hear moreabout that.
Is it custom quilting, Kim?
It is.
Yeah,
Kim (26:17):
it is.
It is.
Yeah, it's yeah, one of those.
Oh, my gosh.
And then, yeah, you dive into itlittle by little, I know what to
do in this corner, or I knowwhat I'm going to do over here.
And then pretty soon it justcomes all together.
Susan (2) (26:28):
Yeah it's so interesting to me how different
people approach custom quilting.
I don't do a ton of it myself.
Yeah.
And partly that's the reason,because I'm always stuck
standing and staring at thebeginning.
But I have found too, over time,that if I just start, if I
figure out some element that'sgoing to be within the quilt,
ruler work maybe, and just getstarted, then the ideas and the
(26:50):
inspiration starts to flow.
Do you find the same thing, ordo you plan before you go?
Kim (26:54):
Yes, absolutely.
And Karen McTavish was actuallymy very first longarm, expert
instructor.
And she said, just know Just dowhat you know.
Start with what you know.
And basting it or ditching, youneed to ditch around a couple of
blocks or whatever.
Start with what you know, andthen, yeah, you just relax into
it and you're right.
Then the idea sometimes comefaster than others.
(27:16):
Sometimes it's a mad, like thestand and stare, as you say,
what am I going to do?
But, yeah, but Generally thatworks
Susan (2) (27:23):
just sometimes the deadline is what causes the
ideas to come.
I just have to do somethingYeah, but again, I think falling
back on what you know is stillgood advice Like you do not have
to know how to quilt everythingTo be a good custom quilter.
You just need to know a fewthings that you can pull out of
your back pocket.
Yeah.
Yeah, exactly.
This has been lovely chattingwith you.
(27:44):
Any words of wisdom that youwant to leave with our listeners
before we go?
I'm springing this on you.
Kim (27:49):
What comes to mind is just try it, just do it.
And that can apply to so manythings.
That was a word of advice thatwas given to me early on is just
go for it.
Just go for it.
That whether that's jump in andjust go as a single traveler,
all by yourself to I'm from aforeign country.
That was a big leap.
But yeah, but look where, lookwhere it's gotten me.
(28:10):
And, just do it.
Just try it.
Was, I remember being my veryfirst machine quilting class in
my domestic machine thinking, ohmy God, I can't do this.
I can't do this.
I can't do this.
And it was the instructor whosaid, just try it.
Just try it.
What have you got to lose?
And so I think that would be mywords of wisdom to pass on is
just do it.
Just try it.
(28:31):
That's excellent.
Susan (2) (28:32):
Thank you so much for joining me.
It has been a real pleasure.
Kim (28:35):
Oh, thank you.
Thank you for having me.
We've been visiting with KimCaskey of Kim Caskey Tours for
more information and for somefabulous color brochures on all
the upcoming tours that arecoming up this year in 2025.
Visit Kim's website atKimCaskey.
com.
We will have a link also forthat in the show notes.
(28:57):
Thanks so much for joining me.
If you have a If you feel wouldenjoy this episode, I'd love if
you would share with them.
And I'd also appreciate so muchif you would give a rating and a
review wherever you listen toyour podcasts.
So until next time, may yoursorrows be patched and your joys
be quilted.
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