Meet Erynn Truexx: The Creative Mind Behind The Panto Shop Revival

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In this episode, I speak with Erynn Truexx, the creative force behind True Threads Quilting and The Panto Shop. The conversation explores Erynn's journey as a quilter and entrepreneur, focusing on her experience with longarm quilting and her recent acquisition of the Panto Shop, a digital pantograph marketplace.

Key Topics Discussed

• Erynn's introduction to quilting through the Modern Quilt Guild and QuiltCon
• Her experience working with Innova at quilt shows
• The acquisition and revitalization of the Panto Shop
• Explanation of pantographs and digital quilting designs
• The challenges and benefits of different pantograph designs
• Erynn's vision for elevating edge-to-edge quilting designs
• Her experience creating a Chicago jacket from a quilted project
• Organization systems for quilting materials and projects

Special Offer

Erynn is offering podcast listeners 20% off their entire order at the Panto Shop. Use code SBS20 at thepantoshop.com

Pearls of Wisdom

Erynn shared two important pieces of advice:

1. "Take imperfect action" - Don't wait for things to be perfect before moving forward
2. "Perfection doesn't exist" - Focus on the journey and continuous improvement rather than an unattainable perfect state

Additional Resources

• The Panto Shop - Digital pantograph mark

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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world of turning a passion intoa profession, I'm excited to
pull back the curtain and sharemy own experiences.

(00:25):
So some episodes will be just mediving deep into my personal
journey.
While others will feature guestswho are also navigating the
world of creativeentrepreneurship, we'll explore
the nitty gritty of building acreative business.
The lessons learned and theunexpected challenges that come
with transforming your craftinto 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.
Today I'm thrilled to be joinedby Erynn Truexx.
She's the creative force behindTrue Threads, quilting and the

(01:09):
Panto Shop.
Erynn's not only a talentedquilter machine, quilter known
for her wearable art like herChicago jacket, but also an
entrepreneur who's made it hermission to provide quilters with
easy access to digitalphotographs from really talented
designers.
And we'll talk about herpractical approach to
organization too.
To me, Erynn exemplifies themodern quilter who embraces both

(01:31):
tradition and innovation.
So I'm excited to dive into hercreative journey.

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Susan Mic (02:28):
Welcome Erynn, to the podcast.

Erynn Mic (02:31):
Introduction.
I appreciate it.

Susan Mic (02:33):
I first met you actually fairly recently in
person At Quilt Con in Phoenix,Arizona, which is put on by the
Modern Quilt Guild.
And at the time you were workingin the Inova booth, so is that
kind of where you got your startor is that something lately in
your world?

Erynn Mic (02:49):
No.
So partnering with Inova issomething that I picked up along
the way.
I came to quilting actuallythrough the Modern Quilt Guild a
number of years ago, probablylike eight or nine years.
And, after stumbling through itfor a bit, I got into long
arming and my husband and I atthe time were looking, to start
a small business as a family.
It kind of felt like the next.
The right next step for us.
And I had a couple of quilts totake to the longarmer, and she

(03:11):
and I got talking about thingsand I.
To kind of present him with theidea and, and to start to talk
about things.
So I was, long runningprofessionally, probably about
six months.
When I met Inova, we were at ashow.
I just kind of stopped.
I was there with anotherquilting friend and I just kind
of paused at the booth.

(03:32):
I said, Hey, this is the machinethat I have a lot of people
gonna actually make it back.
The studio it says, this is whatit's like.
and the first time somebody seesa long arm and sort of realizes
how big the frame is, how bigthe machine is, all the, the
technology and the robotics,their eyes turned into saucers.
And so we were just chattingabout it and they, someone in
the booth came up to me andsaid, oh, where you interested?
You know, long arm, oh no, Iactually already have this one.

(03:54):
And so then the conversationkind of took a turn from there.
Oh, you know, how do you likeit?
How have.
How do you like it, et cetera,et cetera.
And at the time, they were kindof looking for, um, some folks
to do just that, to work in thebooth as quilters, who have the
machines to talk about theirexperience, and why they chose
Innova, what makes it differentfrom some of the other brands.
and to just sort of be able totalk about my business and, and

(04:16):
really put color to a story

Susan Mic (04:18):
a good way of, that's a great way of putting it,
Erynn.
Putting color to a story.
'cause I've seen this, I'veworked with BERNINA in the same
kind of capacity and I thinkgenius for marketing because.
A dealership, and I'm puttinglittle air quotes around that.
A dealer can only go so far inthe sense that they know sort of
mechanically about all thefeatures and you know, the

(04:40):
machine and how to put ittogether, but in fact, they
don't quilt on it day to day today.
Right.
And so to someone who does dothat, showing it off is ideal.
Okay.
Keep going with your

Erynn Mic (04:52):
Yeah.
So, no.
So they just kind of said, uh,at the time there, you know,
we're, we're kind of starting tolook for quilters.
We're starting to build a team.
This something you'd beinterested in going to a few
shows a year.
I'm sorry, excuse me.
I'm gonna get to go to a quiltshow for work and talk about.
My business that I love and whatI get to do every day and just
share this with other people andtalk to other quilters, and

(05:14):
you're gonna pay me to do this.
Uh, so it was, it was really ano brainer.
And it's been, it's been anawesome experience because I
actually got to go through thesame training that they do with
their dealers.
So really getting in nittygritty and, I've gotten to test
some things, give feedback onthings.
And so, I've really enjoyed thatfront seat that I've gotten, to
have just, a happenstance, formeeting them.

(05:34):
So I did, I think last year Idid maybe eight shows, which is
a lot.
In the beginning we kind ofthought it was gonna be, two or
maybe four.
And then I've done, just acouple so far this year.

Susan Mic (05:46):
That's so awesome.
So, shifting gears a little bit,the, the capacity in which I ran
across your name was, throughthe panto shop, which maybe
people don't know what that is,but it's a small business that
was formed by several ladies whodeveloped Digital Pantograph
Designs a couple of years ago.
And because I don't buy a lot ofthem, I didn't really keep up on

(06:07):
what it was doing and realizethat it had kind of paused, had
a hiatus.
But now you've taken over thatbusiness.
Is that right?
And have chosen to continue itand grow it.

Erynn Mic (06:17):
Yes.
So the Panto Shop was formed anumber of years ago, like you
said, by, uh, three women in thebusiness, Shelly and Ante
quilting, of textiles Caitlin ofnon thread.
And they came together as,modern quilters, digital
quilters, and said, Hey, we.
Don't love the experience ofsome of the existing Pantograph
websites.
They're a little bit dated.
They don't come great on yourphone.

(06:37):
You know, what can we do to, toimprove this?
And when they launched, it wasone of those ideas.
I think a lot of cultures arelike, oh, the best idea.
Why didn't I think of that?
And it just truly was a, abeautiful website, super sleek,
super mobile friendly, greatfilters, all of those things as
quilters that we care about.
You know, are these things, are,is there a backtracking, is it
beginner friendly things?

(06:59):
And the shop was, was superpopular, kind of in the more
modern digital quilter niche ofthe industry.
And, then they announced maybesix months ago at this point,
that they, their.
Their other businesses were justkind of moving in different
directions and, their heartwasn't really in the panto shop
anymore, but you know, for me itwas such a good space to, to go

(07:20):
and see.
They'd brought together, I thinkat this point, probably 16
different designers, all wassort of that modern lean to
their aesthetic.
Not all a hundred percentmodern, but just sort of,
Segment of the industry.
And and it just broke my heart alittle bit to hear that the shop
was going away.
'cause it was such a greatmarketplace for what I wanted,
to go shop for.
And, I kind of thought about itfor a few days and decided to

(07:41):
reach out and say, Hey, is thereany chance, if you guys are just
closing up, is there any chanceyou would sell the business to
me?
and so they did.
We started, we had a coupleconversations.
They were all, it was veryamicable.
And just talked about, what ittook to run the shop and what
was going on behind the scenes,how did their relationships work
with the other designers?
All that stuff that, the rubbermeets the road before you as the
consumer by design at the end.

(08:02):
And, yeah, so in the end we cameto an agreement and I took over
the shop.
They formally closed up at theend of last year.
And then I, took over and hadbeen working to get as of, uh.
And, um, now it's kind ofcarrying on that torch.
And so we've signed, one newdesigner.
I've got a couple other ones inthe works, and just, uh, kind of
figuring out now how to balanceall of that.

(08:23):
All of everything that it takesto run the panto shop.
Along with, uh, I'm stillquilting as well, so that's a
fun new challenge.

Susan Mic (08:31):
It certainly is, and I have a high level of respect
for doing that because I knowwhat a different skillset it
takes to, for example, update awebsite as opposed to quilt.
A It's two very, very differentthings.
Um

Erynn Mic (08:44):
It is, And it's funny, it's a totally different
tool set than what I'm used tofor my own business.
So it's a platform on Shopifyand I'm used to Wix and so now
there's all of these other, Ithink I've got probably I'll
probably same as you, you know,10 or 15 different technologies
behind the scenes that kind ofconnect everything together and
it's um, it's different.
It's a different skillset thanquilting, that's for sure.

Susan Mic (09:05):
It really is.
I mean, they're complimentaryobviously, but.
I'm kind of in the same boatmyself.
And this is kind of the natureof a, a business that has a, an
online component is that youmust have these, for example,
third party payment processorsand you know, the website design
and things like that.
And.
There it is.
Just that constant, I, for me,anyways, that's that constant

(09:26):
balancing act of, you know,here's this new app that has
this great new feature, but youknow, how well does it integrate
and, and what's the advantage ofhaving several apps over having
it all under one roof, even ifit doesn't have every feature
known to man.
All those things.
So I bet you're dealing with allof those, um, nitty gritty
decisions too.

Erynn Mic (09:44):
Yes.
Yeah.
So right now I think my biggestissue is sort content
management, um, on the, on thequilting side of things, right?
I have my library of designsthat I like to, you know, show
clients and talk about.
And then I also have to keeptrack of, you know, which design
is going on, which quilt and,uh, which designs may be do I
not want to do again?
Were they, you know,particularly Fus or just didn't

(10:07):
the.
And then now with this new, uh,venture with the Panto shop, I
also have all of those designsto manage and all of those files
and all of those pictures.
And so, um, luckily in my sortof career before this, I was,
uh, kind of in the technologyindustry or technology adjacent.
So, uh, I had a few tools in mybelt.

(10:27):
Right now I'm leveraging, uh,Airtable, which is kind of a
database, an online database.
Uh.
Pretty much is my world.
I absolutely love it where I'vegot kind of records of
everything.
And so through that, I kind ofhave this, this network of
linking, you know, quilts topictures, to files, to clients,
to threads, to, to things.

(10:48):
And that's been a, just a, acomplete lifesaver, uh, of a
technology.
That's my one.
You know, if, if that one wentaway tomorrow, I would be, uh,
upstream without a paddle.

Susan Mic (11:00):
You're mixing metaphors there, but that's
pretty funny.
I feel like, I feel like thatcould be a whole other episode
because I think there are quitea few machine quilters out there
who do it for hire, and that's ahuge component is tracking, you
know, the intakes and the, andthe notes from each one and the
clients and all the things asyou say.
And that can be a big.
Big job and there's a multitudeof ways to do it, you know, that

(11:22):
suits your, your personality andwhat have you.
But anyway, that could be awhole other episode.
I want to backtrack for asecond, if you would, to talking
about what panter graphs are incase there are podcast who may
be quilt on their domesticsewing machine and, and haven't
got a clue really what we'retalking about now.
So define one for us and kind ofhow it works.
And a few of the things youmentioned in passing, like what

(11:44):
if it has a ton of backtracking,like why does that matter?
The computer's running it

Erynn Mic (11:47):
right.
Sure.
So, so a pantograph, uh, at itscore is a design.
Um, traditionally beforemachines were automated, uh,
there would be some sort ofpaper pantograph that Longear
quilters would put on thebackside of the machine, on the
table, and then they would havea laser or some sort of other
device.
On the machine to sort of followthe dotted line and trace the
design.

(12:08):
Now, it could be anything from ablock to a border and a corner
component, or it could be, um,an edge to edge or an all over
design.
And so edge to edge designs havea start and stop point on the
same horizontal plane so thatyou can connect them.
You know, when you get to theend of one design, you're ready
to roll into the next.
And so then that would be done,uh, basically all the way down

(12:30):
the length of the quilt and thequi row.
When, um, computers and roboticswere introduced to long arms,
now that is what's driving themachine instead of the quilter.
And so taking those paper pantographs and digitizing them as a
file on these machines, now wehave the ability to resize.

(12:51):
And so you could buy somethingthat was, you know, say for
example, a six inch block or asix inch high.
You can transform machine.
Machine is going, then you are,uh, of course a, the quilt.

(13:13):
And depending on if there'sfullness in the quilt, lofty
bating, then you're startingwith things like, uh, you and.
Working in some fullness forthat quilt.
So having designs that can, helptake care of some of that
fullness, uh, can be veryhelpful.
Anything that's very dense orkind of comes around your circle

(13:34):
helps draw that fullness.
And then on the other end of thespectrum, if you have designs
that are very.
Precisely aligned.
So think for example, um, aclamshell, you need that point
of one clamshell to end upperfectly on the center of the
clamshell that you did, in theprevious row.
And so that would, that's sortof the other end of the
spectrum, I would say, a veryhighly precise design.

(13:55):
So thinking all of, all of thosecomponents together, you know,
pairing the quilt top, not onlyaesthetically with the design,
but also one's functionally helpyou deal with some of that.
Properties of a, of a fabricsurface, right?
Like it moves.
And so, um, so having some ofthese filters, you know,

(14:15):
beginner friendly designs thatyou don't have to worry about
nesting.
Um, backtracking is importantfor anyone who quilts.
Uh, unfortunately sometimes wehave to quilt.
And so the more backtracking adesign has.
To me, the more painful the UNquilting becomes.
Um, and, or you can have, youknow, thread buildup and things
like that.
So just kind of being aware ofhow much backtracking something

(14:36):
has, um, is important.
And then again, we talked thatalignment.
Does this have to be perfectlynested or is there a little bit
of forgiveness?
Uh, and so kind of being able topick and choose designs that
are, you know, the level thatyou want to be quilting, you
know, do I.
Forget that's important whenyou're not

Susan Mic (15:05):
Yes, it's, it's all too easy to think.
The computer's driving it.
You just push a button and awayit goes.
But it's, it's actually not likethat very much like the computer
does have the design in itsmemory, but because as you said,
you're working on a fabricsurface and it is never
perfectly flat and neverperfectly square, and it can

(15:26):
change as you're working.
All of that has to be managed bythe quilter and this knowledge
of what features help you withthat or what makes a design.
More intricate.
I learned the hard way thatdesigns that have a lot of
points to them take a very,very, very long time.
I got a great idea of doing aquilt for a client for
Christmas, and I got a designthat was pine trees.

(15:49):
Can you imagine?
Yeah.
I quilted about mm, 10 inches ofit and I thought, Nope, no, no.
I am not doing a whole lap quiltthat way.
I'll be here for a month ofSundays.
So yes, that knowledge comesthough simply with experience.
So I love that you filter yourdesigns then so that the
beginner can find somethingthat's manageable and doable.
And as they're learning theseintricacies, they don't get

(16:11):
overwhelmed by the first onethat they try.

Erynn Mic (16:14):
right.
Because we all sort of wannafeel successful as we're doing
this, right.
And, and work up to, you know,some of those more challenging
designs.

Susan Mic (16:21):
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
Um, you, I had one question, andyou've kind of answered it
already, but it was, you know,how does the panto shop kind of
jive?
How do your two, the two aspectsof your business work together?
Do they compliment each other?
Well, do you find that the pantoshop is giving you lots of new
ideas and maybe understanding ofwhat quilters are looking for?

(16:42):
You know, and the fact that youare a quilter, that those two
compliment each other well.

Erynn Mic (16:48):
Yes.
So definitely as a consumer, Ihave lots of opinions on things
that I like to shop for.
And so now as a shop owner, kindof trying to make those come to
life, um.
What is gonna be interesting, Ithink the next iteration for us
with the Panto shop is not justhaving edge to edge designs, but
figuring out how to kind of takethem to the next level.
Um, my heart is really indigital custom quilting.

(17:10):
And so, you know, doing more,not just putting the edge, I
don't know, quilt, but reallydoing something to kind enhance
the piecing and be that reallyawesome, you know, supporting
force to make the quilt talkmore than the some of its parts.
And so I've started to work witha couple of the designers to.
To, to build sets of designs or,or, um, collections of designs

(17:31):
that can be combined in ways tobe more interesting than just
one design on the entire quilt.
And so that was when I wasthinking about buying the panto
shop, that was kind of where myhead was.
It was a few steps down the lineof, you know, what can we do to
kind elevate modern digitalquilting to the next level to
get more people doing the nextstep beyond edge to edge?

(17:53):
And I loved that was already a.
An established audience.
I love that.
Um, sort of these more modern,more digital quilters are not
afraid of technology and notafraid of playing on their
machines and trying new things.
And so it's gonna be interestingto see when some of these
designs, uh, start to come tolife, how they are, uh, what
quilts they end up on, and thenwhat people do with them.

(18:15):
I think it's gonna be a reallyneat chapter to see, to see how
edge to edge designs can evolvein the next you.

Susan Mic (18:23):
I love hearing your vision on that and what.
Excites you because I am in adifferent place.
My aesthetic is different.
I absolutely love edge to edgeand I'm predominantly a freehand
quilter.
So my courses,'cause I teachcourses on it, online courses,
um, tend to teach that idea ofcreating something beautiful but

(18:43):
also edge to edge.
So it's super functional, um,and super economical in time.
But it's so interesting to meto, to see your aesthetic
because I can see yourviewpoint.
The interest that puttingsomething different in blocks or
borders can really bring to aquilt.
So I made a social media postthe other day.
Quilting is like a charcuterieboard, right?

(19:04):
There's something for everyoneand try something new.
You might find that you love it.
So I love that there is this,this vast array of ways to
approach quilting and whateveryou love the look of or you want
to try, you absolutely should.

Erynn Mic (19:20):
Absolutely.
And I think to me as a businessowner, right, so time is money
and I'm looking for ways tofigure out how to do these kind
of elevated edge to edge thingsin a way that's still
economical, right?
And I think there's gonna be avery.
Interesting intersection thatwe're gonna start to see with a
little bit more, maybe a littlebit more customization on the
design front end of the quilt,but then still being able to

(19:42):
execute it like an edge to edgedesign and still, you know, kind
of keeping that overall timethat you're spending on a quilt
top down, um, I think is gonnabe, it's gonna be exciting.
I think there's a lot ofopportunity in That space,

Susan Mic (19:55):
a

Erynn Mic (19:56):
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(20:17):
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Susan Mic (20:51):
So I do wanna hear, because I saw a picture of your
Chicago jacket.
Is Chicago jacket the name ofthe pattern?
Am I saying that right?

Erynn Mic (20:58):
Yes, that's correct.
So, um, the sewing workshop isthe kind of business, Lee is the
owner of that, uh, and theChicago jacket is the.

Susan Mic (21:09):
and is it made, like, did you quilt yardage first or
is it made from something thatwas like already a quilt?
Does that make

Erynn Mic (21:16):
Uh, I guess it was, so a little bit of both.
Um, that was a quilt top thatcame from a kit.
Uh, I did it on retreat oneweekend, and, uh, then I got it
out and I quilted it.
It was kind of at the beginningwhen I had my long arm, so I
picked a design, I quilted it.
Luckily I hadn't trimmed andbound it yet.
I laid it out.
on our bed in our bedroom, and Ikinda looked at the quilt and I

(21:37):
looked at the rest of the decorin the bedroom and I was like,
this doesn't go at all.
What on earth was I thinkingwhen I picked this out?
And so he's like, well, I don'twanna finish it because, you
know, why would I put the timeto turn and bind it if I'm not
even gonna use it in this room?
And I was sitting and thinking,and sitting and thinking.
It's like, these quilted jacketsare really popular.

(21:57):
I mean, I already don't like it,so might as well cut it up and
try something else.
You know, I've got nothing tolose at this point.
And so I was looking for ajacket.
I knew I needed something, um,that wasn't lined, and where the
seams, you know, were gonna kindof come together easily.
I wanted a raglin sleeve that alot of the jackets that you see

(22:18):
right now, especially thequilted ones, have a set sleeve.
I just, I knew I wanted thatraglin look.
Uh, and I wanted pockets, but Ididn't want patch pocket.
I wanted some kind of, uh, inpocket.
I don't.
I didn't want like, patchwork onpatchwork.
And so, um, if you, if you can'ttell, I have dabbled a bit in
garment sewing.
And so, uh, kind of going backthrough all the patterns and

(22:39):
designers that I liked, I foundthe Chicago jacket and, um, it
sort of ticked all those boxesfor me.
So I, I laid out the quilt, Itraced out the pieces, I cut it,
uh, cut it up, and then I sewedit.
Gosh, it probably took.
Maybe a day or two.
It was not a complicated jacketby any means.
Um, and that was it.
That was the birth of, of thatjacket.
And, uh, I laugh now because Iprobably have gotten more use

(23:00):
out of that jacket than anyquilt I've ever sewn, ever, just
because it gets worn.
Uh, you know, it thrown on inthe morning when it's a little
bit chilly.
I wear it at shows, I wear itout.
Uh, and I've gotten, you know,stopped by more quilters with
compliments things and, and hereit was just a quilt that I
thought I was never gonna use.

Susan Mic (23:17):
That's awesome.
Okay, so you said you did an inscene pocket.
Have you done a welded pocket?
Do you welded

Erynn Mic (23:24):
I have done welded pockets.
I don't think, with all of thoselayers, I would wanna do a
welded pocket

Susan Mic (23:29):
Actually, it's not too bad.
I've made a couple

Erynn Mic (23:32):
it

Susan Mic (23:33):
No, and it wasn't bad.
In, in some ways it was easierbecause there's more structure,
more heft to a quilted piece,the three layers.
Um, yeah.
I didn't find it too bad.
Anyway, that was my choice of,pocket.
'cause I did the

Erynn Mic (23:47):
I will have to,

Susan Mic (23:49):
I,

Erynn Mic (23:49):
yeah, I'll have to try one, maybe with some, uh,
some scraps and but no, it'sjust got, and it's got nice big
pockets, like you can fit yourwhole hand or your whole phone.
It's got those nice, nice goodpockets.

Susan Mic (24:00):
Deep pockets is good.
Yes.
But I've done the same thing.
Take, you know, I have thisvision in my head for a quilted
coat, and then I run backthrough the garment patterns
that I have and say, will thissleeve work?
Will that collar work?
Because some them don't workwith quilted fabric.
It's true.
It's true.

Erynn Mic (24:15):
Yes.
Yeah.
Very good.

Susan Mic (24:17):
Okay.
I wanna talk for a second about.
The making process of quilts.
You had a social media post thatwas super cute.
It was maybe your little girlsitting beside a stack, a tower
of bins and your, yourorganizational system.
And clearly do love technologybecause you have a spreadsheet.

Erynn Mic (24:35):
yes.

Susan Mic (24:35):
You have a spreadsheet that labels all your
bins.
How, how do you do that?
And I know everyone has adifferent organizational
preference, but like, how do youlike to store By color, by size,
by use, by project.
What's the thing?

Erynn Mic (24:48):
Oof, uh, all of the above.
Uh, so that was actually kind ofborn out of necessity when I,
uh, when I had her, my sewingroom turned into the nursery,
and so I got downsized and I gotdownsizes and I got downsized.
And so eventually everythingmade it into these bins, and
then I would go to findsomething and it was a shell
game, and which bin is it in?
then the bins got numbers, andthen.

(25:08):
It was kind of at that point, alot of my garment fabric was
kind of by substrate, so likeall the linens were in one bin,
kind of the thicker things werein one bin, lighter weights.
Quilting Cotton, you know, wassort of in its own bin.
And then I can distinctlyremember once pulling out, I had
two pieces of black knit, and Iknew one of them was just plain
cotton, nothing special.

(25:29):
And I knew one of'em was like,fancy bamboo, expensive.
And I was which, which one iswhich?
And so that's where thespreadsheet kind of came from.
And to be able to have thatspreadsheet at the store and
know, you know, you had so manyyards of something and then you
comparing it.
And so it just kind ofsnowballed from there.
So, so that's where the binscame from and they are, uh, very

(25:49):
easy to move and very easy tostack.
I think I can get'em like sixhigh.
And, uh, so that's my, my stash.
what was the rest of thequestion?

Susan Mic (25:58):
well, I just wondered kind of how you organized your
things.
Like, I tend to organize bycolor, but I chiefly just have
quilting cotton anymore.
I don't do a lot of garmentsewing, so the substrates, for
example, does not massivelyapply to me.
I like to organize by color, butsome people prefer to organize
by.
Especially their scrappy stuffby, you know, size.

(26:18):
You know, it's the, these arethe long trippy things.
These are the less than a fatquarter things, that kind of
thing.

Erynn Mic (26:25):
So, so your question is very timely because I'm
currently reorganizing myquilting stash.
It was previously behind my longarm, but I could never get to it
when the long arm was running.
And that the 15 minutes or sothat I would wanna get in and
pull out for a project.
So I just pulled it outyesterday.
I'm putting into a different setof cabinets.
Uh, I've got right now all of mypre-cut together because those

(26:47):
typically, you know, I wanna dosomething with an entire
collection and then I'm gonnakeep all of my yard.
In a separate spot.
I'm gonna do the comic bookboards, I think, so then I can
kind of leaf through it easier.
and I'm not sure yet in terms ofcolor versus yardage, I've
started to stash half yardsinstead of fat quarters because
I feel like it's a little bitmore economical and then you can

(27:09):
kind of do whatever you needwith it.
Um, so we will see, I also haveproject bins set aside where
it's, you know, an entirecuration for a particular quilt.
but then I've sort of run out ofproject bins and, I have too
many, too many projects in thewings, so, so we will

Susan Mic (27:26):
surely not quilters.
Don't do that.

Erynn Mic (27:28):
never, never.
So, you know, I feel like I'm a,you know, this year I'm really
finally down my, the long.

Susan Mic (27:44):
I too have multiple projects going at once and I've
stopped apologizing for that.
I I know I do get bored withthings.
And I love to work on somethingelse.
I also know I'm a finisher, so Ido get them done eventually, but
I do not try to limit myself toone or two or five.
I just freely fly at it.
My limit that I put on myselfwas my fabric.

(28:06):
Stash has a finite space, and Iwon't let it get bigger.
When it starts getting full,then I've got to sew for a while
before I accumulate more, sothat's my only limitation on
myself.
Project bins are a wonderfulinvention.
Yay.
And when I die, someone else candeal with what's left.

Erynn Mic (28:25):
It'll all be by then, right?

Susan Mic (28:27):
I have a few kids, they can figure it out.
Okay.
Before we go, I'm kind ofspringing this on you, Erynn,
but I wonder if you have alittle gem of wisdom to offer.
It could be about like life orcrafting in general, or it might
be for the entrepreneur who'sconsidErynng starting a
business.
Like is there something.
Particular you would have to sayto them That would be a place to

(28:49):
start, or a point ofencouragement.
We'd love to hear it.

Erynn Mic (28:52):
Yes, absolutely.
So there's kind of two thingsand I, I think they're sort of
saying the same thing in, indifferent ways.
Um.
One thing that we talk a lotabout, so I'm a member of, uh,
the Long Arm League, which is asort of a professional
organization for people runninglong arm businesses.
One thing that Jess always saysis, uh, think about taking
imperfect action.
So don't wait around untilthings are absolutely ready to

(29:13):
keep going, just because I starttaking steps and you can keep
pivoting and changing thingsalong the way.
And the other thing that I tryand tell myself kind of in
concert with that is thatperfection doesn't exist.
It is a.
It's a state of mind and it'snot necessarily.
A finite that you can achieve.
And it's a little bit more aboutthe journey and about taking

(29:33):
those steps and, and constantlyworking and constantly
improving.
And so whether that's, you know,oh, this quilt top and this
quilting is or isn't perfect, oryou know, this website or this
email or what have you.
Um, there is no such thing asperfect, and that's all kind of
relevant to who's judging it.
And so letting that go and justsaying, okay, it might not be

(29:54):
right the first time, but we canalways kind of change it and
tweak it and learn and, and dobetter next time.
Um, has really kind of helped mecalm some of those, uh, you
know, that self critic in myhead.
Uh, and just, just constantlymoving forward and constantly,
you know, thinking and, andknowing that it's okay to not be
perfect the first time is, isimportant.

Susan Mic (30:14):
It absolutely is.
Thank you for joining me.
This has been a greatconversation and hopefully I'll
meet up with you at some morequilt shows in the future.

Erynn Mic (30:22):
Thanks.
Yeah.

Susan Mic (30:23):
Looking forward

Erynn Mic (30:23):
to it.

Susan Mic (30:24):
A huge thank you to Erynn Truex for joining me on
the podcast today.
What I find particularlyinspiring about Erynn's journey
is how she's managing to blendher artistic creativity and
clearly her love of quilts andquilting designs.
With business acumen, and inthis way, she's creating
solutions both for her owncreative process and for us

(30:46):
quilters.
I so appreciate that, and I lookforward to seeing what she does
with her businesses in thefuture.
Okay.
Erynn has a gift for all of youtoday at the Panto shop, she is
offering 20% off.
An entire order.
So to get that discount, just goto the panto shop.com and use
the code SBS 20 for stitched bySusan.

(31:09):
So SBS 20 is the code and wewill put the link to the shop
and the code so you can copy andpaste it in the show notes.
So check that out if that iseasier.
Well my friends, thanks forlistening.
And until next time, may yoursorrows be patched and your joys
be quilted.