The Quilter on Fire Podcast

My guest today on the podcast has exploded with growth on social media with a welcoming community for those who value inclusivity, equality, and having an open conversation! If you believe in love, science, and justice, you’ll find your people in the BadAssQuilter’s society. Maddie Kertay is a maker who was craving like minded community in this crazy political landscape and does her best to be a supportive bright-light, truth-telle...

My guest today is Cassandra Beaver! She’s a mostly-modern quilter, pattern designer and quilting educator based in west-central Ohio. She holds a BFA in Painting and Theatre Design and an MFA in Scenic Design. Her award-winning quilts have been in more than 60 shows, numerous publications, and four of her quilts reside in the permanent collection of the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Kentucky. She’s known for using traditional a...

Helen Godden is an award-winning art quilter known for her gorgeous painted quilts. From animals, to flowers, and portraits to abstract – she does it all and does it well. Extreme free motion quilting has her in the zone and she has the awards to back it up. Helen is the first international Ambassador for HandiQuilter. And she has been the catalyst that introduced that brand to many parts of the world outside the USA. This AUSSIE q...

Jennifer Houlden is a passionate textile artist whose quilting journey began in 2002 as a remedy for Yellowknife's harsh Arctic winters. She is known for her artistic play with bargellos quilts—you might instantly recognize her sunflower. Now working from her cottage studio in beautiful Muskoka, Ontario, Jen creates stunning art quilts that blend traditional and modern techniques. A former nurse turned full-time quilter, she&a...

Pat Pauly is a visionary in the world of fiber art, known for her bold, graphic compositions and rich, hand-printed fabrics. That might sound like a bold statement, but she plans out her quilts with imagination, innovation and wisdom. With a background in art and design, she seamlessly blends construction, painting, printmaking and stitching to create work that is both striking and deeply rooted in abstraction. Her pieces have been...

My guest today is Mary Engelbreit. She has had an incredible art career spanning over 4 decades and she is an icon in the licensed artwork industry. Her work started with greeting cards and went on to be licensed on nearly 6500 products over the years with more than 1 billion dollars in lifetime sales. She was also editor-in-chief of the award-winning creative lifestyle magazine, Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion for more than ...

Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2025, the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show (SOQS) has grown from a modest display of a dozen quilts in 1975 to the world's largest outdoor quilt show, featuring over 1,300 quilts from artists around the globe. 

My guest today is Dawn Boyd, the Executive Director of the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show in Oregon held  annually on the second Saturday in July. The event attracts more than 10,000 visitors to...

My guest today is Sharon Holland. A mother of 3 with a B.A. in Art & Design. Sharon’s story goes from handcrafting dolls and seasonal crafts to a stint in magazine publishing and fabric design first for Paintbrush Studios and then now Art Gallery Fabrics. Starting as a library-book-taught quilter when rotary cutters were revolutionary new tools, she's evolved into a sought-after designer with a signature "modern-tradi...

Sew Powerful a volunteer driven organization founded by Jason & Cinnamon Miles. They are a learning organization, driven by their faith, frugal in their practices, and they are focussed on combatting extreme poverty. They provide training and tools to create jobs which produce purposeful products including purses, school uniforms, reusable hygiene pads, soap and farm fresh food. What’s their mission? To promote and enable the a...

My guest today is Valori Wells - From darkroom photography at age 13 to earning a BFA in fine art, her journey has always followed inspiration. For the past 27 years, she has designed commercial fabric collections, authored quilting books, and led artist retreats in Bali and Morocco, where she teaches photography, block printing, and textile arts. As the second-generation owner of The Stitchin’ Post in Sisters Oregon, she’s carried...

My guest today is Amanda Oros the founder and host of Not Your Granny’s Quilt Show – A conversational, slightly chaotic podcast about quilting with lots of amazing guests! We did a podcast swap and had a really great conversation both times. You can find her interview with me right here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKVY7Kt_Kzk

The tables were turned, I was in the hot seat, and it was a lot of fun. Amanda has dropped over 140 ep...

My guest today is HollyAnne Knight – from making t-shirts quilts by order to an online quilting Academy and her new bricks and mortar quilt shop, Holly Anne Knight has come a long way. In person at the shop String and Story on Main, she offers beginner to intermediate quilting, bag-making, and garment sewing classes as well as supplies for a variety of projects. And online she guides you to quilt and stitch with confidence in her r...

My guest today is Amber Elliot! Founder of Alderwood Studio, Amber is a Software Engineer turned fulltime Quilt Entrepreneur. She released her first book in 2022 and we’ll do a deep dive into her 2nd book today on the podcast! Amber is a modern quilter, pattern designer, educator and a fabric designer for Riley Blake which was a big tick off her bucket list and she is the founder of the Modern Makes membership. Her big ticket item ...

My guest today is Jane Sassaman. She is a world-renowned artist known for her expressive art quilts and fabric designs. Her bold, colourful, abstracted from nature quilts are instantly recognizable and her quilts have been shown in many national and international exhibits. She is the author of The Quilted Garden which featured 20 years of her work and Patchwork Sassaman Style which beautifully illustrates her fabric in action.  And...

My guest today is Kimberly Einmo! 

She is an award-winning quilter, fabric designer, international instructor, quilt judge for over 20 years, and the National Spokesperson for Janome-America. She has written six best-selling books published by the American Quilter’s Society, created a signature line of precision quilting rulers, and she wrote a column called Stray Threads, in every issue of American Quilter Magazine for close to a d...

My guest today is Judy Gauthier – a long time quilt shop owner doing all kinds of fun things! Step into her vibrant scrappy world in Wisconsin! Author, fabric designer, and owner of Bungalow Quilting, she transforms scraps into spectacular creations. With six books, national teaching tours, and TV appearances alongside quilting legends, Judy's creative magic continues to unfold through her AccuQuilt designs and upcoming projec...

My guest today is Sue Penn. She loves to sew and she’s been passionate about art and creativity since childhood. Encouraged by her grandmother, who generously supported her artistic development, she studied drawing and painting for years. In her early twenties, she discovered a deep love for sewing, quilting, and textile arts, which ultimately led to a career in fabric design spanning nearly 28 years. She’s known for her use of col...

My guest today is Becky Campbell of SewForever Quilting. She is known for creating Innovative Appliqué and English Paper Piecing Made Easy. Her quilting and sewing products make complicated, time-consuming techniques doable for the modern sewist. I took her EPP sticky papers on one of my England tours for my guests to play with on the coach as we travelled across the countryside of Wales and they loved the reusable self-stick templ...

Today is like the color confidential episode of the Quilter on Fire podcast except its not confidential – we are going to spill the beans on color. My guest today uses colour as a principal element in her work, applied in layers, and created with the intention to surprise, evoke calming emotions and a sense of joy. Today I’ll have a chat with professional artist and designer Estè MaCleod. She is a professional artist and designer w...