SEAMSIDE: Exploring the Inner Work of Textiles

In this QUILT TALK episode, I’m joined by my good friend and collaborator, Heidi Parkes. When I went to visit her in Milwaukee over the summer, we decided we were overdue to make a collab quilt. YES MORE PLEASE was born out of a conversation about creating more space for all the good things in life (and maybe sweeping out the junk in the meantime). Towards this end of this quilt talk, we share some thoughts about what it takes to have a positive collaboration experience. I hope you enjoy and pick up something you can use in your own creative practice. XOZ

For more images and process shots of this quilt

Learn more about Heidi's work

REFLECTION PROMPTS
1. Reflect on a time when you collaborated creatively with someone. How did this partnership influence your approach and outcome?
2. Consider the themes of saying 'no' to create space for 'yes'. How can this concept be applied in your personal or professional life?
3. Recall an instance where a limitation (like the quilt's black background) pushed you to think more creatively. What was the outcome?

ABOUT SEAMSIDE
Hosted by quilt-maker Zak Foster, we explore how working with cloth has changed who we are as people, what we call on the show *the inner work of textiles.* Zak speaks with a wide variety of textile artists from quilters to embroiderers, from activists to educators, writers, and collectors.

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HELPFUL RESOURCES
→ Free Video Tutorial: HOW TO MAKE A TINY QUILT
→ Join the QUILTY NOOK: A Curious (and Sometimes Feral) Online Textile Community
→ Top Ten SEAMSIDE Episodes Guide
→ Weekly Email Goodies from Zak
→ Visit Zak’s website
→ Follow Zak on Instagram
→ Enter here for your chance to win a FREE YEAR on the NOOK

I first met Rachel Meginnes at Penland School of Arts and Crafts just north of Asheville, NC. We had been in each other’s digital orbits for a good while and so when we sat together in a couple plush armchairs and warm cups of coffee by a fireplace in the dining hall, it was the most natural thing to slip into conversation.

Rachel’s current work centers on weaving old deconstructed quilt material into new pieces on her digital loom. After she’s spent days picking apart an old quilt, she often finds that the worn lace-like batting—normally hidden from our view—is what especially captivates her.

Rachel is also a dedicated and gifted creative coach. It was fascinating for me to listen how she talks about the raw materials of quilts and the raw materials of our lives in similar terms. Because we know how to make a strong and beautiful quilt, then we must inherently know how to make a strong and beautiful life. It’s all the same stardust, after all.

In this SEAMSIDE conversation, Rachel and I talk about:

① how time changes both quilts and humans

② how to do hard work with noble intention

③ how we can mine our creative processes to discover strategies for living

You can learn more about Rachel Meginnes here

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A behind-the-scenes look at the memory quilt I made for my Uncle Jim. I got to work with my aunt on designing and sewing this quilt, and it made a really rich experience for both of us.

Towards this end of this quilt talk, I share five insights I learned about working with someone else on a memory quilt.

I hope you enjoy and pick up something you can use in your own creative practice. XOZ

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My good friend Luke Haynes joins for me for this SEAMSIDE special episode I’m calling FREE ADVICE where we answer your questions on quilting and the creative life.

In this episode, we share our thoughts on the following questions:

① How can I move away from pattern-based quilting and play more?

② How did you find time to create new work when you were working full-time jobs?

③ Where do all your quilts go when you’re done making them?

④ I’m a multimedia artists and quilts are a part of what I do. But how can I present my work online with a cohesive voice?

Thank you to everyone who called in with questions for this episode. We wish we could answer them all! A special thanks to the four folks whose questions made this conversation possible: Lilia from Bozeman, Montana; Michelle from Toronto; Anne Marie from Phoenix; and Katie from Portland, Oregon

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Five international textile artists come together for two weeks in the heart of Southern Appalachian mountains at the John C. Campbell Folk School. Kianga Jinaki, Chris Dufour, Chinelo Njaka, and Jesalyn Keziah share powerful insights as we sit around the sewing circle in the quilting studio.

In this collective conversation, we discuss:

① what magic our quilts can perform

② how quilts tell stories when words fall short

③ the power of collective effort

HELPFUL RESOURCES

⤷ Learn more about the Traditional Craft Mentorships at John C. Campbell Folk School

⤷ Contact Programming at the Folk School to learn more about how community organizations can support mentorships

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⤷ Get your free trial to the THE QUILTY NOOK

I’ve got something a little different for you this week. I got inspired being at home and looking at my grandma's memory quilt. It made me realize I’ve got some more stories I’d like to share with you about that quilt. I hope you enjoy and pick up something you can use in your own creative practice. XOZ

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⤷ Theme music: Roll Jordan Roll by the Joy Drops

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The creative landscape is dotted with mountaintops and valleys. If we’re lucky, we have more moments up on the mountain where everything appears huge and expansive, full of sunshine and clarity. But it’d be naive to expect to stay there for too long. Sometimes we gotta wallow down in the valley too.

This special episode of SEAMSIDE is dedicated to those valley moments. I reached out to past guests on SEAMSIDE and asked them to describe how they deal with creative and professional disappointments. I was curious to hear not only how they responded but also what they found helpful.

In this episode we hear from Nick D’Ornellas, Christi Johnson, Michael Sylvan Robinson, Victoria Gertenbach, Clare Hu, Julian Jamal Jones, and Rachel Meginnes.

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Weaver Jennifer Mao joins us for an episode of BACKSTITCH. If you haven’t heard our first chat nearly two years ago, you can hear that on episode 2. In this BACKSTITCH conversation, Jennifer shares candidly about how it feels to be experiencing a creatively unproductive season in her practice. We discuss:

① does an artist have to make art to be an artist

② how do we move through the quiet seasons of our creative practice

③ how to be your own best friend when you need it most

You can learn more about Jennifer on Instagram

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As you may have heard, the embroiderer Lou Gardiner and former guest on SEAMSIDE passed way a few days ago after a recurring bout with cancer. When we talked in 2022, she spoke openly but hopefully about her diagnosis as you’ll hear in this episode.

I’d like to offer this conversation with Lou as a way of holding space for such a radiant force of creative power.

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Patrick T (@ptayyyyy) and I dream up a quilt that ① has been turned into a lazyboy recliner, and ② also operates as a plant stand

Want to be on the show? Call the CRAZY QUILT HOTLINE open 24/7 at (828) 278-8211‬ and leave me a message anytime of day or night. Get your free trial to the THE QUILTY NOOK

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