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In this episode of CraftSanity, Weeks Ringle, 45, of Oak Park, Ill., shares the story of how she launched a home-based contemporary design studio called FunQuilts with her husband and business partner, Bill Kerr.

Together Weeks and Bill design and make quilts for individuals and galleries, They’ve co-authored three quilting books and travel around the country teaching and lecturing on quilt design. They have also designed more than 100 fabrics for FreeSpirit. Look for their new Mendhi fabric designs for FreeSpirit (pictured at the top of the page) at your local quilt shop by mid-December, or find them here.

And perhaps even more impressive than their beautiful quilts is the commitment Weeks and Bill have to serving their community. They could easily make more money than they do, but instead donate quilts to charity organizations and fundraising efforts. For every 10 quilts they sell, they donate one to charity.

And few quilters can say they've created jobs in their community, but that's exactly what Weeks and Bill did when they designed the "Many Hands Blankies" (pictured below). These quilts are made by developmentally disabled adults at a vocational training and job center in Chicago. The sale of the quilts keep adult workers creatively employed.



Read Weeks regular posts on the whipup.net website. The site is fabulously addictive and wonderfully inspiring. It's all about "handcraft in a hectic world," and a place for artists and crafters to share ideas and pass along information.

Get your quilting fix. Here's the link to the quilt block swap I belong to. It's fun. Check it out.

This week's project is a lovely FunQuilts pattern called "Between the Lines" that you can try out at home. Download the pdf. (Thanks Weeks!)



This Week's Contest: THREE lucky CraftSanity listeners will win a copy of “Color Harmony for Quilts” donated by the authors. It's and great guide for rookie and experienced quilters wanting to learn more about quilt design.

Please type “quilt contest” in the subject line of your e-mail and include your mailing address so we can get the book to you if you win.

You can enter to win a couple different ways.

1) E-mail a photo of a finished quilt, quilt block or work in progress to Jennifer@craftsanity.com. (The idea is to create an inspiring photo gallery or quilts and fabrics. I’ll post your entries on CraftSanity.)

2) Or, if you have never quilted before but want to learn, send me a sentence or two about why you’d like to learn.

The deadline for submissions is Tuesday Nov. 14. Abby, CraftSanity’s Vice President of fun, will randomly select three winners.

CRAFTY NEWS:
Calling all AntiCrafters! The AntiCraft staff scored a book deal and is collecting project submissions. Click here to check out this goth style craft web magazine and here for submission details. (Congrats Renee and Zabet!)


Congrats to Anu of Lake Park, Fla. You were randomly selected to win a free copy of "Our Lady of Weight Loss" by last week's guest Janice Taylor. Check out Anu's artwork.

Support the show! Vote for CraftSanity at Podcast Alley. Or, buy a CraftSanity T-shirt or button.

Taking Names: Who do you want to hear from next? Send your comments, guest and show topic suggestions to jennifer@craftsanity.com.

Listen to the podcast

Subscribe to CraftSanity on iTunes

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Amy Karol knows what it’s like to land a great job, only to go work and feel like something is seriously wrong. After graduating from the University of Oregon with a degree in interior architecture, she landed an impressive job as a commercial interior designer and got to work. But she’s wasn’t feeling it.

She was the new girl with purple hair in the office full of corporate types with mustaches. After dying her hair back to a more natural shade, she quickly realized that wasn’t going to change the fact that she would never enjoy meaningless water-cooler small talk. At her core, she could not conform to the norms of the corporate world. Tune in to find out how she made the transition from corporate to a crafty.

It took a few years, but Amy eventually reclaimed an artistic life for herself. She started making art again – jewelry, mono prints, and quilts – and let go of the job that didn’t suit her.

Today she is a 34-year-old artist, wife and mother of two pre-school aged daughters living with her husband in Portland, Oregon. She showcases her art quilts, prints, paper goods and paintings on her King Pod site and documents her creative life in her "Angry Chicken" craft weblog. Amy also runs Mailorder, a subscription-based, craft activity club that has involved ID cards, merit badges, fake money, secret passwords and decoder rings. Here are some of Amy's small quilts.

She also runs the Tie One On website that serves as a fantastic gallery of homemade aprons made by enthusiasts all over the globe. Every month she cooks up a new theme and invites participants to make aprons to showcase on the site. Yes, aprons are hip, if you haven’t noticed. Here are some of Amy's apron creations.

The lovely music at the end of the show is by Amy’s husband, Pete Matern. The song is called “Cedars.” Thanks, Pete.
Here's a link to his old band, the Ex-Hustlers. He is currently working on a solo project.

This week's project is Amy's redwork embroidery pattern. Download the PDF and here is a larger photo of the finished piece.












Book giveaway: If your craft budget is low, but your love of crafting is great - don't fret! Enter the latest CraftSanity book giveaway. I'll be posting my interview with Debbie Stoller next week and will be giving away a copy of her fabulous crochet book, "Stitch 'N Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker," courtesy of Workman Publishing Company. To enter, simply e-mail me your name and mailing address and I'll enter you into our random drawing. The deadline to enter is July 29. Good luck!

Mark your calendars... The Detroit Urban Craft Fair is coming up Aug. 5 at the Majestic Theater in Detroit. Visit the website to learn more about this one-day alternative craft show, and check out the cool Handmade Detroit blog, too.

Support the show! Vote for CraftSanity at Podcast Alley.

Taking Names: Who do you want to hear from next? Send your comments, guest and show topic suggestions to jennifer@craftsanity.com.

This week’s burning question:

If you could be a superhero, what kind of superhero would you be? What kind of super power would you possess? What would your costume look like? Just for kicks... check out this superhero generator. 

Listen to Amy describe her superhero project in this week’s podcast then leave a comment at the end this entry with details about your superhero aspirations. Come on, you know you wish you had the power to zap, fly, and make homemade Christmas presents faster than a speeding bullet.

Leave super comment by clicking the link below

“Denyse Schmidt Quilts.”
That’s the name of her new book and boy does she ever.

Denyse, 45, of Bridgeport, Conn., learned to sew as a child, but she didn’t set out to revolutionize the world of quilting. That's just the way it worked out.

She did that 9-to-5 thing many of us do, but felt a tug toward art school by her late 20s. Denyse didn’t specialize in fiber art at the Rhode Island School of Design, but was able to couple her sewing background with her newly acquired graphic design skills, a combination that would later become the foundation of her wonderful quilt business that is celebrating its 10th year of operation.



In this episode of CraftSanity you will hear the inspiring story of how Denyse went from an artist with a day job, to a full-time artist who is living her dream.

For more information about Denyse and her quilts, check out her site and her cool product line.




This week's how-to is for paper and fabric "Dis-Cards" from "Denyse Schmidt Quilts" book courtesy of Denyse and Chronicle Books.


This episode closes with the song "What if" by Smallfish courtesy of the fabulous Podsafe Music Network. For those who are curious, Smallfish is a one-man-band featuring singer song writer, Evan Lefloch, of Orlando, Fla.


Listen to the podcast

Subscribe to Craftsanity on iTunes

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Taking Names: Who do you want to hear from next? Send your comments, guest and show topic suggestions to jennifer@craftsanity.com.