The Straight Stitch: A Podcast About Sewing and Other Fiber Arts

Your First Quilt Starts Here

The Straight Stitch: A Podcast About Sewing and Other Fiber Arts

Show Notes

Send us feedback about this episode! In response to listener feedback, this episode focuses on quilting as a beginner. Learning to quilt doesn’t have to be overwhelming. We'll share simple, approachable ways to get started with quilting—even if you’ve never sewn a quilt before. You’ll learn which beginner projects work best, how to build skills without overthinking, and what tools you actually need to begin. This episode is all about confidence, creativity, and starting where you are. If you’...

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Oct 20, 2026

Send us feedback about this episode! What happens to the fabric, notions, and patterns we never get around to using? In this episode, Emily Yost and Ariel Riccardi of Creative Reuse Montana share about this innovative, volunteer-run nonprofit in Livingston, Montana. The organization collects unused creative supplies and puts them back into the hands of makers, teachers, and community groups instead of landfills. Emily and Ariel share how the organization grew from a single craft supply swap i...

Oct 13, 2026

Send us feedback about this episode! This week I’m turning the mic on myself. I spent most of this past summer planning for a new business. A few weeks ago, I launched Sew Something Studio, a new in-person sewing school in Kalispell, Montana. In this episode I walk through what it actually took to get it off the ground: why I decided now was the time; building the website; finding a location (and what makes a space work for sewing classes); getting machines and tables in place; and getting th...

Oct 6, 2026

Send us feedback about this episode! Every T-shirt quilt you've ever seen owes something to this week's guest. Andrea Funk invented the puzzle-style T-shirt quilt back in 1992 — ditching the uniform square block in favor of variable-sized pieces that let every graphic, logo, and collar print stay whole and uncropped. In this conversation, Andrea walks through how she landed on the puzzle-piece layout, the practical realities of working with knits, stretch, and graphics, and the details involv...

Sep 29, 2026

Send us feedback about this episode! T Carter's quilts don't just tell stories—they tell the stories history books leave out. As a trained historian and a national award-winning fiber artist, T pairs research with quilting to spotlight voices of women, people of color, and indigenous communities, from forgotten tribes to a small-town gas station's bootlegger legend. Join Janet as T shares how quilts bring those stories to life through fabric. Show notes for each episode: www.thestraight...

Sep 22, 2026

Send us feedback about this episode! Every sewing machine brand seems to be releasing something new this year—but is any of it actually new, or just a new box for the same machine? We round up what's genuinely changed across sewing machines, sergers, and coverstitch machines from every major brand, brand by brand, so you can hear what's real without wading through marketing copy yourself. Show notes for each episode: www.thestraightstitchpodcast.com My website: www.janetszabo.com See my sewin...

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