🧵🌸 LET'S TALK ABOUT Quilting for Tula with Kathleen Riggins - KAREN’S QUILT CIRCLE

Added: 2026-05-22

[00:00:06]ers get on my radar for a variety of reasons and Instagram will sometimes mysteriously decide that certain quilters should be in my feed. My next guest, Kathleen Rigggins of Kathleen Quilts, was one of those suggestions as I watched photos of her progress over several months of her finishing the quilting of her Dear Jane quilt. And then Tula Pink showed off her latest amazing applique quilt, and it was quilted by Kathleen Rigggins. Too much of a coincidence. And I had to invite her on the podcast. And luckily for me, she said yes. So, grab your sewing and a cup of tea. And here's my interview with Kathleen Rigggins.

[00:00:56]Welcome, Kathleen, to the show.

[00:00:58]Whereabouts in the world are you coming to us from?

[00:01:00]>> I'm in Alberta, Canada.

[00:01:02]>> Okay. Whereabouts in Alberta?

[00:01:03]>> I'm in Camro. So, we're about like an hour's drive from Edmonton or a little bit south and east from Edmonton.

[00:01:08]>> Okay. Have you been there all your life?

[00:01:10]>> Pretty much. Yeah. I um technically I lived in Saskatchewan until I was 8 months old but then moved to Camros before I can remember obviously and then I lived in Edmonton for 5 years for university and I worked after that and then I was in England for a year and then I've been here ever since.

[00:01:27]>> Lots of homes. Were there any crafters or quilters in your family?

[00:01:31]>> Yes, I am a the seventh generation of quilter that we can like officially trace and have quilts from. Maybe sixth or seventh, something ridiculous like that. Anyways, yes.

[00:01:42]>> As a young woman or child, were you quilting alongside your grandmothers and your aunts and that?

[00:01:48]>> My mom for sure. Like I would say that I sewed so much as a kid. Santa gave me a bib for my doll and it had decorative stitches on it and I was very excited because Santa clearly had the same sewing machine that my mom did because he had all the same decorative stitches she did. And so I was very excited about like, you know, my mom has the same sewing machine as Santa Claus.

[00:02:09]>> Oh, that's funny.

[00:02:10]>> It's a pretty I really I really enjoy that story. My mom's like, I was sure that was going to be the end of Santa Claus for you, but nope. You were just super psyched that you know, mom and Santa Claus had the same sewing machine.

[00:02:20]>> So, when did you start making polls?

[00:02:22]>> So, technically when I was in grade two.

[00:02:24]So, I was like seven or eight. The like Alex Anderson show, you know, my mom used to watch that all the time. And I was watching the show with her and there was this I can't remember her name but she made this quilt. I was like I can make that quilt. Mom was like okay then.

[00:02:37]And so I made that quilt and that was my first quilt. So grade two but I'd say that like quilting quilting about grade nine is when so I' have been like 14 when that was like okay this is what I do now. A while I started young because I like my parents opened the quilt store when I was in grade six. So I was 11. My mom taught sewing in our basement before that and for another store in town before that.

[00:02:59]>> Okay. So, when did you come to Long Army?

[00:03:02]>> So, I started freeotion quilting about grade nine, grade 10. My mom says that I phoned her one day at work and was like, "Mom, how do you freeotion quilt?" And she said, "Well, you drop the feed dogs and pretend it's a pencil." And that was the amount of my instruction in freeotion quilting. And I just went to it cuz when you're in grade nine, you don't know that it's hard, right? Like, you just go for it. And every single quilt I quilted like through high school was basically like a zigzag and a star or some combination of zigzags and stars. And then I started long arming when I moved back to Camros and we took over um the sewing machine dealership that had been in Camros is why I moved back. And so as part of that we had like a mid-arm sort of machine and I needed to learn how to use it so I could show the people how to use it. And so I started using it at work all the time and then I got one of those for my house and then I outgrew that one and APQS sponsored me for a year with one and then I bought my APQS after that.

[00:03:57]>> Okay. I've got an APQS. I've got the Millie.

[00:04:00]>> Yeah. I have a Lucy.

[00:04:01]>> A Lucy. I was attracted to the channel locks in the handles.

[00:04:06]>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Nice.

[00:04:07]>> That was the thing that got me. And I'm really surprised that I cannot fit anything bigger than a 10 foot. Okay.

[00:04:15]>> In my space here, >> I have 12 ft at home. Then we bought 14 ft at work here.

[00:04:20]>> Do you sell the the long arms at the store, too?

[00:04:22]>> No, we don't. We do like computerized edgeto edge at the store and then I do custom at home.

[00:04:28]>> I was so excited when I found out that you were part of the I think there's three authors on this for Ice Bubbles.

[00:04:37]That was one of my favorite quilts ever.

[00:04:40]>> It's such a good quilt. I know. And I was so shocked it didn't get into Colt Con, but did you display it other places?

[00:04:46]>> I think it went to MQS. I think that was still a show at the time. And it went to an AQS show.

[00:04:51]>> It was It just Yes. So Ice Bubbles I did with Cat Jones and Jess Frost who are both in Australia. I met them at QuiltCon and then I met them I sort of got to know them better when I was teaching in Australia and then we decided we should make a quilt together. We actually made two together. Ice Bubbles was the first one and then we did Flight Path after that as well.

[00:05:13]>> So with them in Australia, >> they made the top and I did the long arm. Yeah.

[00:05:17]>> Who designed the quilt?

[00:05:18]>> Cat did most of the designing for it.

[00:05:20]>> Such a special one.

[00:05:22]>> Yes.

[00:05:22]>> Now you first got on my radar with that quilt, but then you quilted one of Tula Pink's quilts. I think it was the tattoo one by uh Happy So Lucky.

[00:05:34]>> Yeah. Yeah.

[00:05:34]>> How did you get on Tula's radar? Well, so that was the third quilt I had done for her. I did I did a few before that, but I don't know. She just sent me a message one day and was like, "Hey, will you quote for me?" And I was like, "Me? Are like really?" And so, yeah, that's what happened. I was like, "Yes, of like yeah, obviously I will." So, yeah. I honestly don't know. I assume like Instagram she saw some stuff I've been posting and sent me a message.

[00:05:58]Yeah. So, it's been really cool. It's really fun.

[00:06:00]>> So, did you treat her like you treat all your customers or was that >> I don't think so. She makes like really nice quilts, so it's really easy to quilt them really nicely, but I wouldn't say that I put more effort or more anything into the quilting, and I don't give her a discount or anything like that. She pays the same as everybody else. The top two quilts I've done the most thread color changes in are both hers, but I think it's because she just uses a lot of fabrics, you know? So, and then it's you need more thread colors.

[00:06:28]>> Did she supply you with the her orafhll threads to do that?

[00:06:32]>> No. No, I do all my own threads for them. You're really close to Wonderfill.

[00:06:36]Do you use theirs?

[00:06:37]>> Um, not a whole bunch. No, I use I use lots of their hand sewing threads, but I don't haven't I haven't used many of their long arm threads.

[00:06:43]>> I think we were all in COVID at that time in lockdown. So, what did that do to your Instagram in your email inbox?

[00:06:51]>> Uh, okay. So, here's the long story about that quilt cuz it's a bit of a So, that Yeah, that said that was the third quilt I done for her. She sent it to me.

[00:06:59]It was Yeah, it was during co I found out while I was quilting it that I was pregnant with my second child and I puked every single day I was pregnant with that child, right? Like it was uh kind of miserable. And I quilted that quilt. I sent it back to her. She showed it. I got I could have sent my kids both to college just quilting other people's tattoo quilts, but my brain was just like done. And I didn't answer a single email from a person who said I just ghosted my entire like long arm business because my brain just couldn't. I was feeling crappy. I just couldn't. I just Yeah. ghosted. I probably got maybe 15 emails, 20 people asking me to quilt their um tattoo quilts, but I didn't answer any of their emails because I am a professional.

[00:07:40]>> But I understand when you're in that >> Well, you have a busy life. Not only are you a quilter and a pattern designer and a long armer, there's a store here. Is the Is this the same store as your parents or?

[00:07:54]>> Yes. Yes, it's the same store as my parents. Yes. So, yeah. I work full-time here. I have two kids. Like I like sewing my own things sometimes. If I'm especially now, like when I first started long arming, you know, I worked all day and then I could go home and long arm all night and that was fine.

[00:08:08]But now it's like now I like a little bit of work life balance would be nice, you know, like I go home and hang out with my kids and I like to like have a little time to myself after they go to bed. So I still long arm for I feel like I ghosted everyone and everyone's like, "Well, I guess she doesn't do this anymore." And so I stopped getting asked to do it. So I have been doing it a lot less, but I still do some when I'm asked. But I charge a lot of money because if I'm going to take, you know, that much on in my life, like I need to get paid for it. So >> I think that's an important point. I can remember designing a person wanted me to make a quilt for them. Actually, they wanted me to make three and I can remember costing out them and being really worried about the number like, "Oh my god, she's never going to pay this price." And then I realized I don't need to make it.

[00:08:54]>> Yeah.

[00:08:54]>> If she's not willing to pay my price, I don't have to make this quilt. That's sort of >> I always joke that I can tell when someone sends me an email if they ask me in the email what the price of the quilting is. I know that I'm going to tell women and I'm never going to hear back from >> YOU KNOW NOT IN like a room like you know like I couldn't afford to have me quilt for me. I'm not like offended when people don't want to pay the price. But also like I know that if one of the questions they ask in the email is how much will it cost to get my quilt quilted? I know that I'm not going to be the quilter for them, right? Like I charge what I charge and I yeah I have another job. I don't, you know, it's nice to quilt. It's nice to get paid for the quilting, but I'm not going to starve if I don't.

[00:09:31]>> But then Tula has found you and asked you to quilt another quilt.

[00:09:36]>> Yes, I quilted two for her this fall, only one of which she's shown so far this winter. But yeah. Okay. So, she sent me this email being like, "Hey, are you still quilting?" And I was like, "Well, you know, for you obviously." I think what I said was, "I'm happy to quilt for people who make night quilt nice quilts and who don't cause a fuss when they get my bill." And she was like, "Yeah, obviously." Um, and then she's like, "Will you quote my Roseville album?" I was like, "Wait, what? What?

[00:09:58]Your Roseville album? Like, are you are you sure you want me to quote Am I sure I want to quilt that one? Like, what if I ruin it?" But then I had to I did have to like like, "Okay, calm down, Kathleen. Like, you're not going to ruin this quilt." She asked you for a reason.

[00:10:10]And like, if you say no, then you're going to have to watch someone else quilt this quilt. That could have been me. So, I said yes.

[00:10:17]>> Well, you did an absolutely beautiful job. And I liked the fact that on Instagram you told a little bit more of the story and that you experimented by drawing out some ideas before you actually started quilting.

[00:10:31]>> Yeah, that's a pretty normal plan for me.

[00:10:33]>> Yeah, we all just think that you brilliant long armors. It just comes out of your head and straight lines are everywhere. But I love so many of those features that you put in there.

[00:10:44]>> Thanks. Yeah, I think it turned out really good. So, >> yeah. But I want to talk about one other quilt. You just finished your Dear Jane quilt.

[00:10:52]>> I did just finish my Dear Jane quilt.

[00:10:54]Yes.

[00:10:55]>> And I have been following you making that. It is so stunning. All those multicolors and I love the the effects in the quilting that you put in.

[00:11:05]>> Like I looked at lots of people's quilt like deer janes cuz like a lot of people have made dear Jane before and was like, well, how can I quilt mine that's like a little bit different from what everyone else has done? because most people do like a dense there's not tons of space in a dear Jane right there's so much prints going on there's not like that much space to have fun but I was like well if I have the like sort of trip around the world color way going I tried to get the quilting to sort of change designs following that trip around the world so it's not just one background fill across the back yeah I was really happy with how it turned out too >> how long did it take you to quilt that seemed like it took months >> really long because I hardly worked on it all because I just couldn't I just it just felt like work you know sometimes things are fun quilting that quilt I don't know it just felt like work and it was hard to make myself go do it. And it was also like I think I loaded it in about like April or May last year and then it was summertime and I was like I want to be outside playing with my kids and going camping. Like I just wasn't doing a lot of quilting and then in the fall I sort of hunkered back down and got it done.

[00:11:59]>> Do you find you're able to just return to a quilt top and do a couple of blocks and walk away or are you wanting to do a good >> For sure with the long arming I can I find that I can do like 10 minutes here, 10 minutes there. way more than if I'm piecing or something like that. I actually find I was like as I was doing a few this winter I was like oh it's sort of nice to have something I can just do for 5 minutes like oh the kids are playing Lego I can you know do a little bit and if I get interrupted 3 minutes later it's not like oh now it's a whole thing right so it's really no I can definitely do just little bits here and there with the long arming really easily.

[00:12:32]>> Can you tell me a little bit about the quilt behind you that's stunning? Okay, so this is um a quilt. So my mom has a quilt that was made by my I think it's three times great-g grandandmother that I just really loved the quilt. And so I took the like block that was in the quilt and designed a bunch of quilts, four quilts based on that block. And this this is one of them. And it's the floral star remix is what the name of the quilt.

[00:12:59]>> So did your grandmother's quilt have those black bars?

[00:13:03]>> No, those I added in. No, >> those are new. Yeah, those are new.

[00:13:07]>> That is an absolutely stunning quilt. Is it paper pieced or is it uh >> No, it was template. There's some templates, but no, it's not paper pieced.

[00:13:15]>> That's just amazing. You've designed a number of quilts. My personal favorite is sprinkles and stitches.

[00:13:23]>> Yes, that one's really cute. Yeah, the dessert one. Nobody I can tell you I have sold zero copies of that pattern.

[00:13:30]>> Really? I practically downloaded it today. No, I have sold zero copies of that pattern.

[00:13:37]>> That is so cute.

[00:13:38]>> I I like the alternative like it's wool.

[00:13:41]>> Yeah.

[00:13:42]>> And so much of wool is flowers and I mean Sue Spargo does some amazing things, but it's always so much about flowers and I'm not so much of a flower person, but I really like the whimsy in sparkles. I'm sorry.

[00:13:58]>> Yeah. So, you'll have ONE COPY SOLD.

[00:14:04]SO, when did you get into wool quilts?

[00:14:06]>> So, once I like ghosted my long arm business and then I couldn't get off my couch because I was pregnant and miserable and puking all the time. I was like, well, I guess I will start doing some wool. Um, I had done a little bit like my mom had done it um for a few years before that and I had done a little bit, but that's sort of when I really like really got into it when I was sort of stuck on my couch and that's all I did for like 9 months, 10 a year, something like that. Do you stock all that wool stuff at the store?

[00:14:33]>> We do. Yeah.

[00:14:34]>> I love that wool stuff. I can't tell you how big a box I have of it and I have yet to start a quilt.

[00:14:40]>> Yeah, it's been really fun. Yeah. If you had told me like a few years ago how much hand work I was going to be doing now, I'd be like, "Yeah, really?" Okay.

[00:14:46]Like my website bio used to read Kathleen will do anything to avoid sewing something by hand. I'm like, "That's clearly not the case anymore."

[00:14:52]>> Is that just because you have more time when you're sitting?

[00:14:56]>> I think so. More. I think I think that's a big part. And also just like not being 15 and having a little more patience with life and yeah the com combination of like needing something for when I have like 3 minutes and this portable that I can take with me to the kids stuff and also just being a little older and having more patience.

[00:15:12]>> So are you actively teaching classes at at the store?

[00:15:15]>> Yes. Yeah, I teach here almost every Saturday and sometimes during the week.

[00:15:20]>> I love the one the adult and the child quilting class.

[00:15:23]>> Yes, that one's been really popular.

[00:15:25]It's been really fun. Yeah. Bring an adult. Yeah. So, what age of children are you getting?

[00:15:29]>> Most of the ones we had the last time we run it were like grade 1 2 three. We didn't have a whole bunch of older kids in that one. I know this next one we've got at least one like grade six. It's only the second time we've run it, but they tend to be on the younger side.

[00:15:44]>> So, what's it like working in a multi-generational family business in the quilting world?

[00:15:50]Are you taking over more and more from your parents?

[00:15:53]>> I've been taking over more and more.

[00:15:54]Yeah. My mom retired about a year year and a half ago, but my dad's still here all the time and we I take over more and more. I don't know if dad would say that, but I like to say that.

[00:16:07]And then my husband works here, too. He does all our sewing machine repairs. And then my kids are here lots of too since we're all here. So, it's a bit it's a bit wild sometimes, but mostly it works.

[00:16:16]>> Sewing machine repair is really important for all seists to have a technician nearby. Did your husband just pick it up when he joined the >> He married Yeah, he married him to a job basically is what we like to say.

[00:16:30]>> So, did he go off on a on a training course and come back or the person who did it before trained him for quite a while and then he also did a few like weekend and weekl long courses in a few different places.

[00:16:42]>> My husband and I ran a appliance repair business for many many years.

[00:16:47]>> Yeah.

[00:16:47]>> I was thinking well I should take that tech technical course. I also met a woman in the UK who left her job and became a sewing machine technician. She comes on my my cruise ships with me.

[00:16:59]Yeah. I just thought I mean you can't be without your sewing machine repair person nearby.

[00:17:04]>> Yeah. Yeah. It's handy having him like living in my house because then something goes wrong at 10 o'clock AT NIGHT LIKE ROCKY.

[00:17:11]>> How many sewing machines do you own at home?

[00:17:14]>> Um at home I have two sewing machines, a serger, and my long arm. Nothing too crazy.

[00:17:21]>> And do you get much time to sew?

[00:17:22]Balancing a family, a job in Long Army.

[00:17:26]>> It depends a little bit. I've had a little bit more lately because this year my kids start school at 8:00, but I don't have to leave for work until about quarter after 9:00. So, I've got like an hour in the morning 4 days a week, which has been like magic. I've gotten way more done this year than I had before that. And then I'll often sew for maybe like an hour after they go to bed, and that's about what I get. Their schedules changed next year for school, so I won't get quite as much time in the morning anymore, but it was nice while it lasted.

[00:17:56]>> You could change your working hours.

[00:18:00]>> How often do you have to say no?

[00:18:02]>> Once in a while, but not super It's not super often that usually my price scares people away before I have to say no.

[00:18:08]There's only been maybe once or twice when I've actually said no to somebody wanting me to quilt for them and that was because they wanted a lot more control over I always say like if you want me to quilt for you you get what you get like we don't dis like I don't discuss the design you know it's a surprise and every once in a while someone is not okay with that I'm like well then this is this is not going to work.

[00:18:29]>> So how did you come to that position?

[00:18:32]Did you start with a couple of people that were very specific about what they wanted and that didn't work out?

[00:18:38]>> No, I just knew that if I was going to actually want to quilt someone's quilt, I wasn't going to want to quilt. I was going to want to quilt what I wanted to quilt. So, that was how it was from the beginning basically was like if I'm going to quilt this, I want to quilt it how I want to quilt it. I knew that if I was trying to quilt on someone else's vision or whatever, that I wasn't that wasn't going to be fun for me. And I had enough going on. I only wanted to do fun stuff.

[00:19:00]>> Yeah. I've uh that's one of the the big rules I'm beginning to follow in in my quilting practice. If it's not a hell yes.

[00:19:09]>> Yeah.

[00:19:09]>> Is it should be passed on. You should be working on products that really make you feel good and happy because you only have a limited amount of spare time and only work on the stuff that >> feeds you. Exactly. Exactly.

[00:19:25]>> Yeah. You learned it ear earlier than I did.

[00:19:30]Now, you have had some interesting oops in the quilting world. Let's start with the one where somehow an iron fell on your bare leg.

[00:19:40]>> Oh, it didn't fall on my leg. I was just standing too close to the ironing board and ironed my you know, I got too I you know, my leg was here and I just ironed into the side of my leg. Um which is why you shouldn't iron wearing shorts at like 11:30 at night. No, I just ironed I just ironed my leg. Yeah, that was a good one. I like the one where you say you sliced your elbow but didn't notice.

[00:20:01]How much blood?

[00:20:02]>> That was when I was like a te. Yeah. So, I was like a teenager. I had Yeah.

[00:20:06]Sliced my elbow, didn't notice. Covered my ent sewing room with blood. Didn't really notice. My mom comes home when he's like, "Who died in here?" And then she's like, "You're not allowed to sew when I'm not home anymore." And that was clearly not going to work for me. And so, I think that rule lasted like 3 hours because obviously I was going to sew when she wasn't home. But yeah, no, I I didn't even notice. And yet, like her sewing room looked like someone had been murdered in there, and I was oblivious. I just didn't even notice.

[00:20:31]>> I hate to think. Did blood get on any white fabric?

[00:20:35]>> Not that not that I recall. Like, it's been it's been a little while, but I don't recall anything being ruined. Just like clean up after yourself, >> and of course, the unfortunate sewed through your finger.

[00:20:46]>> I've sewed through my fingers. I've gotten a needle in the forehead. Yeah. I was doing like drizzle stitches where you have to like keep your needle up in a like it sticks up like this and then someone made my laugh and I kind of went like this and jabbed the needle right into my forehead.

[00:21:00]That was that was a really good one. I once this isn't really an injury but just a don't do this at home is that I once accidentally marked on a customer's quilt with a Sharpie instead of a marking pen.

[00:21:12]>> Which is why you shouldn't keep Sharpies in your long arm room when you have a six-month old baby.

[00:21:17]>> How did you get it out? Synthropol I got it out like it came out. There's like a there was a little dark spot on the backing but I got everything out of the quilt top and I never told her and she never noticed.

[00:21:29]>> Oh, good.

[00:21:30]>> But I that was like the biggest moment of panic I've ever had doing customer quilts. Like oh my god, what have I just done? So I don't keep Sharpies in my long arm room anymore.

[00:21:40]>> That's a good good call. Yeah, good advice.

[00:21:44]>> Learn from my mistakes. And of course, I'm sure you've stepped on a number of pins and things like that.

[00:21:49]>> Oh, so many pins. And there's carpet in my sewing room, so there's always a million pins in it. And yeah, I step on a lot of pins.

[00:21:58]>> So, on your your uh quilting journey, I know you uh probably could have designed quilts for yourself, but when did you start designing quilt patterns for digital download in to sell to the public? Well, technically I wrote a pattern for a school project in grade 11. I wrote the pattern and that's all that ever came of it. I think I wrote the first pattern that like someone actually bought would have been about 2014 15 somewhere in there. I think after we'd come back to cameras when I was working in the quilt store and other people can do this. I could do this too.

[00:22:32]>> So, uh you have that uh quilting with kids class. Have you passed on your love of quilting to your two boys?

[00:22:38]>> Oh, both of my kids always want to sew.

[00:22:40]They Yes, they both love sewing. They both always want to go downstairs and sew with me or often often want to go downstairs and sew with me. Uh it's really fun. Yeah, I really like it. We just like slow down the sewing machine.

[00:22:52]I'm glad I have like the fancy sewing machine with the speed control so you can slow it down for them and they like doing decorative stitches on all their fabrics and then like sew they've been they've both been working on their own little quilts that sometimes they can follow what their plan is and sometimes they can't.

[00:23:05]>> Do they like playing with your fabric as well?

[00:23:07]>> A little bit, but I wouldn't say that's like the main. It's the fancy stitches that they really like.

[00:23:12]>> Interesting.

[00:23:13]>> Yeah.

[00:23:14]>> Now, do you put a label on your quilts?

[00:23:17]>> Some of the like really, you know, like the really good ones and like but mostly I'm just I don't I should I It's one of those things where I know I should be putting more labels on quilts, but I just often too often I don't. I have gotten some like like folded labels that just go with the binding that they say like made by Kathleen Reggins on them um in some most of my quilts now, but I don't have very I don't have a ton with proper labels.

[00:23:40]>> It's never too late to go back and put one on.

[00:23:42]>> Well, it is it's not going to happen. I know >> that's what you should train your children to do.

[00:23:47]>> That's what I should train my It's what my mom tried to train me to do, but it didn't stick by the time I You know, just sometimes I'm just like, "No, I'm done."

[00:23:56]>> Well, that's that's my problem, too.

[00:23:58]When I put the binding on it, I'm like out the door. Out the door. That's why I make the label after I make the top. I make it from the scraps.

[00:24:07]>> I just like my labels are usually just like the like inkjet computer through the print. So, it's not like they're hard. It's just, you know, an extra step that I don't know. I just don't always do. I don't have any good reason besides I just don't.

[00:24:18]>> So, you mentioned you were in Australia teaching. Have you done a lot of traveling for quilting?

[00:24:23]>> Quite a bit. Not as much recently, but I have gotten to go lots of really cool places. It's been really a like unexpected little bonus in my life to get to go teach lots of really cool places.

[00:24:33]>> So tell me about the trip to Australia.

[00:24:35]>> I went to Australia three I taught three separate trips to Australia. Um mostly I teach at the Australian Machine Quilters Festival. So my friend had lived in Australia and was like oh you should apply to teach that this festival and I was like like okay like whatever they're not going to take me and then they did.

[00:24:52]I was like wait what? At that festival, the way the pay structure work is you're paid like a commission based on your classes. And I had only like submitted like two classes because I was like I didn't quite understand what was happening. And I was like, well, like why would I put that much work into submitting more when I'm not going to get accepted anyways kind of thing. And so then the person running it, she was really great. She help she like helped me like come up with a bunch more classes so I had enough classes to make it worth me coming to Australia. And then she helped me set up some other teaching dates like around Australia so that I could see some more of Australia.

[00:25:22]And it was a really it was a really great trip.

[00:25:24]>> Wonderful.

[00:25:25]>> Yeah.

[00:25:26]>> So, what is your favorite part of the process of making a quilt? Like even within long arming, what is your favorite process?

[00:25:32]>> I think it's just the deciding what to do and like the first pass, right? Like the first when you have the first row done and you can tell like, oh yeah, like this is working. This is going to be great. I'm getting that sort of first row done and being like, oh yeah, like this is this is going to be good. I like that sort of like validation that I'm not ruining the quilt. And in the whole process, I really like the cutting outs lately. cutting my pieces and having like nice little st I don't know I enjoy like the like nice little stack of pieces all cut out and ready to go but sort of depends on the day. I sort of like everything except for handstitching binding which is why I almost never handstitch binding.

[00:26:04]>> I love the cutting part.

[00:26:06]>> Yeah, >> just love the cutting part. I lose interest as I go along. Um and by the the time I'm putting the top together I'm like, "Oh, this is so ugly."

[00:26:18]You know, you see all the frame fabrics and everything like that.

[00:26:21]>> Yeah, absolutely.

[00:26:22]>> So, let's talk about your books. How many books have you published?

[00:26:26]>> I've done four freeotion. Yeah, four like freeotion and long arm books. Three were self-published and then one was with Lucky Spool.

[00:26:34]>> Are they the ABCs of long arming or they advanced techniques?

[00:26:38]>> Somewhere in the middle. Like the three that I did myself are just like different. they just talk about. So there's one about different swirl designs, one about different feather designs, and one about diff like different ruler designs. Um, and then the one with lucky spool is about how to sort of combine different designs together. So there's it talks about a few different like how to do a few different designs and then it talks a whole bunch about how to combine them together now in different ways so that it's more than just, you know, sure you know how to do a swirl, but like how are we going to use this on your quilt now?

[00:27:06]>> Do you have any lectures or workshops that you do?

[00:27:09]>> I I mean, yes. I don't have anything currently like I don't have anything currently booked, but I um often teach at different guilds and other things like that. I do lots of mostly different freeotion quilting, long arm quilting classes. So, I do swirls, rulers, feathers, combining things, different texture. I don't know. I teach lots of different things about freeotion just depending on what the group wants.

[00:27:33]>> So, if people are wanting to get a hold of you, how do they reach you? Um, the best way is to email Kathleenquilts.com.

[00:27:40]>> Okay. And if they're looking to buy any of your patterns or your books or find out about uh any upcoming workshops, where where's the best?

[00:27:50]>> All the books are through the store quilting from the heart. So, the website is qftth.ca.

[00:27:55]That is where all the books are. And there's a few um on demand classes through there as well. Um, any live teaching dates I'll usually put on my website which is kathleenquilts.com but there's nothing there right now. So don't, you know, expect to see anything.

[00:28:10]If you want me to come, I can put something on there. Yeah, those are the best places to find my stuff.

[00:28:15]>> And a last question. Are you coming to Quilt Canada this year?

[00:28:18]>> I am. We're going I'll have a booth. So the quilting will have a quilting from the heart booth in the vendor hall.

[00:28:24]>> Excellent. So I'll meet you there. I'm I'm coming.

[00:28:27]>> Yeah, I will be there.

[00:28:28]>> Thank you, Kathleen, for being on the show today. It's been a real pleasure.

[00:28:31]>> You're welcome. No problem. Thanks for having me.

[00:28:37]>> I hope that you enjoyed my interview with Kathleen Rigggins. I know that I am going straight to download her Sprinkles and Stitches pattern. If you would like to check out either her quilts or her courses, I will leave her website and social media links in the video notes below. Next time you're in your sewing room, be sure to have Karen's Quilt Circle playing in the background. I have interviewed so many amazing people on this podcast. Let one inspire you. Take care and I'll see you next time.