Threads of Sustainability

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Join us for this episode with the wonderful Zoe Edwards - sewing teacher, podcaster, and blogger, who works mostly in the garment sphere.  Our conversation jumps into all sorts of different topics. Zoe has lots of interesting insights into the fast fashion industry, having worked there earlier in her career. We dive into the complexities of what it really means to make your own clothes (and/or textile art) sustainably, how to encourage people to get more comfortable wearing their handmade wardrobes and to be mindful about making garments that they will love and wear for a long time. 

About Zoe

Zoe Edwards is a passionate sewing teacher, blogger, writer, and mother who is obsessed with all things sewing and sustainability. She started her blog, 'So, Zo... What Do You Know?' thirteen years ago, and it has since become a major fixture in the sewing-and-making community. Zoe created the popularwardrobe challenge 'Me-Made-May,' which has thousands of participants each year pledging to wear their 'me-mades' in new ways and improve their relationship with their handmade wardrobes. She has taught sewing and dressmaking classes for eight years and wrote a book during the lockdown in 2020 about mending and altering clothing, titled 'Mend It, Wear It, Love It.' Zoe's new podcast, 'Check Your Thread,' explores ways to reduce the impact of the climate crisis through sewing. She's a creative force who inspires others to pursue their passions with sustainability in mind.

About Zoe's Check Your Thread Podcast

Each week Check Your Thread looks at how to sew more sustainably, through inspiring conversation and fun explorations. For those of us who are concerned about the climate crisis but love sewing our own clothes, it’s an opportunity to nerd out about garment sewing, whilst figuring out ways to reduce the impact it may have on the planet. 

https://checkyourthread.com/

https://sozowhatdoyouknow.blogspot.com/

https://sozowhatdoyouknow.blogspot.com/p/about-me-made-may.html

IG: https://www.instagram.com/checkyourthread/

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Join The Green Stitcher's Hive at https://thegreenstitchershive.mn.co/

Follow Bridget O'Flaherty @bridgetoflahertytextiles on Instagram and @thesustainablequilter on Facebook.

You can find her online at www.bridgetoflaherty.com

Thanks to Isaac Matthews for the music, follow him on Instagram @hesjustakid

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Join us for this wonderful meandering conversation that takes us through Zak's journey into and within quilting,  finding his artist status, his drive to create meaningful quilts and stories of special projects along the way. Zak has an intimate storytelling ability that draws you in and places you right alongside him. The community he engages with and his exploration of self and artistic expression are fundamental to the work he is doing today. We thread sustainability concerns and solutions we see going on in our world today throughout the chat. 

Zak Foster

Raised in rural North Carolina and now living in Brooklyn, New York, Zak is a community-taught artist whose work draws on Southern textile traditions and repurposed fabrics. He practices an approach to design that is intuitive and improvisational. He is especially drawn to preserving the stories of quilts and specializes in memory quilts and burial quilts. His work has been featured on the red carpet of the Met Gala, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as in various magazines, websites, and galleries. His QUILTY NOOK community connects and inspires quilters and makers all over the world.

Guide: How to make your work mean something
https://nook.zakfoster.com/meaningful/

You can find Zak here:

⤷ SITE
⤷ INSTAGRAM
⤷ THE QUILTY NOOK
⤷ SEAMSIDE PODCAST

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Join The Green Stitcher's Hive at https://thegreenstitchershive.mn.co/

Follow Bridget O'Flaherty @bridgetoflahertytextiles on Instagram and @thesustainablequilter on Facebook.

You can find her online at www.bridgetoflaherty.com

Thanks to Isaac Matthews for the music, follow him on Instagram @hesjustakid

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This episode features Sonya Oblak, a thrifty, improvisational quilter who recently built her dream home with an ideal quilt studio in northern Canada. Sonya shares her must-haves for a quilt studio and reflects on her 25 years of thrifting and quilting, offering tips on how to thrift for fabric for quilts and sharing her favourite thrift store finds. Did you know it only takes 6-7 shirts to make a quilt top? 

She also shares her passion for improvisational quilting that tell inspiring quilt stories, encouraging quilters to challenge themselves and show off their scrap quilts. Sonya shares her scrap and thread bit storage ideas so that her scraps are easy to access for her next project. She uses every bit of the clothing she upcycles including the seams in her hobby of crocheting rag rugs. We also talk about how busy hands are important for mental health, it’s ok to have an active mind!

Living in a high-efficiency designed home in the Yukon with solar, Sonya has also found ways to bring sustainability into quilting, sharing practical steps to create a better world and keep fabric and textiles out of the waste stream. She offers advice for newbies to sustainability, including identifying linen and cotton from thrifted materials.  

Join us in this inspiring conversation as we explore how small choices we make can impact all areas of our lives, how sustainability in quilting can lead to a better world for all, and how we can make quilting accessible while preserving traditional up-cycling practices.

Plus, don't forget to take up the challenge, show off your scrap quilts on IG, and tag us!

You can find Sonya on Instagram: @Sonya.oblak

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Join The Green Stitcher's Hive at https://thegreenstitchershive.mn.co/

Follow Bridget O'Flaherty @bridgetoflahertytextiles on Instagram and @thesustainablequilter on Facebook.

You can find her online at www.bridgetoflaherty.com

Thanks to Isaac Matthews for the music, follow him on Instagram @hesjustakid

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Bill Stearman and I are friends and colleagues. We both quilt, we both teach, we are both passionate about our journey and feel strongly about telling our stories. I met Bill at a quilt conference 4 years ago, where I was speaking about sustainability and he was speaking about his journey as a gay man, expressing his stories through his modern quilts. That pivotal meeting is where Bill decided he wanted to do more than just tell the amazing stories he does. He also wanted to bring sustainability into the narrative. He's been working towards that ever since. 

We talk about all kinds of connections, concerns and solutions that he has come across as he has journeyed. We also talk about some of our personal stories that we feel very strongly about sharing with openness and kindness. 

Bill struggled with storytelling as a way to make sense of his life for many years. And then discovered his voice in quilt making. 

Fabrics and carefully placed stitches express joy, anguish, hope, gratitude, and love, providing glimpses into deep and important stories; stories that matter on personal and social levels. 

His quilts make bold statements and provoke thoughtful consideration of a variety of issues. 

You can find Bill here:

Facebook: Bill Stearman
Instagram: @bill_stearman
Website: http://billstearmanquilts.blogspot.com/

You can get tickets on Eventbrite for Bill's talk  on February 27th, 2023

Toward Sustainability as a Quilt Maker
toward-sustainability-as-a-quilt-maker-bill-stearman-tickets-

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Join The Green Stitcher's Hive at https://thegreenstitchershive.mn.co/

Follow Bridget O'Flaherty @bridgetoflahertytextiles on Instagram and @thesustainablequilter on Facebook.

You can find her online at www.bridgetoflaherty.com

Thanks to Isaac Matthews for the music, follow him on Instagram @hesjustakid

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Elana Frosk from Oeko-Tex joins Bridget in this episode to get deep into the weeds of certifications. She loves nerding out just a little about this topic. It's near and dear to her heart. Labelling and certification not only assure us of the authenticity of a product in its claims but also gives the industry data to work with to make more strides in sustainability. They talk about why people should care about certification, this one addresses harmful substances in the textile world. Companies need to get on this train, consumers are starting to demand more and more transparency when it comes to having healthy textiles. 

If a textile article carries the STANDARD 100 label, you can be certain that every component of this article, i.e. every thread, button and other accessories, has been tested for harmful substances and that the article, therefore, is harmless for human health. 

Below is their web page on OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100: 

https://www.hohenstein.us/en-us/oeko-tex/output-control/standard-100

Below is their web page on OEKO-TEX® MADE IN GREEN:

https://www.hohenstein.us/en-us/oeko-tex/output-control/made-in-green

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oekotex
Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/oeko_tex/

Support the show

Join The Green Stitcher's Hive at https://thegreenstitchershive.mn.co/

Follow Bridget O'Flaherty @bridgetoflahertytextiles on Instagram and @thesustainablequilter on Facebook.

You can find her online at www.bridgetoflaherty.com

Thanks to Isaac Matthews for the music, follow him on Instagram @hesjustakid

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TeDi Jansen from Small Acre Farm does all the things on her farm. She has goats, sheep, botanical dye plants and even grows cotton! She does it all,  after losing her job, she decided she wanted to do work that felt connected to the land. Starting from making goat-milk soap, she brought in the animals and slowly started adding fibres to her offerings. Now that is her primary business and you can tell she loves every part of it. 

TeDi is a shepherdess, spinner, botanical dyer, weaver and reluctant knitter. After a midlife career change she turned to her sheep for inspiration. They whispered to her about creative yarns, woven goods, botanical dyeing and teaching those fiber skills to others, so she did just that. Her farm is both livelihood and classroom. She and her partner host workshops, fiber events, tours and small farm and fiber enthusiasts regularly.

"Spending my days with the sheep, goats and dogs on the farm helped me evaluate my life, my next steps and reconnect with the slow, simple life I'd become so disconnected from. While makings a batch of soap one day it occurred to me that I could share these simple pleasures with others and carve out a life I loved in the process.

I hope our farm goods bring the joy and peace of simple living to you.

TeDi

Chief Shepherdess"

You can find TeDi Jansen and Small Acre Farm online at:
https://www.smallacrefarm.com/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/timberandtwine.co
Instagram: www.instagram.com/timberandtwine.co

Support the show

Join The Green Stitcher's Hive at https://thegreenstitchershive.mn.co/

Follow Bridget O'Flaherty @bridgetoflahertytextiles on Instagram and @thesustainablequilter on Facebook.

You can find her online at www.bridgetoflaherty.com

Thanks to Isaac Matthews for the music, follow him on Instagram @hesjustakid

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It's a new year and a new season for the podcast. Jasper and I dive into some of the lessons learned, ideology and themes that have developed over the season of guests on the podcast. Jasper is a young adult with a very different perspective on the world from myself, so we have some interesting conversations. He even challenges me to think about what else I can do in my own quilt art. 

The overarching themes of People, Profit and Planet that are core to sustainability have been evident among all of the guests over the last season.  Jasper and I dig into some of the ideas of sustainability, the importance of all of the pillars and how people are working to bring sustainability into their work. 

We also dig into a wish list of guests, and topics for the new season with a sneak peek of what's to come. 

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Follow Bridget O'Flaherty @bridgetoflahertytextiles on Instagram and @thesustainablequilter on Facebook.

You can find her online at www.bridgetoflaherty.com

Thanks to Isaac Matthews for the music, follow him on Instagram @hesjustakid

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Quilts as a form of activism can be the bridge between science and the public. They bring together the urgent ideas behind what we are seeing with climate change through accessible art forms. We talk about this and so much more. We even share tips on making simple shopping changes by making your own soap, yogurt and almond milk!

Sue Herman has won International awards for her quilts, including the very recent Best of Show for "Dear Humans".

Her fabric creations connect her to the spectacular places and wildlife she has seen in her travels.  She aims to give the animal kingdom a voice, by transforming white cotton into lifelike images through many hours of precise painting with dyes and thread. She is passionate about protecting earth’s creatures along with their habitats and hopes her work will inspire you to share her sense of urgency around this message. 

You can see more of her work here:
Instagram: @suesshermanquilts
Facebook: @sueshermanquilts
Website: https://sueshermanquilts.com/

Support the show

Join The Green Stitcher's Hive at https://thegreenstitchershive.mn.co/

Follow Bridget O'Flaherty @bridgetoflahertytextiles on Instagram and @thesustainablequilter on Facebook.

You can find her online at www.bridgetoflaherty.com

Thanks to Isaac Matthews for the music, follow him on Instagram @hesjustakid

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We dive into intimate conversations around mindful practice for soothing the mind, and how intention can create inspiring work and help ground us. We talk about favourite tools for deconstruction along with some of the processes Eliu Hernandez embarks on through his up-cycling, recycling and recreating with denim, from the large panels,  right dow to the pockets and thread.

Eliu is a textile artist specializing in and obsessing over reclaimed materials. He uses original designs. Sewing and quilting seem to help keep his itchy hands and itchy brain in check.

You can find his work here:
Instagram: @madeorremade

Support the show

Join The Green Stitcher's Hive at https://thegreenstitchershive.mn.co/

Follow Bridget O'Flaherty @bridgetoflahertytextiles on Instagram and @thesustainablequilter on Facebook.

You can find her online at www.bridgetoflaherty.com

Thanks to Isaac Matthews for the music, follow him on Instagram @hesjustakid

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Patty Grossman and her sister wanted to have safe fabrics to use for their family. They realized it was missing in the industry and have spent the last 15 years researching ethical and sustainable production—how it’s done, and what the implications are to us (and to all living things)  and to our planet.  They even put it in their mission statement, a goal “to change the way textiles are being made”.

In this episode we talk about the issues behind sourcing ethical fibres, the challenges production faces with regulations, apathy and access to raw materials as well as some of the challenges we are facing with looking to small sustainable production for the answers to toxic textiles. It's not a simple solution; we can't meet the fibre needs with natural and organic production. Consumer behaviour is what needs to change as well as possibly the production of new sustainably produced man-made fibres.

"All of us live intimately with fabrics each day.  Fabrics are all around us.  Your fabric choices are incredibly important. You can have a dramatic positive impact on greening our world and keeping your family optimally healthy through your fabric choices. We want you to be confident that the fabrics you choose will ensure your health and happiness – not undermine it."

Website: www.twosistersecotextiles.com

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Follow Bridget O'Flaherty @bridgetoflahertytextiles on Instagram and @thesustainablequilter on Facebook.

You can find her online at www.bridgetoflaherty.com

Thanks to Isaac Matthews for the music, follow him on Instagram @hesjustakid

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Sourcing linen to make her own products for her family launched Marketa Kopal on an interesting journey. She had no idea she would be connected back to her family from a time before they fled the Czech Republic when she was a child. Building business relationships and exchanging values with the community that appreciates and relates to the tactile nature of linen is what motivates her to continue to share. She focuses on the little things to lead by example. 

In this episode, we talk about the textile industry in Canada, options around natural materials, flax production experimentation, recycled content mills that are making inroads, zero waste design, end-of-life material use and circular products. We cram a whole lot of meaningful conversation into this chat. 

Maison Lenko - Marketa Kopal
An avid learner and curious by nature, she follows a path that is as linear as a bundle of tangled threads. Marketa started Maison LenKo in 2017 in order to surround herself with healthy textiles. Linen is her jam, there is nothing you can’t do with it!

• Instagram: @maisonlenko
• Facebook: @maisonlenko
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIurbZAExMphupu_gMcCslg

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Join The Green Stitcher's Hive at https://thegreenstitchershive.mn.co/

Follow Bridget O'Flaherty @bridgetoflahertytextiles on Instagram and @thesustainablequilter on Facebook.

You can find her online at www.bridgetoflaherty.com

Thanks to Isaac Matthews for the music, follow him on Instagram @hesjustakid

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A love of textiles, colour and patterns is behind what Ming Hsu Lees produces in her custom, bespoke memory quilts and handmade projects. Living in a country where textile waste is prominent and quilt stores are few, she decided to explore sustainable options. We dive into a conversation about textile and food waste, keeping busy during the pandemic, and creating space for the healing and nurturing practice of slow stitching and a connection to family and community through textiles.

Ming lives in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  Her quilting journey started 10 years ago, like so many of us,  with her daughter's request for a small quilt - a "sushi" saddle pad for her horse saddle and that ignited her passion for all things related to fabric and patchwork. Growing up, she was always told not to waste. Learning that over 2,000,000kg of textile waste end up in Malaysia's landfill daily,  prompted her to embrace quilting sustainably. She is passionate about up-cycling and tries to adopt that in all her work.

You can find Ming Hsu Lees on Instagram @itsybitsybespoke

Support the show

Join The Green Stitcher's Hive at https://thegreenstitchershive.mn.co/

Follow Bridget O'Flaherty @bridgetoflahertytextiles on Instagram and @thesustainablequilter on Facebook.

You can find her online at www.bridgetoflaherty.com

Thanks to Isaac Matthews for the music, follow him on Instagram @hesjustakid

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Rose Moses is Ojibwe, from Henvey Inlet First Nation Band. She is a self-taught artist and has drawn on the inspiration of other First Nations artists. She up-cycles a lot of her materials when working on a project. We meet at her farm and she takes me on a walking tour of her seemingly endless work. From crazy quilts to doll making, beadwork, collages, painting, furniture rescue and restoration. She walks me through building after building and room after room filled with all of her projects. We talk about her deep passion for saving furniture from landfill and her support of youth and First Nations projects through sales of her art and furniture donations.

We also have a very open and honest conversation about the work she does with high-school students. She shares mixed media collage art that is filled with symbolism of the pain and process faced by residential school survivors, her first-hand experience with her loss of culture and her own connection with her mother's experiences of residential school. It's a very moving and meaningful conversation that I was honoured to experience.

Both Beading and Doll making has been part of the First Nations culture for a long time and it possesses great beauty, Rose considers working on them as sacred work. She has been making dolls for over 30 years and goes to schools to teach doll-making. She just recently taught herself how to bead and has enjoyed putting bead-work in frames, on her dolls and even on her own clothing.

You can buy her work at https://indigenousartscollective.org/rose-moses/

• Henvey Inlet Powwow, Pickerel ON
• Kirk Kove Cottages, Arden ON
• Kuriosity Shop, Northbrook ON

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/rose.moses.5    

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Follow Bridget O'Flaherty @bridgetoflahertytextiles on Instagram and @thesustainablequilter on Facebook.

You can find her online at www.bridgetoflaherty.com

Thanks to Isaac Matthews for the music, follow him on Instagram @hesjustakid

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Lorraine Turner works diligently to advocate for endangered animals. It started with a meditation session where she had a vision of Calico Horses. That launched her on a journey of learning to communicate with animals, creating textiles and building a community that is inspiring. Her advocacy work helps several different animal organizations globally.

We dive into a conversation about the why behind her work, the legacy of textiles she has recently discovered in her lineage, techniques, and how she shares her knowledge as well as the many projects she has on the go. We have a shared technique in using thread painting  and we talk about our experiences as professional artists, Lorraine even takes an opportunity to ask me about my journey!

Lorraine burst into the world of textile art in 2018 with a 26-piece special exhibit at IQF in Houston, just two years after creating her very first art quilt! Since then, she has become a Benartex fabric designer, BERNINA Ambassador, Aurifil Designer, Aurifilisopher, been featured in major quilting magazines, and seen on Quilting Arts TV and the Quilt Show with Ricky Tims. She is also a professional animal communicator and uses this as inspiration for her work.

A commercial artist for forty years, Lorraine won two Emmy Awards as a lead designer for the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and is the recipient of multiple awards at the San Diego International Comic-Con in her role as Art Director of the Library of American Comics.

She combines her varied experience as a watercolorist, commercial artist, and television animator with her love for all things fabric to create exciting multi-textured fabric designs.

Lorraine also teaches and lectures internationally, and is an author and motivational speaker who strongly believes in moving thought into action.

She has yet to meet a fabric embellishment she doesn’t like!

Lorraine works from her studio in Clearwater, Florida.

Business Name: Calicohorses.com

Website:https://calicohorses.com/

Social Media handles: 

• Instagram: @lorraineturnerartist
• Facebook: Lorraine Turner Textile Artist
• YouTube: Lorraine Turner

You can find me, Bridget O'Flaherty - The Sustainable Quilter here:
www.bridgetoflaherty.com

Instagram: @thesustainablequilter
Facebook: @thesustainablequilter
Youtube: Bridget O'Flaherty The Sustainable Quilter

Support the show buy me a cuppa tea!

Support the show

Join The Green Stitcher's Hive at https://thegreenstitchershive.mn.co/

Follow Bridget O'Flaherty @bridgetoflahertytextiles on Instagram and @thesustainablequilter on Facebook.

You can find her online at www.bridgetoflaherty.com

Thanks to Isaac Matthews for the music, follow him on Instagram @hesjustakid

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Visiting the Vancouver location of Maiwa to talk with founder and owner Charllotte Kwon was one of those pinch-me moments. I was surrounded by beautiful textiles in a warehouse/office/store while we talked about the history of the company, the connections and research they are doing with farmers in India, and the many many projects they have in the works. Maiwa has a 30-year history in the natural dye industry and the focus has always been on sustainable practices. 

Thirty years ago Charllotte Kwon formed a company and opened a shop. The shop was located in a new community of artisans that had formed on Granville Island. The Island, through its concentration of fine artists, printers, bookbinders, papermakers, potters, theatres, retailers, students, and industry, redefined itself as the cultural heart of Vancouver. The company was called Maiwa. In Cantonese and Mandarin “maiwa” is a word used to name the language through which art speaks. Maiwa. Beautiful language. 

Natural dyes are more than an ecologically smart way to add colour to yarns and cloth. Natural dyes embody the idea that there is a relationship between creativity, skill, what we make, what we wear, and the natural world. For Maiwa, natural dyes are evidence that colour can be a cultural force linking individuals to history and tradition. They work directly with farmers and run a full-time natural dye studio.

Charllotte Kwon is the owner of Maiwa Handprints Ltd. and the director of the Maiwa Foundation. Through Maiwa, Charllotte also runs a textile archive and research library located on Granville Island in Vancouver, Canada. Under her direction Maiwa has produced four documentary films and a number of print publications. She also guides Maiwa’s substantial web presence.

Charllotte travels extensively each year to research handcraft and to supplement her natural-dye research. Always looking to extend natural dye use, she also teaches dyeing workshops with artisans around the world and has planned a series of natural dye master classes to bring exceptional practicing artisans together. In 2014 she was awarded an Honourary Doctorate of Letters from the University of the Fraser Valley for her work in promoting the continuation of traditional textile techniques and cultures. In 2017 Charllotte was awarded the Robert Jekyll Award for Leadership in Craft (Canada). The same year she was an organizer for the Indigo Sutra Conference in Kolkata, India.

Maiwa Website: https://maiwa.com/
Maiwa School of Textiles: https://maiwa.teachable.com/

Maiwa Handprints Ltd.
1310 Odlum Drive 
Vancouver BC V5L 3M3
Phone 604 669 3939 

You can find me, Bridget O'Flaherty - The Sustainable Quilter here:
www.bridgetoflaherty.com

Instagram: @thesustainablequilter
Facebook:

Support the show

Join The Green Stitcher's Hive at https://thegreenstitchershive.mn.co/

Follow Bridget O'Flaherty @bridgetoflahertytextiles on Instagram and @thesustainablequilter on Facebook.

You can find her online at www.bridgetoflaherty.com

Thanks to Isaac Matthews for the music, follow him on Instagram @hesjustakid

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Did you know that every year the average Canadian throws out 80lbs of textile waste and up to an average of 44 t-shirts? Gemma Smith was shocked to see her landfill contained so much textile waste and is on a mission to save t-shirts from heading there. She created t-shirt blankets that save precious memories as well as keep them out of landfill. So far she has diverted over 10,000 shirts and made over 400 blankets.

We talk about sourcing new materials that are sustainable as well as sharing stories of some of the clients that want to have memory blankets and custom quilts made.

Re-Vive the Tee
An affordable and Canadian way to up-cycle old clothing that celebrates life, achievements, and adventures. Gemma Smith discovered her passion for sewing after having children and wanting to be able to stay home with them, while earning an income. So, for the past 10 years she has been creating special memory keepsake items for family and friends. 

The idea initially came as her children grew far too quick and she was having a hard time getting rid of their baby clothing. Gemma started to think of how she could keep their baby clothes in a way that wouldn’t take up unnecessary storage space, and she would get to enjoy and look at them often, reminiscing on the baby age. Her first ever quilt was created from an assortment of her daughters clothing.

Website: https://www.revivethetee.ca/
Instagram: @revive_the_tee

You can find me, Bridget O'Flaherty - The Sustainable Quilter here:
www.bridgetoflaherty.com

Instagram: @thesustainablequilter
Facebook: @thesustainablequilter
Youtube: Bridget O'Flaherty The Sustainable Quilter

Support the show buy me a cuppa tea!
https://bridgetoflaherty.com/product/support-the-podcast/

Music Credit: Thanks to Isaac Matthews for his incredible talent.
You can find and follow him on Instagram @hesjustakid for more of his music. 

Support the show

Join The Green Stitcher's Hive at https://thegreenstitchershive.mn.co/

Follow Bridget O'Flaherty @bridgetoflahertytextiles on Instagram and @thesustainablequilter on Facebook.

You can find her online at www.bridgetoflaherty.com

Thanks to Isaac Matthews for the music, follow him on Instagram @hesjustakid

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Micro fibres and microplastics can be dangerous for our health when we are going about our hobbies at the sewing machine. Julie Moore recognized this early on in her quilting career and set out to make a change in the industry. She was determined to bring organic threads to the quilting world and has worked for the last 20 years or so to make a difference in the lives of farmers, sewers and quilters. I talk with Julie about her journey to creating naturally dyed threads and her continued interest in improving access to healthy and safe cotton threads.  

Julie Moore founded Fiberactive Organics more than 20 years ago with the mission of bringing organic textiles into the mainstream. Fiberactive now manufactures organic cotton sewing thread for retailers and textile manufacturers around the world.  Julie is passionate about living lightly and with purpose.

You can find more about Julie and her thread here: 

• www.fiberactiveorganics.com
• Instagram:  @fiberactive
• Facebook: Fiberactive Organics, LLC

Show links
GOTS
Organic Trade Association
YLI Threads

You can find me, Bridget O'Flaherty - The Sustainable Quilter here:
www.bridgetoflaherty.com

Instagram: @thesustainablequilter
Facebook: @thesustainablequilter
Youtube: Bridget O'Flaherty The Sustainable Quilter

Music Credit: Thanks to Isaac Matthews for his incredible talent.
You can find and follow him on Instagram @hesjustakid for more of his music. 

Support the show buy me a cuppa tea!
https://bridgetoflaherty.com/product/support-the-podcast/

Support the show

Join The Green Stitcher's Hive at https://thegreenstitchershive.mn.co/

Follow Bridget O'Flaherty @bridgetoflahertytextiles on Instagram and @thesustainablequilter on Facebook.

You can find her online at www.bridgetoflaherty.com

Thanks to Isaac Matthews for the music, follow him on Instagram @hesjustakid

Send us a text

The way plastic is managed globally is problematic. In some regions, less than 8% of plastics are actually recycled. The rest are sent to landfills to slowly break down into microplastics, or release chemicals into soils and watersheds. Natalya Khorover has embarked on using waste in her artwork. She has always been driven to be thrifty and using found materials in her art seemed like an obvious path.

Links from the show: 

Quilters Take a Moment: Quilt Alliance Event
beyondplastics.org

Natalya Khorover

Natalya is an artist who uses repurposed materials and she helps other artists who struggle with knowing where to start using these materials to achieve their creative vision. She uses meditative hand stitching and mending of vintage linen, alongside her industrial sewing machine to stitch and collage layers of translucent single-use plastics which would otherwise contribute to litter pollution. The transformation she subjects them to makes these materials unrecognizable.

You can find her here:

Website: www.artbynatalya.com

Social Media handles: 

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artbynatalya/
• Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/NatalyaKhoroverArtist
• YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQ0ZWXG0nIeMLXfOgau360Q
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/artbynatalya

You can find me, Bridget O'Flaherty - The Sustainable Quilter here:
www.bridgetoflaherty.com

Instagram: @thesustainablequilter
Facebook: @thesustainablequilter
Youtube: Bridget O'Flaherty The Sustainable Quilter

Music Credit: Thanks to Isaac Matthews for his incredible talent.
You can find and follow him on Instagram @hesjustakid for more of his music. 

Support the show buy me a cup of tea!
https://bridgetoflaherty.com/product/support-the-podcast/

Support the show

Join The Green Stitcher's Hive at https://thegreenstitchershive.mn.co/

Follow Bridget O'Flaherty @bridgetoflahertytextiles on Instagram and @thesustainablequilter on Facebook.

You can find her online at www.bridgetoflaherty.com

Thanks to Isaac Matthews for the music, follow him on Instagram @hesjustakid

Send us a text

Memory quilts and t-shirt quilts are loving gifts for the receiver, but the maker often gets just as much out of the process. That certainly is the case with Cathy Saul who has been making memory quilts for people as well as for donations for many years. We talk about re-purposing sewing machine cabinets, up-cycling clothing and the process of making her special quilts. We also have an intimate conversation about mothers, loved ones, and how quilts can have a healing effect on loss.

The book Cathy mentioned in our talk is The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley

Cathy Saul is a quilter by day, public speaker by nature, autism clinician by training, and musician by aspiration. She loves to make useful things from scraps and she has a passion for memory quilts and restoring vintage quilts.

You can find her in the following locations:

Business: Silver Saul Quilts
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cathysings26quilts
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cathysings26/
Twitter: @cathysings26

You can find me, Bridget O'Flaherty - The Sustainable Quilter here:
www.bridgetoflaherty.com

Instagram: @thesustainablequilter
Facebook: @thesustainablequilter
Youtube: Bridget O'Flaherty The Sustainable Quilter

Music Credit: Thanks to Isaac Matthews for his incredible talent.
You can find and follow him on Instagram @hesjustakid for more of his music. 

Support the show  but me a cup of tea!
https://bridgetoflaherty.com/product/support-the-podcast/

Support the show

Support the show

Join The Green Stitcher's Hive at https://thegreenstitchershive.mn.co/

Follow Bridget O'Flaherty @bridgetoflahertytextiles on Instagram and @thesustainablequilter on Facebook.

You can find her online at www.bridgetoflaherty.com

Thanks to Isaac Matthews for the music, follow him on Instagram @hesjustakid

Send us a text

This week we look through a different lens at sustainability. I speak with Dara Tomasson about her journey to becoming a life and weight loss coach for quilters. We get into a great conversation about sustainability beginning with the individual and rippling into other parts of our lives as we feel confident.  There's no doubt that we have to be in the right mindset to think about the world around us and it can start with putting ourselves first.  Many quilters are women over 50 and life changes can result in habits that are not the most healthy for our bodies. Dara talks about learning to nourish yourself, which can lead to great things. Join us while we talk about these concepts and more. 

"After spending the past 25 years of riding the nauseating roller coaster of weight loss and gain with its accompanying negative self talk and discomfort I knew I needed to help others achieve the same results."

Dara Tomasson is a  life and weight loss coach for quilters. She has written a program called Love Yourself Thin that teaches quilters to show as much love and compassion to themselves as they put into their quilts and has helped quilters lose 100's of pounds.

You can find her here: 

• Website: www.daratomasson.com
• Instagram: @dara_tomasson
• Facebook: @DaraTomassonLifeCoach 
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DaraTomasson

You can find me, Bridget O'Flaherty - The Sustainable Quilter here:
www.bridgetoflaherty.com

Instagram: @thesustainablequilter
Facebook: @thesustainablequilter
Youtube: Bridget O'Flaherty The Sustainable Quilter

Music Credit: Thanks to Isaac Matthews for his incredible talent.
You can find and follow him on Instagram @hesjustakid for more of his music. 

Support the show  but me a cup of tea!
https://bridgetoflaherty.com/product/support-the-podcast/

Support the show

Join The Green Stitcher's Hive at https://thegreenstitchershive.mn.co/

Follow Bridget O'Flaherty @bridgetoflahertytextiles on Instagram and @thesustainablequilter on Facebook.

You can find her online at www.bridgetoflaherty.com

Thanks to Isaac Matthews for the music, follow him on Instagram @hesjustakid

Send us a text

Janine Heschl is an art activist that creates her art to bring light to endangered species. She is a thread painter extraordinaire and we talk about her process, inspiration and even her experience in meeting her idol - Jane Goodall. Making art can go far to making a difference. We talk about the creative process, thread, environmental overwhelm, inspiration and even dig into our thoughts on what quilt suppliers and companies need to be doing to advance sustainability.

Her aim with photorealistic embroidery art is to translate wildlife into thread and to let the viewers connect with the softness of the rawness of animals, to see them in a different perspective, different lighting or in fragments; to evoke emotion, increase levels of empathy and stimulate a connectedness with the subject. She believes in order to save our wildlife we need to develop a deeper sense of caring and cultivate empathy – to make compassion common again. #empathyforwildlife

You can find Janine here:

Website: www.textilewildlifeart.com
Instagram: @janine.heschl
Facebook: @textilewildlifeart

The Ivory Game 

Earth League International 

Wounda and Jane Goodall 

IUCN Red List

You can find me, Bridget O'Flaherty - The Sustainable Quilter here:
www.bridgetoflaherty.com

Instagram: @thesustainablequilter
Facebook: @thesustainablequilter
Youtube: Bridget O'Flaherty The Sustainable Quilter

Music Credit: Thanks to Isaac Matthews for his incredible talent.
You can find and follow him on Instagram @hesjustakid for more of his music. 

Support the show

Support the show

Join The Green Stitcher's Hive at https://thegreenstitchershive.mn.co/

Follow Bridget O'Flaherty @bridgetoflahertytextiles on Instagram and @thesustainablequilter on Facebook.

You can find her online at www.bridgetoflaherty.com

Thanks to Isaac Matthews for the music, follow him on Instagram @hesjustakid

Send us a text

Sustainable quilting is catching on the world over. In the Netherlands,  another sustainable quilter - Rianne Doller from Kick-Ass Quilts and I talk about the motivation behind her sustainable quilting projects and some of the people she has helped already.

Rianne Doller is also know as The Sustainable Quilter in the Netherlands (there's room for all of us!). With Kick Ass Quilts, she teaches and inspires people to up-cycle old textiles into new quilts. They are also a movement for a welcome, sustainable, world for everyone with the magic of quilts through joy, connection, mindfulness and sustainability! Societies trash will be their treasure.

You can find Kick Ass Quilts here:

Website:  https://kickassquilts.org/

Social Media handles: 

·     Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kickassquilts/

·     Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Kickassquilts

·     YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGRVeNT5t58qEE0gRhRpFtg

·     Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kick-ass-quilts/ 

You can find me, Bridget O'Flaherty - The Sustainable Quilter here:
www.bridgetoflaherty.com

Instagram: @thesustainablequilter
Facebook: @thesustainablequilter
Youtube: Bridget O'Flaherty The Sustainable Quilter

Music Credit: Thanks to Isaac Matthews for his incredible talent.
You can find and follow him on Instagram @hesjustakid for more of his music. 

Support the show

Join The Green Stitcher's Hive at https://thegreenstitchershive.mn.co/

Follow Bridget O'Flaherty @bridgetoflahertytextiles on Instagram and @thesustainablequilter on Facebook.

You can find her online at www.bridgetoflaherty.com

Thanks to Isaac Matthews for the music, follow him on Instagram @hesjustakid

Send us a text

Sustainability contains three pillars; environmental, economic and social contexts. All three need to be considered. Community, history and legacy are such a huge part of a sustainable future. The history of Residential Schools and the revelation of unmarked graves in 2021 compelled  Vanessa Genier to offer comfort to her community. It started as an ambitious, community project and has grown bigger than she could have imagined. It has touched communities all across Canada, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, from volunteers to survivors. She sits down and talks to me about some of the stories she has heard, some of the history she knows and the healing that is happening. 

*This episode contains topics and conversations about Residential School conditions and impacts that some may find triggering.

About Vanessa: My name is Vanessa Genier my spirit name is Summer Sky Woman. I am an indigenous mother from Missanabie Cree First Nation located in Ontario. I live in Timmins Ontario with my five children. I am a passionate quilter for over 30 years and am a bookkeeper by trade and have my Bachelor of Business. I believe that we have responsibility to use our gifts to better those around us.

If you would like to help the cause, or want to request a quilt for a survivor,  you can find Quilts for Survivors at www.quiltsforsurvivors.ca

Social Media: 

• Instagram:   QuiltsforSurvivors
• Facebook: quilts_for_survivors 
• YouTube
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Quilt4Survivors
• TikTok

You can join the sustainability community on my website www.bridgetoflaherty.com. There you will find my newsletter, memberships, courses, resources and supplies.

You can find me on Social Media

Instagram: @thesustainablequilter
Facebook: @thesustainablequilter
Youtube: Bridget O'Flaherty The Sustainable Quilter

Music Credit: Thanks to Isaa

Support the show

Join The Green Stitcher's Hive at https://thegreenstitchershive.mn.co/

Follow Bridget O'Flaherty @bridgetoflahertytextiles on Instagram and @thesustainablequilter on Facebook.

You can find her online at www.bridgetoflaherty.com

Thanks to Isaac Matthews for the music, follow him on Instagram @hesjustakid

Send us a text

Joins us as we learn about the colonial history of Shweshwe fabric and the complex, fabulous story of resilience of this South African fabric. This parent company does the trifecta of sustainability with social, economic and environmental projects steeped into their business model.

Driven by her passion for the beautiful creativity of South Africa, Céleste Compion aims to teach more people about it, by importing and distributing Three Cats Shweshwe to North America. Shweshwe, often called the “tartan" of South Africa, is a heritage fabric with a fascinating social justice story.

Noted within this episode:
Da Gama Fabrics: www.dagama.co.za
Poppi dolls: I did a pretty extensive search into locating contact information for this project, but did not turn up anything concrete. If you know how to find these dolls, please let us know!
Kekfesto: Wikipedia 

You can find Meerkat Shweshwe in the following locations: 

Website: www.meerkatshweshwe.com

Social Media handles: 

• Instagram: Meerkat Shweshwe 
• Facebook: Meerkat Shweshwe 
• Twitter: mtshweshwe 

How to find your host, Bridget O'Flaherty:
You can join the sustainability community at  www.bridgetoflaherty.com. There you will find a newsletter, memberships, courses, resources and supplies.

You can find Bridget on Social Media

Instagram: @thesustainablequilter
Facebook: @thesustainablequilter
Youtube: Bridget O'Flaherty The Sustainable Quilter

Music Credit: Thanks to Isaac Matthews for his incredible talent.
You can find and follow him on Instagram @hesjustakid for more of his music. 

Support the show

Join The Green Stitcher's Hive at https://thegreenstitchershive.mn.co/

Follow Bridget O'Flaherty @bridgetoflahertytextiles on Instagram and @thesustainablequilter on Facebook.

You can find her online at www.bridgetoflaherty.com

Thanks to Isaac Matthews for the music, follow him on Instagram @hesjustakid

Send us a text

In this first episode of Threads of Sustainability, I flip the interview and have a conversation  with Jasper Nault who asks me about the motivation for starting a podcast on sustainability in quilting, fibre and textile arts. 

We talk about: 

• Who I am
• Eco-overwhelm
• Problems in the textile industry
• Overconsumption
• Environmental issues
• Themes and topics the podcast will explore 
• Re-enforcing that small actions matter and, 
• Inspiration for change

You can join the sustainability community on my website www.bridgetoflaherty.com. There you will find my newsletter, memberships, courses, resources and supplies.

You can find me on Social Media

Instagram: @thesustainablequilter
Facebook: @thesustainablequilter
Youtube: Bridget O'Flaherty The Sustainable Quilter

You can find and follow Jasper Nault on Instagram @jasper_nault to see all of his latest and coolest art.

Music Credit: Thanks to Isaac Matthews for his incredible talent.
You can find and follow him on Instagram @hesjustakid for more of his music. 

Support the show

Join The Green Stitcher's Hive at https://thegreenstitchershive.mn.co/

Follow Bridget O'Flaherty @bridgetoflahertytextiles on Instagram and @thesustainablequilter on Facebook.

You can find her online at www.bridgetoflaherty.com

Thanks to Isaac Matthews for the music, follow him on Instagram @hesjustakid