(upbeat music) - [Shelley] Welcome to "Kalamazoo Lively Arts," the show that takes you inside Kalamazoo's vibrant, creative community, and explores the people who breathe life into the arts.

(upbeat music) - [Announcer] Support for "Kalamazoo Lively Arts" is provided by the Irving S. Gilmore Foundation, helping to build and enrich the cultural life of Greater Kalamazoo.

(lighthearted ambient music) - Quilty Zest, that has something to do with making quilts, I bet.

Which you, I understand, are a star.

When did you first, well, fall in love with quilting?

- Well, I grew up sewing with my mom.

She used to make bibs and little wall hangings and towels and things to sell at craft fairs.

And so my first sewing was for my cabbage patch kid, 'cause I'm of the cabbage patch generation.

But I really got into it when I graduated from college because suddenly I had no homework anymore and I needed something to do in the evening, I guess I wasn't much of a bar hopper.

My mom bought me a sewing machine.

I went to a quilt shop and bought my first pattern and fabric and came home and started sewing, and that was 24 years ago.

And I sew more and more every year, I think.

- What is a quilt?

- So a quilt is made up of three layers.

There's the top layer, which typically is pieced, and where you see squares, and rectangles, triangles that are all sewn together.

And then there's a layer of batting, which is what makes it warm.

And then the backing layer.

And then quilts also have what's called a binding around the outside edge.

And it's always surprising to me that people who are not quilters don't realize that a quilt is not just what your grandma maybe made with scrap clothing in that, that there are things that you look at on a wall in a gallery and that, you know, see this is actually a piece of artwork.

And not just, I mean, yes, absolutely, they can keep you warm and decorate, but they're meant to be beautiful things to look at as well.

- Now let's get this question out of the way.

I understand you have three boys.

Do they quilt?

- They do.

They do.

When the last boy was born and he was a boy, everyone said, "Well, hey, you don't have a girl.

Don't you feel bad that you don't have someone to teach to quilt?"

And I said, "Well, boys can quilt too."

When they were about four, I started them quilting, not the cutting part necessarily, but they'd sit on my lap and we'd feed the fabric through the sewing machine.

And the oldest one is kind of phased out of it.

But my 12-year-old and nine-year-old love to quilt.

They come down, they always somehow find my best fabric, cut right into the middle of it.

But it's fun to see what they design because they don't follow patterns.

They come up with an idea in their head and then they just sew it.

So it's a lot of fun to be able to share that hobby with them.

- Talk a little bit about your business and how you well become successful with this.

- So my business is called Quilty Zest.

And my background is that I spent eight years as a quilt magazine editor.

And so when I was doing that, I learned how to tech edit patterns and check all the math, much like books and newspapers get edited, patterns get edited to make sure that what they're telling a quilter to do is correct and that all of the numbers work.

And so I spend some of my day job doing tech editing and designing quilts for various customers and checking the math and editing, that type of thing.

And then I also squeeze in time to sew.

That's where I'm designing my own quilt patterns, sewing them up, and then selling those patterns on Etsy and in quilt shops to consumers so they can make the quilts themselves.

And I also do demos.

I will do tutorials on YouTube and on Instagram where I show people how to do either little snippets of techniques or a whole how to make a whole quilt.

(pleasant music) So I'm going to show how to make a strippy improv tulip block here.

And this uses some piecing for the yellow tulip part and then applique for the green leaves.

And then the background is appliqued actually on top, which is what creates our tulip shape.

This is called strippy improv because the strips go on at angles and they all look different.

And after I do the first stitching, then I'm gonna take my iron and press that open, so I'm starting to cover up my tulip shape.

Then I'm gonna grab another yellow strip and I'm gonna put it on top, and I'm gonna angle it the opposite direction so that I get some interesting looking stripes.

And rather than buying new fabric, it's a great way to use up scraps that you already have.

So I think I need one more strip to cover my tulip shape on the muslin.

Okay, so I've got my yellow tulip created, and now we're gonna get to the fun part.

I've traced my tulip shape onto HeatnBond Lite, which is a fusible adhesive that sticks fabric together.

And then the next step is to cut out this tulip shape.

Okay, so you can see, I can see right through, and I've got that tulip shape going on.

So I'm gonna position that down on top of my yellow piecing and then use the iron on it.

Just adding that background shape in creates our tulip shape just like that.

And then I've got a stem to add on as well.

And then I've got two leaf shapes that I have fused onto some green fabric to add those iconic tulip leaves.

I've got a small one to go on the left and a larger one to go on the right.

And then just gonna apply heat to that.

And there's my tulip block.

So I'm gonna show you a couple other examples of strippy improv.

So you can see that just by the shape that you cut, you get all kinds of fun different ideas.

- So where do I start if I wanna make a quilt?

- Your best bet is to go to your local quilt shop.

That's a great place to start because they've got all the tools that you need.

They'll tell you what you need to buy for that, the fabrics, and they can point you in the direction of simple patterns that can get you started.

They also have really great classes.

Most quilt shop owners are also quilters.

And so they can tell you exactly what to do.

- [Shelley] What's another quilt perhaps that you're proud of here in your house?

- When I got into quilting, I jumped into modern quilting.

So in modern quilting, you have a lot of improvisational quilting where you don't necessarily have right angles.

So this is a modern version of a log cabin block, which is one of the most common quilt blocks out there.

And I chose a color scheme so that this one kind of recedes into the center because it goes from light around the outside into the dark, and then the orange and yellow down here does the opposite, so it pops out.

So this is one of my favorites.

- And what about the beauty of the Kalamazoo area?

Does it lend support to those who are interested in either following up on your business or participating in art of our choice?

- I think so, I think so.

So in terms of the outdoors of the Kalamazoo area, when I finish a quilt, I take it out on a photo shoot, but it's fun to go to the local parks or downtown to some of the great buildings and hold the quilts up in front of them.

There's also a very vibrant art community in general in Kalamazoo, but you see quilts that have been in Art Hop in Kalamazoo and up in ArtPrize in Grand Rapids, and there's several active quilt guilds and quilt shops in the whole Southwest Michigan region.

So there's a lot of resources out there for finding people who enjoy doing the same type of fiber art that you do.

- [Shelley] One of your quilts behind you does say, "Do more of what makes you happy."

You're practicing this adage.

- I try to, for sure.

I saw that in one of the quilting magazines that I get, and they had the pattern for it.

So I decided to make it, put it on my wall to remind me that, you know, how lucky I am that every day I get to do something that I enjoy all day long.

And even when it gets frustrating or I screw up and I have to pick out a seam or something, you know, that I have to change, I'm getting to play with fabric and I'm getting to exercise that artistic half of my brain every day.

And it's really a blessing to get to do that.

And I'm glad that I do.

- Would there be a community guild to be involved with?

- Yep, there are.

There are a number of them in the area.

The one I spend the most time with is the Great Lakes Modern Quilt Guild.

And a group of us started it about 13 years ago.

And we meet once a month, either virtually or in person.

We kind of alternate and we have speakers come in, we have workshops where we learn new techniques.

We just share what we've learned with each other.

We always do show and tell, which is fun.

Everyone can bring in their latest quilt, either like I said, on Zoom, or in person, and hold it up and we all ooh and ah over it.

But it's been a great creative resource in terms of bouncing ideas off of people or just sharing in the joy.

And for this year, in the fall, we're actually going to make quilted jackets.

So we're going to take a quilt, like what you see on the wall behind me and transform it into a jacket.

And I think one or two people have done that before in our group, but the rest of us have not.

So we're just gonna kind of share the knowledge and work through the process and I'll come out of it with, you know, everyone's will be different, but a piece of quilted art.

- And what is it like when you've made the last stitch?

What's it like to have your finished product ready to go?

- It's really satisfying for sure, because many of these quilts, the one on the wall back there, Follow the Rainbow" probably took me 30 hours to piece the top.

And then Diane Oakes quilted that for me, which took her probably another 10 hours.

And so there's a lot of time that goes into it.

And just seeing something that started out in your head as a tiny little idea and then becomes this finished product and looks like what you thought it would look like is a great feeling.

And then there's a hugely vibrant community on Instagram for quilters, and that's actually how I got onto Instagram in the first place.

So then it's really fun to not only make my husband and my poor children have to admire my work, but to go out on Instagram and show a picture and say, "Hey, look what I just made."

And so many people out there who just give you a like or leave a comment and it's fun to be able to share that with other people who enjoy the same type of thing.

- Well, I'm glad you stayed home and quilted instead of barhop.

There we are.

Thank you for your time.

- Thank you.

- [Crew Member] The iron, it caught me off by surprise, like what?

- It freaks everyone out, yeah, it's nice.

I don't think that I would like it for clothing, but it's great for this because otherwise you're constantly doing this every time you go to use the iron.

But then what's scary is when people are used to using this and they go back to a regular one and they leave it down and you're like, "No, lift it, lift it!"

But yes, it is, it's a pretty cool iron.

(bright music) - I have to ask a very blunt question, who's Fran and who's Judy?

Because it's Fran & Judy by Kim.

- Yeah, so Fran is my maternal grandmother and Judy's my mom.

And this business came into light during the COVID times and I decided to name it after both of them because they were basically my creative inspiration and taught me embroidery and encouraged my creative pursuits.

So I wanted to do in tribute to them.

- And here you are with a business.

- Yeah.

- Fran & Judy by Kim.

Lots happened in between.

Did we study art?

Did you just always have this passion for the world?

- Yeah, I did study art, so I went to Michigan State and I got a degree in art history and visual culture.

And then I went on to get a master's in historic preservation.

My day job is, for the past decade, I've worked in museums and art and exhibits from the Detroit Institute of Arts to now I'm at actually the Kalamazoo Nature Center.

- Oh, that's a nice place.

- Yeah.

- But here we are in your studio where you do your work.

What work do you do when you're not in nature?

- I really got into felt embroidery, particularly, so cutting out felt shapes and using needle and thread to embroider on top of them.

And I wanted to make something small that would be able to fit into just a small little package to send to family that we weren't gonna be able to see for the holidays.

And then once all of that was over, and January rolled around, I kind of thought, I had so much fun with that, how can I translate that into something else that's not sort of holiday themed?

I just started drawing again and creating paintings and then I would take those drawings and paintings and translate them into shapes and figure out how to cut them out into felt.

Now I've become more confident and skilled with scissors and I can just kind of go ahead and cut out shapes and let the different colors of felt take me from there.

- When did you know this would be a business?

Did you jump right in?

- So I've always wanted to be an artist, and even growing up as a kid, and even when I kind of had the choice of where I was gonna go to school and what I wanted to do, yeah, after I just got to be in my 30s, I kind of just decided this is it.

Like I wanna actually try it out.

And I became more confident in myself and thought, "I can do this."

- [Shelley] Give me the definition or how you define felt, from where does it come?

- Oh yeah, so it's wool.

I don't have my own sort of- - Sheep.

- Sheep.

(both laughing) Or produce wool, but there's also acrylic felt, which is less sturdy and not as variety of colors selection and things like that.

- Let's look at your products.

Many gracing your mantle.

Describe a couple.

- Yeah, so a lot of my design choices kind of go back to my art history courses and my love of decorative arts.

So tea canisters or teapots, blanket chests from like Pennsylvania Dutch.

And they have all of the different sort of whimsical flowers around the sides.

And that's really where I gain a lot of my inspiration.

And then also my grandmother, Fran, was a florist, and later in life did a lot of artificial flower arrangements.

And so a lot of our time was spent just sitting at her kitchen island.

So flowers are just a really meaningful subject matter for me.

And I just love adding the whimsical side of things to it, and that kind of full cart feel.

- Talk to me about planning, choosing your colors, and more.

- One thing that is really important to me is finding upcycled and thrifted frames.

So I love to go antiquing.

I love to go to thrift shops.

I really allow the frame shape to really lead in my artistic direction.

I then think about what shape of flower I wanna put inside of it, and I kind of stretch my fabric around the hoop and then lay the frame on top.

And then I work by just arranging different shapes of flowers inside of that space.

(gentle string music) I just love to be able to create with my hands and I love encouraging others to do the same.

I feel like this is a very meditative process and any time that people can take away from their busy schedules, just a moment to themselves, even if it's just 15 minutes to focus on something that they're making with their hands, I find it very meaningful to me and I hope other people can do that too.

So I hope it's an inspiration to others.

- Besides felt, what's your art?

- Yeah, so inspired by a lot of the florals that I create with embroidery.

I love to do any sort of tools that come along with embroidery.

So I started making pin cushions and I utilize little wood bowls and then I paint them with similar floral, fun, whimsical designs.

And then of course having felt it comes with a lot of scraps and I love to minimize the amount of waste that I have.

So use a lot of those scraps to stuff the inside of the pin cushion.

- You have something called a DIY kit?

- Yeah, yeah.

So again, like it's really important for me to be able to share my art-making practice through the ability of allowing other people to try it out too.

So yeah, I make DIY embroidery kits.

There's four different types of ornaments that people can try with detailed instructions and all of the materials they need from the needle to the cut felt shapes to the threads so they don't have to, it's not a huge investment if they wanna just try it out and see if they like it.

- [Shelley] Is there a zen moment with what you do?

- I would say the actual embroidery is the most zen part.

So when I can just kind of sit down, I have the shapes all already cut down and put on my hoop and I can just, I don't plan it out, which feels nice to not have to follow any sort of guidelines or anything.

I know in my head the stitches I want to use or I can, I have like a whole library of them so I can kind of just let my needle and thread lead me.

(gentle music) - Do you have to be perfect to do this, have the perfect angle of the circle, or does it come with what happens when you're in the machine?

- Yeah, I mean, no, like anything, it just takes practice.

If you were to look at some of my work from four years ago, it would look a lot different than what you see today.

But with embroidery, it just takes a lot of practice.

There's lots of different types of stitches to learn, but I say if you even just know one, you can try it out for yourself.

- And how inviting is Kalamazoo to an artist that wants to share her work?

- Oh, I love being in Kalamazoo.

I feel like ever since I kind of stepped my foot into wanting to be an actual artist 'cause it's hard to actually call yourself that sometimes when you finally make the decision to move forward with your business.

I've found a lot of similar people in similar situations and have had great opportunities learning and growing from the artist community here in Kalamazoo.

- Did the Fran part of Fran & Judy, did your grandma get to see the success that was building in you?

- Yeah, she always knew that, like, I had a creative eye like she did.

She didn't get to see the business as it is.

She passed about, let's see, I think it's been about 12 years now.

So, but yeah, she's always been someone who knew that I had an eye for the arts and creativity and always motivated me to pursue that.

- So it was important that her name came first.

Fran & Judy by Kim.

- Yes, hmm-mm, yep.

- Here we are, nice.

Thanks for carrying on your family's tradition.

- Yeah, thank you.

(bright music) - Thank you so much for watching.

There's also more to explore with "Kalamazoo Lively Arts" on YouTube, Instagram, and WGVU.org.

We'll see you next time.

- [Announcer] Support for "Kalamazoo Lively Arts" is provided by the Irving S. Gilmore Foundation, helping to build and enrich the cultural life of Greater Kalamazoo.

(upbeat music) ♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah