Quilting on the Side | Podcast Guru

Details

Co-hosts Tori McElwain of HeyTori and Andi Stanfield of True Blue Quilts share real talk about what it takes to grow a successful quilting business while balancing full-time work, family life, and creative energy. Whether you're into quilt pattern design, longarm quilting, teaching workshops, or selling handmade products, you'll find practical tips and honest conversations here. We cover everything from digital marketing and course creation to time management and the mindset shifts needed to build a sustainable, fulfilling side hustle. This show is your go-to guide for running a profitable quilting business on the side - with encouragement, strategy, and plenty of real-life stories from the stitching trenches.

Recent Episodes

Teaching Is the Business with Lynn Christiansen

Send us Fan Mail Lynn Christiansen of Emerald Falls Quilts learned to quilt with a coworker, sewing a table runner in the school copy room. Years later, she left teaching behind to build a quilt business around what she loves most: teaching quilters. In this episode, Tori talks with Lynn about how a wool applique class at her local quilt shop turned into a pattern business, why guilds are a strong place to start, and how the Wanderlust Quilt Society turns real-world travel into a community bl...

52 MIN

The Best Place to Show Up Online for Quilting Businesses

Send us Fan Mail Video is one of the few places where your quilting business keeps working for you long after you hit publish. In this episode, Tori and Andi talk about why YouTube is such a strong fit for quilt pattern designers, teachers, longarm quilters, and shop owners, and why Andi wrote a book about it. Andi shares why video builds trust in a way flat photos can’t, how a well-made tutorial, like a classic nine patch, can keep driving views for years, and why quilters need advice from p...

33 MIN

Building a Quilting Empire: Meet Carolina Moore

Send us Fan Mail Andi sits down with Carolina Moore — pattern designer, notion inventor, author, and newly minted YouTube Silver Button recipient — for a wide-ranging conversation about what it really takes to build a sustainable quilting business over time. Carolina shares the story behind her ever-expanding product universe (including her brand-new laser cutting venture, Clear Cut Quilts), why she's stepping back from guild lectures, and how an MBA and a lot of spreadsheets helped her make ...

59 MIN

Getting Started on YouTube: Quilting on Video

Send us Fan Mail Andi has big news—she's releasing Quilting on Video: Your Guide to Grow and Monetize on YouTube, and Tori puts her in the hot seat to talk all things video content. After seven years and 18,000+ YouTube subscribers, Andi breaks down why YouTube isn't just another platform for quilters—it's one of the few places where your content actually keeps working years later. We talk about: Why video matters for quilting businesses (it's visual, it's searchable, it builds real community...

36 MIN

Behind the Scenes with Kaitlyn Fritsch

Send us Fan Mail Join the free "Do You Have a Book in You?" Webinar here: https://selfpublishingincubator.com/bookclass Meet Kaitlyn Fritsch, the technical editor behind dozens of published quilt patterns and books. In this episode, she walks through exactly what a tech editor does (and why your math is probably fine—it's the spelling that'll get you), how to know if your pattern should be a book, and how much it actually costs to have an expert review your work. Plus: why finding time ...

61 MIN