Episode 97 : From Blogtacular to Quilts Making with Kat Molesworth

Image shows Kat Molesworth sitting at a table behind a white sewing machine. With a bookshelf in the background

My guest for this episode of Making Stitches Podcast is Kat Molesworth, the creative force behind the Blogtacular Podcast & Festival. With Blogtacular, Kat helped countless creatives and bloggers find their voice and their community online.

Kat during her Blogtacular days (c) Kat Molesworth

These days, Kat’s work means she’s serving another creative community, working for Immediate Live, on the Knit & Stitch Show, the Stitch Festival & the Festival of Quilts. Kat has also been a quilter for years and this summer, qualified as a Master Quilter with the Quilters Guild.

Kat at the Festival of Quilts 2025 with two of her own quilts; Curve Study 1 & Curve Study 2 (c) Kelly Cheesley

Kat and I chatted about her childhood fascination with photography and how that developed into her professional life, her online adventures, hosting live events and what quilting has given to her.

I’m really grateful to Kat for taking the time to speak to me for Making Stitches.

You can find Kat on her website & Instagram account. For more information about the live events Kat works on for Immediate Live, please check out their website.

(Image is: Curve Study 2 Construction Detail)

To join the mailing list for the Making Stitches Newsletter, please click onto this link

The theme music is Make You Smile by RGMusic from Melody Loops.

The Making Stitches logo was designed by Neil Warburton at iamunknown.

You can support Making Stitches Podcast with running costs through Ko-fi.
Making Stitches Podcast is supported by the Making Stitches Shop which offers Making Stitches Podcast merchandise for sale as well as Up the Garden Path crochet patterns created by me & illustrated by Emma Jackson.

Making Stitches Podcast is presented, recorded and edited by Lindsay Weston.

Episode 83 : Menopause Makes with Jenni Smith & Kay Walsh

Image shows Jenni Smith & Kay Walsh standing together smiling at the camera in front of a beautiful patchwork quilt.

My guests for this episode are a pair of friends who met at a tap dancing class and went on to become creative business partners. Jenni Smith & Kay Walsh have been sewing for more than 30 years, many of which were spent working together in their sewing studio in Ilkley in Yorkshire.

Since Covid, their classes in sewing and quilting have gone from in person, on a local level, to online and a world-wide audience. They say their mission is to empower women through sewing, one stitch at a time.

Image shows the front cover of the book Menopause Makes by Jenni Smith & Kay Walsh

Their latest project, the book, Menopause Makes was borne out of many conversations between the friends about the Menopause. They had previously written a book together and decided that, as menopause and perimenopause symptoms were a frequent topic of conversation between them, why not write about it in a sewing context?

Image shows a woman smiling with her eyes closed and wearing a beautiful brightly coloured loose jacket — The Cool Down Cover Up modelled by Jenni & Kay’s friend Alison Lewis from Liberty Haberdashery Department

Along with a foreword by Dr Hannah Davies, a doctor specialising in menopause and lifestyle medicine, the book contains 10 patterns, one for each of ten different menopause symptoms. They include a sleep mask to aid insomnia, a basket for lost things to help with memory loss and a ‘Keep Cool Quilt’ for night sweats.

Image shows a pair of eye masks with a cup of tea and an open book also in shot — Insomnia : Sleep Mask

Jenni and Kay have chosen projects which are useful and achievable for beginners. Each project starts with a description of the symptom which it relates to, and how it can help.

Image shows a tote bag hanging on a door knob — Low Mood : Weekend Away Tote

As well as running classes, both online and in person, Jenni & Kay have travelled abroad to meet crafters from overseas, tell their stories and learn about their traditional crafts and techniques producing crafty travelogues as part of their online courses. Among their creative destinations have been Ireland, the Netherlands and Hawaii along with locations closer to their homes in Yorkshire, like Scotland and Northumberland.

To find out more about Jenni, Kay and Menopause Makes, please check out their website.

Image shows Jenni Smith & Kay Walsh standing together on a wooden bridge with a patchwork quilt draped over the side of the bridge and yellow and white windmill behind.The photograph was taken in the Netherlands. — Jenni & Kay in the Netherlands

To join the mailing list for the Making Stitches Newsletter, please click onto this link.

The theme music is Make You Smile by RGMusic from Melody Loops .

The Making Stitches logo was designed by Neil Warburton at iamunknown.

Making Stitches Podcast is presented, recorded and edited by Lindsay Weston.

Episode 71 : Creativity for Mental Health

Hello I’m thrilled to be back with another series of episodes of Making Stitches Podcast. This time I’m doing something a bit different, instead of launching the new series with a new interview, I’ve taken a dive into the archives.

Since I last spoke to you, Making Stitches celebrated its 4th birthday (which I think is pretty decent in podcasting) so I thought I’d indulge in a look back at some of the voices which have featured up until this point.

One theme which has been consistent throughout, is the very real benefit that being creative can have on your state of mind. It can be a light relief at a time of high stress, a positive outlet during anxiety and depression, a focus in the midst of paralysing grief.

Quite a few of my guests (not all included here) have spoken about how their craft has helped them during hard times. Speaking from experience, my creativity, be that through crochet, sewing or even making this podcast has really helped me over the years. I am a real advocate for being creative as a result.

Join me as I share chats from the Making Stitches archive:

Lisa & Lynda-Rose from The Crochet Sanctuary about the Pandemonium blanket crochet-along during Covid https://www.crochetsanctuary.co.uk
Patchwork quilter Emma Jones from the Vintage Sewing Box on the importance of making for mental health https://www.vintagesewingbox.co.uk
Textile artist Matthew Downham on finding stitches to ease his anxiety. https://matthewdownham.wixsite.com/mysite
Former BBC Brussels correspondent, Mary Jane Baxter on leaving a high pressure career for a creative life on the road in her Bedford Bambi campervan. https://unbound.com/books/sew-on-the-go
Peace & anti terrorism campaigner Figen Murray OBE on how knitting has helped her grieve the loss of her son, Martyn in the Manchester Arena bomb attack. https://www.figenmurray.co.uk
Dr Mia Webb, clinical psychologist, knitter and podcaster on the Why I Knit podcast on the benefits of knitting for mental health. https://www.therapeuticknitting.org

Clockwise from top left, Lisa & Lynda-Rose from The crochet Sanctuary, Emma Jones, Matthew Downham, Dr Mia Hobbs, Figen Murray & Mary Jane Baxter

To join the mailing list for the Making Stitches Newsletter, please click onto this link.

The theme music is Make You Smile by RGMusic from Melody Loops .

The Making Stitches logo was designed by Neil Warburton at iamunknown.

Making Stitches Podcast is presented, recorded and edited by Lindsay Weston

Episode 64 : The Great Northern Textile Show 2023

Hello and welcome to this latest episode of Making Stitches Podcast where I’m taking you out on the road with me to the second Great Northern Textile Show which happened a couple of weeks ago in Manchester.

Cheryl & Joanne from the North Cheshire Guild of Spinners, Weavers & Dyers

You’ll hear from a selection of traders who brought their products to sell to visitors, several crafts guilds and three hugely talented textile artists who were invited to exhibit their work. In this episode I also spoke to the really inspiring Taslima from CDM UK Manchester which works with women and children (some of whom have suffered abuse) teaching them textile design and craft skills – if you think that listening to this section of the episode may upset you or someone you are listening with, you can skip the section between the 33.5 minute mark and 43.5 minute mark.

Sheila Haldane with Jupiter (on the top right)

Thank you to everyone who spoke to me for this episode including Domino Panton-Oakley from the Great Northern Textile Show, Debbie Davies from Why Knot Macrame?, Janet Markwell from The Corner Patch, Niki from Allium Threads, Julie from TillyFlop Designs, Lisa Wilde from Sunnyside Fabrics, Cathy Unwin from The Quilter’s Guild, Cheryl & Joanne from The North Cheshire Guild of Spinners, Weavers & Dyers, Helen from Yarn Addicts of Manchester. Also, textile artists Wendy Roby, Jane Smith & Sheila Haldane, as well as Taslima from CDM UK Manchester.

Jane Smith with her beautiful Japanese Embroidery

Yarn Addicts of Manchester (Helen is on the right)

Since the last episode I had a trip to London for the Independent Podcast Awards. Making Stitches was shortlisted in the Arts & Culture category. It was a wonderful event and a huge honour to be shortlisted alongside other such fantastic podcasts. Making Stitches didn’t win, but I was really pleased to see that Folk on Foot, another passion project podcast was the winner. It’s a super listen and would highly recommend it!

My trip to the Independent Podcast Awards in London!

To join the mailing list for the new Making Stitches Newsletter, please click onto this link.

The theme music is Make You Smile by RGMusic from Melody Loops other music used in this episode is Happy Sunshine by Roman Cano, also available from Melody Loops.

The Making Stitches logo was designed by Neil Warburton at iamunknown.

You can support Making Stitches Podcast with running costs by buying me a coffee through Ko-fi.
Making Stitches Podcast is supported by the Making Stitches Shop which offers Making Stitches Podcast merchandise for sale as well as Up the Garden Path crochet patterns created by me & illustrated by Emma Jackson. The latest design is ‘Prunella the Pumpkin’ an amigurumi pumpkin doll.

Making Stitches Podcast is presented, recorded and edited by Lindsay Weston.

Episode 59 : 2022 Christmas & New Year Special Part 2 : Review of the Year

Some of the highlights of 2022 on Making Stitches Podcast! (Clockwise from top left; Figen Murray, Amanda Bloom, Khloe from the People’s History Museum, Eleanora Tully at Yarndale, Amoami, Tracy Fox, Great Northern Textile Show, Kitey from the Yarn Whisperer

It’s that time again, as 2022 draws to a close, I’m taking you on a romp through this year’s Making Stitches back catalogue with a few of my highlights.

One of Leah Higgins’ beautiful art quilts on display at the Great Northern Textile Show

You can hear from Figen Murray, Amanda Bloom from Cosy Life Boxes, Rafael Alcaide from Amoami, Beth Gillions, Conservation Officer at the People’s History Museum, Eleonora Tulley from Coastal Crochet, highlights from the first Great Northern Textile Show, Leah Higgins, Tracy Fox and Kitey from the Yarn Whisperer.

This year, Making Stitches has been listened to across 6 continents and has held the number one spot in the Apple Craft Podcast Charts in the UK, Australia, Canada, Ireland & New Zealand. It also reached the number 5 spot in the USA. Thank you to everyone who has listened this year – it’s been great to have your company.

Happy New Year!

Lindsay x

**Listen to the episode here**

To join the mailing list for the new Making Stitches Newsletter, please click onto this link.

The music featured in this episode is Winter Trip by AudioFlame from Melody Loops.
The Making Stitches logo was designed by Neil Warburton at iamunknown.

Making Stitches Podcast is presented, recorded and edited by Lindsay Weston

Episode 57 : Stand with Ukraine Art Quilts Auction with Olesya Lebedenko

We first met Olesya Lebedenko on the podcast back in March. Olesya is a Ukrainian textile artist who designs the most beautiful art quilts. She moved to Canada with her family back in 2014 and since then has become a Bernina ambassador as well as a regular on the quilt show circuit in Canada and the United States.

In our last chat, in Episode 41, Olesya spoke about the evolution of her craft from making rag dolls and running workshops in Kyiv to creating quilts in Canada as well as her fears for her friends and family back at home and the unfolding war. Since then, Olesya has lost a dear friend in the bombing and spoke about her loss in this episode between 21:30 and 30:30 in the podcast.

Olesya has been inspired to create four beautiful large quilts – the polar opposite of her usual mini quilt projects and blocks – ‘Acorn Power’, ‘Blossom of Hope’, ‘Knot for Luck’ and ‘Stand Together’ are up for auction to raise much needed funds for four Ukrainian charities; Magic Food Army, Medical Battalion ‘Hospitallers’, Ruslan Goroviy and Serhiy Zhadan. You can find all the information you need about the auction and the charities involved here.

Olesya & her daughter wrapped in the ‘Stand Together’ quilt

Whilst the bids for the quilts may be too much for many to donate, there are quilt patterns which you can buy too – the proceeds of which will be added to the charity total.

My thanks to Olesya for her time speaking to me again for Making Stitches.

**Listen to this episode here**

You can find Olesya’s website here.

To join the mailing list for the new Making Stitches Newsletter, please click onto this link.

For full show notes for this episode, please visit the Making Stitches website.
The music featured in this episode is Make You Smile by RGMusic from Melody Loops.
The Making Stitches logo was designed by Neil Warburton at iamunknown.

Making Stitches Podcast is presented, recorded and edited by Lindsay Weston

Episode 52: From Rusty Metal to Works of Art with Tracy Fox : Dyer, Print Maker & Artist

There are many strings to Tracy Fox’s bow, she describes herself as a dyer, print maker and artist creating the most beautiful art fabrics in her home studio in Manchester. She also uses her fabric to make stunning art quilts and has exhibited her work and sold her cloth at various craft shows over the years. It was at one of those shows, the Nantwich Quilters Exhibition and Fabric Sale that she was approached to take over the management and running of the show, which she has done ever since. Five years on, she’s now launching another show, this time in Manchester – The Great Northern Textile Show will take place later this month.

The Great Northern Textile Show will showcase crafts people and artists from the worlds of textiles, quilting, yarn crafts, embroidery, felting, spinning and other disciplines. There will also be craft guilds and organisations on hand to help visitors learn new skills if they want to add to their own repertoires.

One of Tracy’s scarves dyed using leaves & rust

I went along to Tracy’s home studio to hear about her own creative journey, the way she creates her beautiful fabrics and what she uses them for along with her hopes for The Great Northern Textile Show too.

You can listen to the Episode here

You can find Tracy’s website here.

Tracy’s finished Lockdown art quilt project using some of her ‘fire’ dyed cloth

More information about the Great Northern Textile Show can be found here.

To join the mailing list for the new Making Stitches Newsletter, please click onto this link.

The music featured in this episode is Make You Smile by RGMusic from Melody Loops.
The Making Stitches logo was designed by Neil Warburton at iamunknown.

You can support Making Stitches Podcast with running costs through Ko-fi.
Making Stitches Podcast is supported by the Making Stitches Shop which offers Making Stitches Podcast merchandise for sale as well as Up the Garden Path crochet patterns created by me & illustrated by Emma Jackson.

Making Stitches Podcast is presented, recorded and edited by Lindsay Weston.

Episode 41 : From Ukrainian Cross Stitch to Canadian Quilting with Olesya Lebedenko

Olesya Lebedenko with some of her previous books

Hello and welcome to the first episode in this new series of Making Stitches Podcast!

Kicking off this new series is a chat I had with Ukrainian artist Olesya Lebedenko. Olesya first got creative as a young child making up stories for her toys, then at the age of 5 she was taught to cross-stitch by her grandmother. Crafts would stay with her throughout her life – she says she has never been able to sit and do nothing with her hands.

An example of traditional Ukrainian cross stitch along with quilted button in Ukraine’s National colours

When the global economic crash hit in 2008, Olesya found herself without a job and expecting a baby with her husband, so she turned to craft as a way of making money. Firstly with craft supplies to make rag dolls and then also teaching students how to make them. However, when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, things changed, and Olesya and her family began planning to move to Canada to begin a new life closer to her brother and supported by her quilt-making and applique work.

A traditional quilted Ukrainian cottage scene used to make a glasses case

Now based in Toronto, Olesya runs workshops, writes for several craft magazines and has written a number of books, the latest of which is due out in May featuring applique designs of flower animals.

At the beginning of this interview, we spoke at length about Ukrainian folk embroidery, the war in Ukraine and Olesya’s fears for her family and friends still living in there. She also spoke about the online abuse she and other Ukrainian artists have experienced since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

The quilt block of a dreaming cat which Olesya referenced in our chat

You can listen to this episode here.

To find out more about Olesya and her beautiful work, please have a look at these links:

Olesya Lebedenko Design
Olesya Lebedenko Instagram
Olesya Lebedenko Etsy Shop

You can find out more about traditional Ukrainian embroidery here.

A quilt block from Olesya’s 365 days quilting challenge

If you would like to buy a PDF crochet pattern for Sophia the Sunflower, (£5 from the sale of every pattern will be donated to the UNHCR Refugee aid effort supporting Ukrainian refugees) you can find the link here.

Making Stitches Podcast is presented, recorded and edited by Lindsay Weston.

Episode 16 : Creativity for Mental Health with Emma Jones from the Vintage Sewing Box & Looking Ahead to Christmas with The Apex Singers

Creativity whether it’s music, craft or art has long been seen as having a positive impact on mental health, and after the year we have all experienced, it’s something many of us have had to focus on. This week on Making Stitches, Emma Jones from Vintage Sewing Box speaks about the benefits of focusing the mind on stitching and how that simple repetitive activity can calm the mind and our thoughts look ahead to Christmas with the Apex Singers.

Emma Jones says on her blog that she ‘loves sewing’ it’s been an important part of her life since early childhood. In this episode Emma not only explains how stitching has helped her deal with difficult times, she also discusses her love of English Paper Piecing and hand embroidery and has a truly lovely tale about a quilt dedicated to the memory of her Gran.

Mabel’s Garden – Emma’s quilt dedicated to the memory of her Gran

Emma with ‘Mabel’s Garden’ on display at the art exhibition

To find out more about Emma Jones’ work please check out her website: Vintage Sewing Box

Also this week, as our thoughts turn towards Christmas, we hear from The Apex Singers about a special Christmas Concert they are hosting online. The young vocalist group, which is based in Manchester, launched its first album back in March just as the UK went into lockdown and is now looking forward to performing together for the first time since that launch. Lydia Wonham from The Apex Singers explains how 2020 has changed the way the group has made music and how they now want to share their Christmas performance with as many people as they can online.

You can find out about The Apex Singers here and you can buy tickets for their Christmas Concert ‘Snowed in at Home’ here.

** YOU CAN LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE HERE OR BY SEARCHING FOR MAKING STITCHES IN YOUR FAVOURITE PODCAST APP! **

The music featured in this episode is Make You Smile by RGMusic from Melody Loops.

Making Stitches Podcast is recorded and edited by Lindsay from Postcard from Gibraltar.

Episode 11 : Making Stitches is back for a new series!

Hello there! Making Stitches is back for a new series after a long summer break. In this series, as with the first one, I hope to be sharing the stories of interesting creative projects as well as hearing from creators themselves about their own creative journeys.

In this first episode of series 2 I recap on what’s been happening over the summer for myself as well as some of my guests from series 1. Since I last spoke to you, a new crochet podcast has been born, a lockdown quilt has been completed and is now on tour raising funds for charity and just like many other events this summer a yarn festival is going online so you can enjoy it from the comfort of your own home.

For more information on the subjects covered in this episode, please check out:

Lynda-Rose & Lisa from The Crochet Sanctuary

The Crochet Sanctuary Website or find the new Crochet Sanctuary Podcast on your favourite podcast app.

Search for ‘The Quilt. Spring2020 Creativity in Captivity’ on Facebook.

For full details of Yarndale@home please visit the Yarndale website and follow Yarndale on social media for all the details.

For full show notes for this episode, please visit theMaking Stitches Podcast

Music featured in this episode is Make You Smile by RGMusic from Melody Loops

**You can listen to this episode here! ** You can also find Making Stitches on podcast apps like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher as well as many others.