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Fiber Talk with Melissa Galbraith

Melissa Galbraith will teach you how to make your shoes look like this.
Melissa has never seen a garment that couldn’t use a little embellishment.
Imagine what your plain Jane sneakers would look like if they had a scene embroidered on the sides. Melissa Galbraith did just that and she wrote a book about it to help you turn your canvas shoes into works of art. Melissa is our guest this week and the show is sponsored by Sassy Jacks Stitchery and the Embroiderer’s Guild of America. Melissa learned embroidery from her mother, advanced her skills while working a monotonous desk job, watched her stash outgrow her small apartment, and converted it all into a business. That business, MCreativeJ, offers embroidery designs (many to embellish clothing), live and online classes, a Domestika class and, so far, two books. In addition to her book, “DIY Embroidered Shoes,” Melissa has written “How to Embroidery Texture and Pattern,” an excellent guide to adding depth and visual movement to your needlework. Enjoy the conversation, then go dig in your closet and find some old, boring shoes to embellish. Beth has found a pair and is making plans. Gary doesn’t own boring shoes. Also, do some shopping at Sassy Jacks and join the EGA.–Beth and Gary

Listen to the podcast:

This show is also available on FlossTube. Click here to view it.

This week’s sponsor is Sassy Jacks Stitchery at sassyjacksstitchery.com.

Sampler University is a new offering for members and non-members at the 2025 EGA National Seminar.
You can listen by using the player above or you can subscribe to Fiber Talk through iTunes, Amazon Music, Spotify, Audible, iHeart Radio, TuneIn, Podbay, Podbean, and many other podcast sources. To receive e-mail notification of new podcasts, provide your name and e-mail address below. We do not sell/share e-mail addresses.

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We hope you enjoy the show. We’re always looking for guests, so let me know if there is someone you’d like me to have on the show.

To add yourself to our mailing list and be notified whenever we post a new podcast, provide your name and email address below. You won’t get spam and we won’t share your address.


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Fiber Talk with Kevin Lustik

School Zone by Kevin Lustik
California Fires by Kevin Lustik
Our sponsors are CyberPointers and Sassy Jacks Stitchery and our guest is needlepoint artist Kevin Lustik. “Velvetpark” magazine said it best, “Lustik’s imaginative work evokes a folksy Americana, yet upon closer inspection, you are confronted by piercing social commentary. Few artists can pull off hot button issues of the day such as climate change and the disregard for human virtue, as quirkily, and dare I say, as delightfully, as Kevin Lustik.” Kevin’s needle art also operates at a level of originality that few achieve. His current exhibit, “Needling,” at The Garment District Alliance Space for Public Arts in New York City runs through Jan. 27, 2025. When it ends, keep an eye on Lustik’s social media because the likelihood of a future exhibit of his art is very high. It’s needle art that makes you think, smile, or both and he should be on your follow list.–Gary

Listen to the podcast:

This show is also available on FlossTube. Click here to view it.

Join CyberPointers at cyberpointers.org.
This week’s sponsor is Sassy Jacks Stitchery at sassyjacksstitchery.com.

You can listen by using the player above or you can subscribe to Fiber Talk through iTunes, Amazon Music, Spotify, Audible, iHeart Radio, TuneIn, Podbay, Podbean, and many other podcast sources. To receive e-mail notification of new podcasts, provide your name and e-mail address below. We do not sell/share e-mail addresses.

Here are some links:

We hope you enjoy the show. We’re always looking for guests, so let me know if there is someone you’d like me to have on the show.

To add yourself to our mailing list and be notified whenever we post a new podcast, provide your name and email address below. You won’t get spam and we won’t share your address.


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Fiber Talk Midweek Chat, 1-8-25

Sign up today for the Fiber Talk Needle Arts Weekend retreat, March 21 to 23, 2025. Details at wetalkfiber.com/weekend
Our next project is the Phoenix Band Sampler by Northern Expressions Needlework.

We return from our holiday hiatus to talk about the upcoming Fiber Talk Needle Arts Weekend, March 21 to 23. Register today at wetalkfiber.com/weekend. We also talked about Beth’s Stitch Everyday challenge (Can you do it?), our 2025 plans to stitch the Phoenix Band Sampler by Northern Expressions Needlework and the Floral Runner wool applique project by The Woolen Needle, do live Tour de France shows this summer, and offer some special videos throughout the year. We also discussed what we plan to do individually. The general theme is to eat into the mountain of projects we already own. Join us for the Phoenix Band Sampler effort in a few weeks. Note that there is a version with specialty stitches and one that is just cross stitch, so everyone can participate. It’s going to be a fun year of stitching and learning. Sunday’s guest: Kevin Lustik–Beth and Gary

Listen to the podcast:

This show is also available on FlossTube. Click here to view it.

Beth’s threads for the Phoenix Band Sampler.

You can listen by using the player above or you can subscribe to Fiber Talk through iTunes, Amazon Music, Spotify, Audible, iHeart Radio, TuneIn, Podbay, Podbean, and many other podcast sources. To receive e-mail notification of new podcasts, provide your name and e-mail address below. We do not sell/share e-mail addresses.

Here are some links:

We hope you enjoy the show. We’re always looking for guests, so let me know if there is someone you’d like me to have on the show.

To add yourself to our mailing list and be notified whenever we post a new podcast, provide your name and email address below. You won’t get spam and we won’t share your address.


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Fiber Talk with Isabella Strambio

Isabella Strambio
“Mindful Macrame” by Isabella Strambio will be released Jan. 10, 2025.
Macrame placemat by Isabella Strambio.

TwoMe, 12 crafts in 12 months, journaling, and macrame are the foundations of “Mindful Macrame,” a new book from this week’s guest, Isabella Strambio. The show is sponsored by Sassy Jacks Stitchery and the Embroiderers’ Guild of America. Isabella is one of many who left the corporate world because it was stifling her creativity. That creative side blossomed when, at the urging of friends, she started offering macrame classes. The result, to date, is four books, and a design business that energizes her. Integrated into that business is a strong thread of mental health, which is the focus of her latest book and much of our conversation. If you are looking for some moments of peace/sanity, your chosen craft and the techniques Isabella uses can help you. The book will be released Jan. 10 and can be pre-ordered now.–Beth and Gary

Listen to the podcast:

This show is also available on FlossTube. Click here to view it.

This week’s sponsor is Sassy Jacks Stitchery at sassyjacksstitchery.com.
Visit the EGA website at egausa.org and consider joining.

You can listen by using the player above or you can subscribe to Fiber Talk through iTunes, Amazon Music, Spotify, Audible, iHeart Radio, TuneIn, Podbay, Podbean, and many other podcast sources. To receive e-mail notification of new podcasts, provide your name and e-mail address below. We do not sell/share e-mail addresses.

Here are some links:

We hope you enjoy the show. We’re always looking for guests, so let me know if there is someone you’d like me to have on the show.

To add yourself to our mailing list and be notified whenever we post a new podcast, provide your name and email address below. You won’t get spam and we won’t share your address.


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Fiber Talk with Jeannette Tombaugh

Beyond the Moon by Jeannette Tombaugh.
Dreaming by Jeannette Tombaugh.

Needlepoint designer Jeannette Tombaugh of Mountain Peaks Studio is our guest this week. The show is sponsored by Cyberpointers and Sassy Jacks Stitchery. Jeanette is a versatile, talented creator of counted-canvas and painted-canvas needlepoint designs, along with stitch guides for painted canvases. She is also the resident canvas expert at A Stitching Shop in Denver. Jeannette teaches extensively and has offered classes through EGA, Cyberpointers, ANG, and NAN. In our conversation, we learn how her self-taught needlework and design skills have evolved, how she uses just about any technique and material that will help tell her design story, and what a day is like for a designer at her level. We also get to hear the story of a sampler collection at a Pennsylvania bed-and-breakfast and how it became a lecture for Jeannette and uncovered a family connection. We also hear the story of her “Beyond the Moon” design, inspired by Clyde Tombaugh, a distant cousin of Jeannette’s husband and discoverer of the planet Pluto. It was great fun talking with Jeannette and we are confident you’ll enjoy the conversation.–Beth and Gary

Listen to the podcast:

This show is also available on FlossTube. Click here to view it.

Join CyberPointers at cyberpointers.org.
This week’s sponsor is Sassy Jacks Stitchery at sassyjacksstitchery.com.

You can listen by using the player above or you can subscribe to Fiber Talk through iTunes, Amazon Music, Spotify, Audible, iHeart Radio, TuneIn, Podbay, Podbean, and many other podcast sources. To receive e-mail notification of new podcasts, provide your name and e-mail address below. We do not sell/share e-mail addresses.

Here are some links:

We hope you enjoy the show. We’re always looking for guests, so let me know if there is someone you’d like me to have on the show.

To add yourself to our mailing list and be notified whenever we post a new podcast, provide your name and email address below. You won’t get spam and we won’t share your address.