Be Open to Your Creativity with Ann Walsh

Meet Ann Walsh and enjoy hearing about her awesome passion for free motion quilting in this episode of the Quilting Friend’s Podcast. Ann has a wonderful perspective on living a creative life and healing and growing through craft.

Listen to this podcast or download it onto your computer using this player:

Help support the Quilting Friends podcast by joining the Friendship Quilt Along! Each month we’re going to piece and quilt a new block together step-by-step. Click Here to find the pattern for Block #1.

Ann Walsh Quilting

Ann is such a wonderful quilter and creative person! She got into quilting only three years ago and is already teaching and quilting professionally.

However, it wasn’t an easy road to get to this point. Ann always believed she was not an artist or a creative person. But the second she tried free motion quilting, something just clicked.

Ann believes that everyone has hidden talents and one of hers just happens to be free motion quilting.

I love this idea of looking for and unearthing hidden talents within ourselves. You just have to give yourself permission to try.

One of Ann’s main philosophies for quilting and teaching is practice makes progress. She doesn’t like the idea of perfection or trying to make a perfect quilt. Instead all practice makes progress, meaning every bit of practice you do will get you further along and closer to your goals. But there is no such thing as a perfect quilt.

Remaining Open to Your Creativity

Ann talked a lot about putting herself in a creative box. She was crafty, but she never allowed herself to believe she was truly artistic or creative.

The chance to take unlimited classes online gave her permission to try new art forms; one such example is hand lettering which she has recently take up. I stumbled across this image on her website and my chin hit the floor. I’m absolutely delighted to see my philosophy turned into art with Ann’s hand lettering:

Wow! This is an example of Ann’s gorgeous hand lettering!

Ann’s goal in the next five years is to remain open and curious. Having suffered a family tragedy three years ago she’s very careful about looking too far ahead.

I think it’s a wonderful goal to simply wish to remain open and hopeful about what the future holds. I loved making this new quilting friend and I hope you will check out Ann’s website and see all she is doing. Click here to find Ann Walsh Quilting.

Click here to find Ann’s YouTube channel.

Feeling Gracious for the Simplest Things

I haven’t been feeling well this past week thanks to several back-to-back colds. I’m so grateful to feel better and for the sun to be out today!

So that’s it for this week! Click here to check out more episodes of the Hello My Quilting Friends Podcast.

Don’t forget to check out the tutorial for Block #1 for the Friendship Quilt. We’ll be quilting this together next Monday with a super simple design with walking foot quilting.

Let’s go quilt,

Leah Day