How I Became Faculty at Two Large Quilt Shows

Maybe you saw on Instagram this week that I will be serving as faculty at both QuiltCon 2027 in Atlanta and at the International Quilt Festival in Houston in November of this year. I thought it might be fun for you to hear the behind-the-scenes on how that happened.

I started applying to teach about 12 months after I started quilting, and well, I was never chosen. I have always been an “all in” kinda gal. I also submitted quilts that were never chosen. I don’t remember ever feeling “wrongfully” rejected, but I do remember feeling like I would never be good enough. Because this “little hobby” business happened by accident when I designed the Crooked Christmas Tree back in 2016, I never really thought about what it would mean to “grow” and find my own “quilt voice.” I honestly didn’t even realize that was a thing. As a potter, I taught classes for the City of Columbia, and I would always say, “I am a better teacher than I am a potter.” My students would tell me that I explained how the clay should “feel,” rather than just telling them what their hands should be doing. Maybe my heart thought the same would be true for quilting.

Anyway, after a couple of attempts, I decided to give up.

I heard Tula Pink say once, “It takes 10 years to become an overnight success.” She was in year 10 at the time. That didn’t deflate me, but it did refocus me. I put aside larger aspirations of making Jittery Wings a business and tried to think of Jittery Wings as an exploration - my exploration. I started leaning into making quilts I love, designs I would love, and well, if I made enough money to keep buying fabric that was good enough for me. Everything I did for Jittery Wings was a “reaction.” I already had a job I loved. I wasn’t trying to replace that or get out of anything.

My All the Good pattern was designed shortly after that, and when it went viral, it pulled me back into business brain. I reacted again. I feel like the first 8 years of Jittery Wings was a should I, no, maybe I can, ugh, I don’t have time, but people responded to that, but I can’t think about this right now, let’s just see what happens, who cares of happens, me, I actually care what happens.

I thought long and hard about selling bundles. That was a change for me. To think long and hard. Once I did, I knew I would need to stick with it. I would need help. Insert Kelly. Insert studio space. Insert, if I do this, I have to be able to pay Kelly and my rent. At that point, Jittery Wings was becoming more than a hobby business. I needed an accountant.

In November of 2025, I knew that a very time-consuming and difficult consulting contract, during which I served as an intentional interim co-CEO for a nonprofit, was coming to an end, and I decided to focus the time freed up on Jittery Wings. I wrote my first-ever Jittery Wings Business Plan. I mapped out how to double revenue, planned retreats twice a year, decided where to focus my time, how to build real community (a priority for me), and what it would cost me to do so. I hired a marketing firm to teach me some things. Part of the 3-year plan was to get in front of people who would love my quilt patterns, which meant QuiltCon and eventually International Quilt Festival (side note: I have never attended IQF). With Kelly’s help in the studio, I felt like I could pull off a real booth at QuiltCon, so I invested a LOT of my own capital. I still didn’t feel good enough to enter my quilts or to apply to teach, but I could control a booth without judgment or being juried. I could do it on my own terms.

Our QuiltCon Booth experience was incredible! Y'all made it incredible. You came by to talk to us, and you shared your quilt stories. My daily demos were packed with people, and those moments of teaching brought me such joy. I got to know the super-helpful, organized staff at QuiltCon, and I thought, what the heck. Deep down, I still didn’t think I would be chosen, no lie, but I decided it was time to try again, because at my heart, just like when I was a potter, I am a teacher (according to my husband). At the same time, we had no idea what would sell at QuiltCon, so while we did incredible sales, I brought back a LOT of product. That pushed up my IQF timeline, and I decided to go ahead and apply this year. I decided if I was going to drive all the way to Houston for a booth, it wouldn’t hurt to apply. I don’t yet know anyone in that world, so for me it felt like a long shot, but I learned late last week that I will be teaching Color Power, No Color Wheel on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, from 2-5 PM.

This week, I will be spending time plotting out the help I need at IQF. I took a whole team to Raleigh, but I can’t do that for Houston. Instead, I am going to look for folks who will already be there, who have finished one of my patterns, and who would like to work a shirt or two (paid). More details on that and an application to follow.

For now, Quilt Friends, let your journey be your own. Sometimes I feel sad that I let public responses guide what I did next, but sometimes I am glad I learned from it. I am always grateful for where I am now, though, and I am grateful for you!

Regardless of where I teach, my favorite way to teach is at our retreats in the studio. What I love most is getting to really know my students and watching them grow. That is hard to do in a 3-hour session, but over 4 days, people have so many ah-ha moments. I hope you can join us in Newberry for a retreat sometime.