How did you start your sewing career? My sewing and crafting resume has truly been built from doing what I love, learning new skills, and sharing all of that with others. It’s been a slow process, but God has blessed me with work that fits with these things, and it’s turned into a really wonderful career.

What would you do without your stitching/designing? It’s quite possible that I would go crazy. But I do know that I would still be doing creative things, like cooking/baking, photography, maybe even painting. These are things that I do now, but they would become a bigger part of my life to fill in my need for a creative outlet.

What are the stitching tools you couldn’t live without? I’ve come to learn that I NEED a variety of needles to choose from, and that it’s okay to spend a bit more money to find the kind I like. Sulky Sticky Fabri-Solvy or other interfacing/stabilizers are also essentials for me.

How many different crafts do you do? I’ve tried more craft techniques than I could count, and I’m always up for adding more to the list. The short list is sewing (hand and machine), embroidery, quilting, jewelry making, painting, knitting, crochet, kids crafts, and more. I suppose that’s not exactly a short list!

What’s your favourite – and why? This is a really difficult question! Can I choose two? Embroidery and English paper piecing. They are portable, easy to pick up and put down, and they pair well. I’ve made a lot of projects, from ornaments and table runners to pillows and quilts with these two crafts.

Do you take your stitching with you on holidays? Always. Road trips and air travel are my favorite times to stitch while traveling, but even having something to work on in the evenings in a hotel room are nice to have. Since my embroidery work is so enjoyable to me, it’s not like having work with me, and then I have travel memories that go with the things that I’ve made.

Have you got lots of projects waiting to be done? Oh yes! There are always things waiting for me to work on them. Often that’s because of my blog and the other blogs I contribute to (handmadecharlotte.com and hellobee.com). Blogs require never-ending content! But even outside of blogging, just when I’m feeling like I’m catching up on stitching projects, another one comes along. Which is wonderful!

If you had one secret sewing wish, what would it be? I’m not sure that it would be any kind of secret, but I sure would like to never need to use my seam ripper and that my sewing machine tension would always be perfect. Do you have a genie that could help me out with that?

Mollie Johanson, Wild Olive –