On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast we’re talking about designing fabric with my guest Anna Maria Parry.

Having grown up in a creative home, Anna Maria Parry earned an honors BFA in drawing from the University of Tennessee in 1995 before opening a small clothing shop with her mother the same year. Designing and sewing a clothing label while managing a shop primed her for a career in textiles and small business. Since her first fabric collection debuted in 2005, she has designed hundreds of illustrative fabric prints that have inspired crafters and quilters around the globe.

She is now the design director for Anna Maria Textiles and sharing her distinctive quilt-making process has taken her all over the world to teach and lecture. Anna Maria’s Blueprint Quilting is her fourth book, and she self-publishes an ongoing collection of sewing, quilting, and needlework patterns at annamariaparry.com. She lives with her husband and family between Franklin, Tennessee, and Sydney, Australia.

This episode is sponsored by Craftsy.

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This episode is sponsored by Craftsy.

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We begin this interview with Anna Maria tracing the journey of her career and explaining how she became a fabric designer in the quilting industry. We talk about the beginning of Free Spirit Fabrics and what set it apart as a company. Anna Maria talks about the changes in ownership and about working with other artists to translate their designs for quilting with Conservatory Fabric.

Anna Maria’s new book is available for pre-order now.

Next, Anna Maria talks about her decision to take some time off and write a book which became Anna Maria’s Blueprint Quilting. She explains the concept behind this book and what she hopes readers will take away from it.

We also discuss Anna Maria’s new division with Northcott Fabrics, Anna Maria Textiles. She explains how this partnership came about and what is exciting about it for her. We talk about Craft South, Anna Maria’s brick-and-mortar, and the decision to close the physical space. Recently, Anna Maria got remarried and I ask her about the decision to change her last name.

And, of course, I ask Anna Maria to recommend great stuff she’s enjoying right now. Anna Maria recommends:

• Audiobooks including Everything, Nothing, Someone; Sociopath; and Marriage Portrait
• Embroidery with Aurifil 8wt, and not having a plan when I start, just drawing on the fabric and then going for it.
• Online gardening lessons at floretflowers.com

Keep up with Anna Maria Textiles and Anna Maria’s designer account on Instagram!