Designers Plants and Coffee
We’re three women—Zahiyya from Cover Me Chic, Naima from Fearless Threads, and LaTisha from Keeping You in Stitches—sharing our journey as designers, educators, and creative entrepreneurs.
Sewing, sipping, and staying rooted—join us for real conversations on creativity, fashion, community, and building handmade businesses with heart.
Designers Plants and Coffee
The Art of Quilting and Entrepreneurship
Episode Summary:
In this inspiring episode, we sit down with Jacqueline Bryant Campbell, a talented quilt artist from Washington, DC, who shares her remarkable journey into the quilting business. Jacqueline’s path to artistry was sparked by a catalog of brown ballerinas, leading her to take a quilting class that transformed her passion into a thriving career. With a commitment to supporting her family, she expanded her creative endeavors to include doll-making and operates through commissions and sales, creating notable projects like large wall hangings for a local church.
- Creative Inspiration and Personal History:
- Jacqueline discusses how her family history and treasured photographs from her great-grandmother serve as powerful sources of inspiration for her work, illustrating the deep connection between personal narratives and artistic expression.
- Navigating the Business of Art:
- Emphasizing the importance of understanding market value, Jacqueline delves into the complexities of pricing artwork. She shares insights on balancing base rates with additional charges for intricate pieces, stressing the necessity of a solid business plan for aspiring artists.
- The Role of Community Support:
- Reflecting on her initial ventures in a challenging economy, Jacqueline recounts the invaluable support she received from friends and family during her first event, which helped alleviate her fears of failure and highlighted the importance of community in an artist’s journey.
- Lessons in Commission Work:
- Jacqueline shares her experiences with commission work, underscoring the importance of trust and communication. She recounts a challenging situation with a client who failed to pay, emphasizing the need for clear payment terms to protect both the artist and the client.
- Advice for Aspiring Artists:
- Jacqueline encourages budding artists to carefully evaluate opportunities and seek guidance to avoid common pitfalls in the industry, fostering a mindset of strategic growth and informed decision-making.
Key Takeaways:
- The intersection of personal history and creativity can lead to unique artistic expressions.
- Understanding the business side of art is crucial for long-term success.
- Building a supportive community can help mitigate fears and foster growth in challenging times.
- Clear communication and trust are vital components in commission work.
Join us for this enlightening conversation that blends art, business acumen, and personal storytelling, as Jacqueline Bryant Campbell shares her passion for quilting and the lessons she has learned along the way.
We want to hear from you! If this episode inspired you in anyway take a screen shot of you listening on your device and post it to your Instagram stories and tag us, @designersplantsandcoffee and @jacqsdolls
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Website: designersplantsandcoffee.com
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Hosts websites:
Naima: lovefearlessthreads.com
LaTisha: keepingyounstitches.com
Zahiyya: covermechic.com
Zahiyya
00:00 - 00:06
Welcome to the Designer's Plants and Coffee podcast where we discuss how to succeed as a designer while staying true to yourself,
00:06 - 00:09
finding peace in the process and making money doing what we love.
00:09 - 00:12
Subscribe on YouTube and wherever you get your podcast.
Naima
00:12 - 00:15
And we have miss Jacqueline Bryant Campbell.
00:15 - 00:18
Jackie is a quilt artist based in Washington, DC.
Zahiyya
00:19 - 00:21
So what inspired you to start your business?
Jacqueline
00:21 - 00:28
It's probably the early nineties. I had gotten a catalog from G Street Fabrics, and they had this fabric on the cover that had brown ballerinas on.
00:28 - 00:34
Having been a brown ballerina and not finding that representation, I wanted this fabric.
00:34 - 00:36
So I bought, like, 3 yards of it.
00:36 - 00:41
I did not have any idea what I was going to do with it. It was weighing on me. It's like, I gotta use this.
00:41 - 00:46
And by then, I had a 6 year old and a 2 year old daughter, and so I took a quilting class.
00:46 - 00:51
That quilt was a hit, and I started making more patchwork quilts for people.
00:51 - 00:56
But, I made one for my father and when he opened it, he said, this is art.
00:56 - 01:01
He hung it up and that really changed the trajectory of my quilting.
01:01 - 01:06
Meanwhile, my daughter figured, well, if mommy can make a quilt, mommy ought to be able to make me a doll.
01:06 - 01:08
And so I started making these dolls.
01:08 - 01:13
My mother, like, you know, you do really good work. You could sell this stuff.
01:13 - 01:17
And that's how I got into the business of it.
Zahiyya
01:17 - 01:19
So in that, how did you stay motivated?
01:19 - 01:22
And was that your only source of income at the time? Yes. So that's motivation?
Jacqueline
01:22 - 01:23
That's my motivation. Yes.
Zahiyya
01:23 - 01:29
The quotes, do you just do them on a commission based, or do you just make them and sell them as is?
Jacqueline
01:29 - 01:32
It's both. And these are wall hangings.
01:32 - 01:44
The one that I finished for the church that Naima mentioned, it was 2 panels that were each 6 and a half feet high by 3 feet. So they're huge. And so that was a commission.
01:44 - 01:48
I worked with this church on this project for over a year.
Naima
01:48 - 01:52
I think everybody would like to know what inspires your work?
Jacqueline
01:52 - 02:00
It is as simple as these fabrics were all stacked up together for weeks, And finally, they said, hey.
02:00 - 02:01
We would very much like to be a face.
02:01 - 02:05
One of my favorite photos of me with my mother when I was a little.
02:05 - 02:12
And so I did a version of that, and that piece really struck a nerve with a lot of folk.
02:12 - 02:22
And one of the things that I guard really, really closely is a photo album that belonged to my great grandmother of pictures
02:22 - 02:25
that were taken when she was in high school and college.
02:26 - 02:33
Bringing those pictures to life has been a thing that has been ongoing for the last several years.
Zahiyya
02:33 - 02:37
How would you suggest someone start a business doing what you do?
Jacqueline
02:37 - 02:45
Naeema and I both will say to other people when we're at events, when they are underpricing their work, like, you need to raise your prices.
02:46 - 02:54
And we both have struggled with accurate pricing as well because you don't know what the market will bear, but you also don't
02:54 - 02:57
wanna overprice yourself, you know, so that people just kind of walk away.
02:57 - 03:01
And so finding that sweet spot is really kind of a trial and error.
03:01 - 03:04
There's a base level, and then there's the complexity effect.
03:04 - 03:08
So if what you want is pretty straightforward, it's this rate.
03:08 - 03:15
But if it's going to require me to do a lot of gymnastics, we're gonna have a higher rate for that.
Zahiyya
03:15 - 03:17
Because I I've learned that over the years.
03:17 - 03:19
This is like usually when they say, okay. It's like, okay.
03:19 - 03:21
Next time, I need to to raise my price.
Jacqueline
03:21 - 03:27
That is the hardest thing. And and it's hard to hear people say, oh, that costs too much.
03:27 - 03:29
But you do have to look realistic.
03:29 - 03:32
You know, how much time did I spend on this? How much were my materials?
03:33 - 03:38
Even if you only use stuff you already had, it took you time to make that thing.
03:38 - 03:46
If you have a decent business plan, if you've got people around you who have been doing this for a while, who can kind of
03:46 - 03:54
steer you away from some of the more foolhardy things that you might do, like saying yes to every single opportunity that
03:54 - 04:00
comes your your way without fully vetting it and then finding yourself in front of the wrong people.
Zahiyya
04:00 - 04:03
Who would you say was the biggest risk you took in your business?
Jacqueline
04:03 - 04:14
I mean, I think starting was probably the biggest risk, but because I was really trying to find a way, to make some money in a very hostile economy.
04:14 - 04:17
I didn't have time to really think about that.
04:17 - 04:23
The first event that I was a vendor at, I had one of my girlfriends went with me. 1 of my cousins was with me.
04:23 - 04:27
My mother and several aunts were at the event.
04:27 - 04:31
So I figured if this goes badly, I got my mommy, and it didn't go bad.
04:31 - 04:37
But because I had kind of that safety net there where if I needed to go cry on somebody's shoulder, I could.
04:37 - 04:42
It didn't feel as frightening as it might have if I hadn't had that.
Zahiyya
04:42 - 04:46
What's your criteria of, like, okay. No. I'm not gonna take this on.
Jacqueline
04:46 - 04:49
You know, sometimes it's hard to to put a finger on it.
04:49 - 04:52
You just get a bad vibe off of somebody.
04:52 - 04:55
I accepted a commission, and I always ask for half up
Zahiyya
04:55 - 04:55
front.
Jacqueline
04:55 - 05:00
Throughout the making of the piece, you know, I would send her pictures of fabrics.
05:00 - 05:07
When the piece was done, I let her know and that she should pay me the rest of the money, and I didn't hear from her. So I sold it.
LaTisha
05:07 - 05:15
Going forward, putting that in your agreement that if, once it's done, payment is due within such and such days, you'll charge
05:15 - 05:20
them for storage or let them know after 2 to 3 months, I sell it.
Zahiyya
05:20 - 05:24
For those people that interested in Jacqueline's work, please visit her online.
05:24 - 05:26
We will have all of the links in the show notes.
LaTisha
05:26 - 05:40
I'm Leticia Winston of Keeping You in Stitches along with Naima Dozier of Fearless Threads, and Zahia of Cover Me Chic in Regent Design, and Jackie, our guru. We'll see you next time.
