We are so pleased to introduce Elizabeth Townsen Gard as our ninth Michael Miller Fabrics Brand Ambassador!
Dr. Elizabeth Townsend Gard is the host and director of Just Wanna Quilt podcast, which now boasts over 200 interviews in its
first year. Some special guests include Marianne Fons, Tula Pink, Jenny Doan, and Rob Appell,
among others, and interviews industry leaders and regular quilters.
Elizabeth is also a copyright law professor at Tulane Law
School, and Lepage Entrepreneur Fellow at the A.B. Freeman School of Business
at Tulane. She has been quilting since age 13, and quilts every night as
part of this project.
The Just Wanna Quilt project has grown into a movement
(called the Quilting Army) -- of conversations about quilting on our lives,
entrepreneurship, charity quilting, and intellectual property, among other
topics. Elizabeth, along with her law students, are working on the Copyright Workbook, which will include Chapters with Patterns to learn copyright and other aspects of intellectual property. The first Chapter, Basic Training, was debuted at QuiltCon 2019. The Just Wanna Quilt project was featured in Quiltfolk magazine for Louisiana in July 2018. We had an interactive booth for the first time at Houston.
1. What was your first sewing project?
My first sewing project was an embroidery and cross-stitch project
on burlap when I was about 5. I've always sewed, mostly hand sewing, with
my mom. But we also dabbled in quilting, beginning at age 13, which was
in 1979. It was a pink basic block quilt that we tied. We went to a
quilt shop and I remember picking out the fabric. We powered through that
first quilt in a weekend.
2. What other hobbies do you enjoy?
Hmmmm....binging just about anything on Netflix.
3. What is your favorite color?
Hot pink. But I wear mostly black.
4. Where is your dream vacation?
A quilting cruise to Cuba. I've never been on a cruise and
I've never been to Cuba. But that sounds pretty awesome. Especially
if the cruise left from New Orleans, where I live.
5. Who taught you how to sew?
My mom. She passed away about ten years ago. So, I
always feel really connected to her when I sew. Mom-time. She made
elaborate Danish cross-stitch masterpieces, and also knitted.
6. What food could you eat everyday?
Dark chocolate, French fries and pot stickers. That's what I
had for breakfast this morning. Just kidding. Well, not the
chocolate and fries.
7. What do you want to be doing in five years?
Well, that's interesting. My kid will be in college. I
hope that we've turned our house into the Just Wanna Quilt clubhouse (a New
Orleans duplex) for hanging out and sleepovers, which we are in the process of
doing right now. I'm still teaching law, but maybe visiting as a
professor at wherever the kid is in college. We have the Law and
Entrepreneurship Center up and running to help others with their dreams, which
again we are working on now. And the Quilting Army really has become a movement
of kindness and community.
Thank you Elizabeth!
Check out her podcasts and content on:
www.justwannaquilt.com
