We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Laura Veenema. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Laura below.
Alright, Laura thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you feel you or your work has ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized? If so, tell us the story and how/why it happened and if there are any interesting learnings or insights you took from the experience?
I used to be a middle school teacher – a job that always garnered the same response: “Oh my goodness, you teach middle schoolers?!” People knew what a middle school teacher was. It didn’t require explanations or caveats or defensive proclamations of “no, this is not just a hobby, teaching is my actual job.” I had a bachelor’s and a master’s degree and years of experience, and teaching middle school was always considered a real career. Of course! But now, when people ask what I do for work, and I tell them, “I am a quilter,” the responses are not the same as they were when I was a teacher. It does seem a little incongruous, I get that. A young(ish) millennial lady with four kids in tow who also makes *quilts* for a living? I’d probably need some clarification, too! “These aren’t your grandma’s quilts,” I usually say. I explain how much I love this work – the ability to fit it in around being a primary caregiver to my kiddos. The creative freedom I feel in being paid to make the art I want to make. The friendships I’ve found in the modern quilting community. The delight I find in shipping my products all around the world – Ireland and Alaska and England and Switzerland! The pride I find in carving out a little corner of the home goods market for my slow-made, one-of-a-kind bed coverings. The way the work feels redemptive and God-honoring for me. I hope every conversation I have about my work as a quilter helps our society see that, indeed, art is work.
Laura, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
In 2015, I bought a sewing machine for the first time and taught myself how to use it. My husband and I had just had a baby, and I had stopped teaching to be home with our little guy. I was loving my new role as mom, but I needed something more. Something to do with my extra time. Something that was mine. Something that would give me a name besides “Momma.” I had seen modern quilts online and wondered if I could try my hand at making one – I was pretty artsy, I thought! This is right up my alley! I also had noticed what modern quilters were charging for their work and wondered if there could be a business opportunity there for me, That’s how New Song Quilting Co. was born. There was so much I didn’t know about quilting – but I knew how to find people who could teach me: a quilting grandmother at our church who taught me the technical details, another Chicago-based modern quilter who introduced me to her connections, and a community of online modern quilters who welcomed me into their ranks. Thus began what has become not only a business for me, but also an indescribable personal joy.
The best way to describe the product I make is to say, “These aren’t your grandma’s quilts.” I make modern, improvisational quilts using solid-colored quilting fabric. No two quilts are the same because I do not follow a pattern. I use the highest-quality materials and slow-made craftsmanship to ensure that New Song quilts last for a lifetime. In addition to slow-made bed coverings, I also create a variety of home products that I sell online and at local markets. This year, our popular products have been modern improv Christmas stockings, color-block duffle bags, and organizational zipper pouches. I’ve had to pause taking new custom orders for quilts because the demand for these home goods has been high and my time is limited. I hope to once again begin taking requests for custom-quilt orders during the second half of 2023.
In addition to physical products, I also sell quilt pattern pdfs on my website newsongquilting.com. Fellow quilters buy the pdf patterns and use them to make their own quilts with the New Song Quilting design and feel. I’ve also felt privileged to partner this year with some local non-profits and businesses, including Treetops Collective and Remington Grand Rapids. It is important to me to work with other Grand Rapids entrepreneurs who are intentional about supporting slow-made fashion, sustainable business practices, and fair wages for employees.
As awareness grows about production of fast-made products in a consumeristic society, a need also grows for intentionally-designed, higher-quality, locally-made products. New Song Quilting is filling that need in the market for intentionally-made bed coverings and quilted products. Also, as people are fostering a desire to want less but better product, a need is growing for home goods that are more artistic and less commercial.
I never would have imagined, back in 2015, that God would have blessed this endeavor so much. Or that I would be finding such delight in owning my own business. Or that quilting would be so life-giving for me personally. I think of quilting as redemptive work – a process of taking broken pieces and making a beautiful whole that can bring joy to a home. It is my great privilege and hope to continue growing New Song Quilting into the future, sharing high-quality, one-of-a-kind quilted products with the world.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
Social media is the blessing and the curse of being a business-owning creative. It can a source of discouragement and envy – seeing others doing similar work but seemingly having more success. Or witnessing someone else’s creative ingenuity and wondering why you didn’t think of that yourself. The pain of social media can be really real. But so can the joy. I find great camaraderie in connecting with other creatives in that online space. Real friendships amongst kindred creative spirits can be formed across many miles. And the inspiration on social media can be breath-taking! I find myself gasping sometimes at the beauty that other people are creating – I love admiring other’s creations and awe at the way darkness can be pushed back by creative beauty. Growing my presence on social media has been a result of genuinely trying to know people and celebrate successes. Connection begets connection. I find that the more time and energy I pour into connecting with both people I admire and also people who admire my work, the more time and energy people pour back into my online space.
If I were to offer advice for those just starting to build a social media presence, it would be these nuggets:
1. Celebrate the snot out of people. Not in a flattering, saccharine way, but in genuine delight as seeing other people succeeding. Share posts that inspire you. Promote your competitor’s new endeavors. Celebrate when someone in your space is succeeding. Community over competition, every time.
2. Try to get to know people in a genuine way. Respond to comments and direct messages. Ask questions. Share stories and advice. The more community you build, the more enjoyable your social media experience will be.
3. Create social media boundaries. It is no secret that one key to maximizing social media algorithms is to spend more time on the platform – but that can be dangerous if you don’t set limits for yourself. Boundaries and accountability will help make sure you don’t become obsessed with and addicted to social media.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
New Song Quilting wants to change the way people think about consumable home goods. Instead of buying a bed covering that is trendy and cheap, only to donate it to the re-sale shop two years later, you could buy a hand-made quilt that will last a lifetime. Quilts get softer and wrinklier as they age, worn in and cozier every year. In a culture that condemns wrinkles and softness and age, we welcome it. We say, “Bring on the wrinkles!” Buying a New Song quilt supports a movement toward home goods that are more sustainable, more intentional, more artistic and individual and local.
Contact Info:
- Website: [email protected]
- Instagram: newsongquiltingco
- Facebook: newsongquiltingco
Image Credits
Jill De Vries Photography Kate Faber Photography Kelly Powers Photography