Homespun E6 | Jen Belnap

hi everyone welcome to Homespun where creativity Finds Its voice I am your host Misty Don and today I'm joined by Jen bellnap of the smitten chicken Jen is a mom to six kiddos and she is going to share her journey from loss to becoming a fabulous pattern [Music] designer Jen thank you so much for being here today I really really appreciate it oh you bet a I'm excited to talk to you and I know everybody's going to love hearing more about your story so will you share with us how you got started quilting or with your business um sure so I kind of grew up with sewing my mom's an incredible seamstress she like made all our prom dresses so I definitely grew up in the sewing world but I was maybe a little too cool for school didn't want to do it when I was a teenager um but after I started having my kids and had a little more free time I decided to you know start that creative Journey um my husband works a ton of hours and so I needed something after the babies went to bed besides watching hours of Netflix I wanted I wanted to create something and so I kind of found quilting online and just started into this hobby but um um I don't really know how to do anything small it's kind of go big or go home so I was like I think I'm going to try to figure out how to work in this industry like I just was so blown away by all the creativity and everything I was seeing online that it just kind of started this journey of quilting for me yeah you felt an instant connection I guess totally yeah that's that's really great so what was it that like Drew you in initially to it as opposed to making clothing or something like that well I I have made a little bit of clothing but I I found quilting to be easier than garment construction and a little more like I could listen to a book and so where I have to focus really hard making a piece of clothing and it's just like playing Tetris which I love that game it's you know putting all the blocks together and making shap th yes I love it so it really just kind of fit my personality a little bit better I think that's wonderful so you decided to dive head first into working in the industry how did you go about that you know I don't even really know how it kind of happened it happened a bit organically um I was living outside of New York City at the time and there aren't a ton of Quilters in that area of the world and so I really found this online community and so I started posting on social media and meeting designers and then I started collabing with designers and then it just kind of took off just grew I love that I love that I think that's one of the things that's so beautiful about the quilting industry is like it can be really scary at first but people are so kind and they they want to work together and so being willing to put yourself out there really is that first big step yeah so was there a turning point for you where you knew like this is this is it this is what I want to do I'm I'm on the right path oh absolutely so one of these you know late nights my husband's working late and I was scrolling through my Instagram account and I actually came across Missouri Star Quilt company's daily deal and it was um this rainbow jelly roll and I was very drawn to purchase this particular jelly roll because at the time um I had actually just lost a baby oh I'm so sorry and um man this is still like really hard to talk about um I lost this baby and I was in a very dark place and I had heard of a rainbow baby and I a rainbow baby is a baby that's born after an infant loss whether it's miscarriage still born or an infant passing and I I kind of grasped hold of that idea of this rainbow baby and it felt very serendipitous that as I'm scrolling I see this rainbow jelly roll and I thought you know what I'm going to buy that jelly roll and I'm going to make a rainbow baby quilt and so I purchased it and I wait like checked my mail every day for it to come because I just really wanted this and I started right away stitching this quilt together now I wasn't expecting at the time and I just was honestly sewing on a Prayer hoping that eventually I'd have this rainbow baby that I'd be able to give this quilt to and I cannot tell you how healing that was for me I literally felt like I was stitching myself back together oh that's beautiful and at that moment I just knew I had found my place that quilting was such this healing process for me as I was able to you know cut up that fabric Stitch it back together and really just pull my life back together and pull myself out of that really dark place that I was in to make something beautiful and it it it was I actually brought it I wanted to so this is the OG rainbow quilt oh my gosh and during the process of create don't look too close this is one of my like very first quiles no it's beautiful I during the process of creating this we actually were expecting and it ended up being I ended up being on bed rest and it was a very difficult pregnancy but I continued to work on this and just have hope that that we would get that rainbow baby and we did and she is rainbow and sunshine still she's such a beautiful soul and has really brought a lot of healing to our family oh that's amazing that's incredible Jen thank you so much for being willing to share that I mean it's not easy but I think it's a great reminder that so many of Us come to quilting or have a connection to quilting as a result of loss and and overcoming that grief and I mean even for me coming back around losing my grandma who I was so close to who taught me to quilt I thought I would never quilt again because it's what I did with her yeah and so to be able to work through that because you're making something beautiful and like you said stitching yourself back together what an incredible thing an incredible reminder to all of us that like yes this is a but it also is like incredible for your self-care and your emotional well-being um and not every hobby is necessarily like that it really fills you up and it puts a lot of good into the world so thank you for being willing to be so vulnerable and share that because I know there's many who are like you who have experienced that kind of loss and um and it's nice to know that there's Hope on the other side yeah and it did it brought me me so much healing so as I kind of pivoted from hobbyists to turning it into a business and designing and the whole design process I I wanted to talk about this because this is also something we don't talk about as women and the more I shared my story The more women were like that was me too or I had that experience as well and so I ended up designing this quilt that we call um baby Alma oh I love it and so I wanted to create a rainbow baby quilt to to just start that conversation and to also know that that you're not alone that a lot of us have been through this and we know what you're feeling and if this gives anyone the peace that I felt in stitching my rainbow baby quilt together that that is my greatest hope I love that and you filmed a tutorial with Jenny on this I did I love that so that's so fun that you bought that first jelly roll from Missouri Star and then it kind of became this full circle moment where you then got to share this beautiful pattern it totally was and I I was excited to to share it I love that I love that so much so thank you thank you for putting yourself out there and sharing that story because I have no doubt that it has touched a lot of women and and made them feel less alone through a really difficult time and what a gift you've given so you've taken a hard thing and make it made it really beautiful so thank you for that that's kind so after that you you've designed this quilt you're you're working in the industry so what is it that you you love to do now what what connects you to the industry and drives you forward you know I think it's just creating and designing more I also love collaborating with other designers and you know everyone I've met in this industry is so amazing and so kind and it's just been a really great experience for me but also a way that I can express my creativity I'll come up with some crazy idea in the middle of the night and I'm like that's got to be a quilt yeah it's it's funny how that happens once you start making something or you start you know this creative practice whether it's you know embroidery or quilting or whatever it might be I think a lot of the creative Hobbies have this where once you start all of a sudden it's just like this brain dump of ideas and it's it's hard to stop it can become quite a rabbit hole so yeah I I love that so so do you do you have something that you're working on now that you're excited about well I just released one of my newest quilt patterns it's a patriotic quilt and it's it's called Liberty Stars and Stripes so I actually lived in Liberty Missouri for a little while and so each of my patriotic quilts is named Liberty and then something oh cute so a little nod to my love of Missouri and living there I gonna say that's just down the road from you're not from Missouri so so I I really love the way that this looks it kind of has this stripe um through it that's really really fun um one thing we love to do with my quilts is we we travel a lot as a family and we usually take a quilt with us and you know I've taken I get I am that crazy quilt lady I get a lot of really funny looks as I'm standing at the Statue of Liberty holding up this quilt and so with this new patriotic one we are planning another family trip back east and hitting some of these kind of patriotic sites and so we'll be able to take pictures with it and share those out so I love that I can't wait to see that that'll be so so fun oh that's so great so have you had any fun experiences while you're traveling with your quilt I mean oh we besides being the crazy quilt lady right um so I was traveling with one of our well not traveling because we live outside of New York City so I was able to get some amazing shots of New York City I've got you know the skyline behind me but one quilt we took on the Brooklyn Bridge and so I was standing there holding it up on the Brooklyn Bridge you know taking all these cool quilt pictures with the Brooklyn Bridge behind us and um you know parking is a little challenging in New York City yes and so my husband is super tall he's usually the quilt holder and so then he went to go grab the car he's like I'll pick you up on the bridge and so he turns around like he runs to get the car flips around he's like calling me okay meet me at this intersection and we'll get there well he was somehow on the other side of the road I misunderstood his instructions and I am on the wrong side of a barrier and so as he comes pulling around with his car I he's you know on the other side of the barrier and finally I was like all right I guess we're doing this I hopped over the barrier with my quilt oh no to then get into the car it was it was pretty awesome always an adventure for sure always I love that well I can imagine that living in a city as bustling as New York you got a lot of inspiration while you're there oh sure where else do you draw inspiration for your quilts you know a lot of it I think comes from my family so I am a mom of six kids amazing first of all can we just all like incredible it's busy it's crazy it's a party every day I love it and you know I I really have to sew in the inet because they're also really busy with their activities and I I love to quilt but I need some something fast and so a lot of my quilts will be really big blocks that come together quickly and so I'm inspired by you know how big can I make that Quilt Block yeah I love that because honestly it takes the same amount of time to make a 6 inch block as a 24in block it's same amount of seams it's just you know more fabric but it comes together faster so I'm always looking for Speed in my quilt patterns because I just don't have a lot of time yeah you got to make it work what You' got right absolutely but I you know I'm also inspired by things we do together as a family or traveling that we do so we lived in New England one of my Quil patterns is called New England because it's this big giant giant right a big Quilt Block a big giant Maple Leaf because it's you know it's New England and it was the Falls there are so beautiful and so I'm definitely inspired by where I live or things that we'll do as a family we would travel up to Vermont during the fall and see all the fall leaves and so it's activities we do together as a family or you know how fast can I get this done yeah I love that well and I I still want to visit Vermont in the fall but we have have to Jake's aunt and uncle live in Vermont and we we're always like oh we need to go and we've never done it we need to move that up to your bucket list I know we really do we really do for sure so I would love that well and I can totally relate to what you're saying I mean it's I think once you start designing and and creating you see inspiration everywhere and especially at home like my kids are always you know up to something and Ezra my youngest is he's funny because he is the one that likes to sew the most of my kids love that they all can they've all made some sort of quilt project but Ezra he loves to just like cut out shapes and raw Edge applique them on and it's just it's so fun to be reminded of that um creative play right and to just not be afraid to try and to um to be brave in what we're doing because there's no fear in him when he's just cutting into the fabric and I think we can like take it way too seriously sometimes yes it's a good reminder it should be fun it doesn't have to be super difficult like there's a time and a place for every single phase of quilting and maybe someday later in life I'll get to do these beautiful intricate art quilts today is not that day I you know I only have three kids but they keep me busy so I cannot imagine adding three more schedules to that crew but that's incredible that you're you're able to juggle it all I love that I love that okay so then you love quilting are there any other uh creative hobbies that you have or that you want to get into oh I just love to create I love a lot of different mediums you know quilting is definitely my true love but I am really loving embroidery and and I've been enjoying doing ing's Wildflower yes with Missouri Star and you know I love it because it's on the go right so you know I don't have to Lug my sewing machine and embroidery mat and cutter and and all the supplies I need for quilting embroidery is a lot more travel friendly helps on the way to the basketball game or the swim meet or whatever else that whatever else you're up to yeah I found that too I did embroidery when I was young um and it had been years since I had had done it again and now every time we're going somewhere in the car for a long period of time or if I'm on a plane traveling for work or something I'm going to bring that along with me because I can just sit and Stitch which is so fun absolutely well and I I also love to draw on my iPad and that's another portable craft that I'm finding that is really versatile and so that's also been fun as I you know try to go to art school and figure out how to draw are you doing that are you going to art school or do you just mean you're challenging yourself challenging myself to try to get to a better level than stick figures I love that I I would love to do the same thing I haven't even made that leap yet but that is so great it's really cool so do you have anything that you would share maybe advice or words of wisdom for someone who is just starting out in quilting and maybe wants to make that leap or has something that they want to share but doesn't know where to begin well I I would just say jump in my biggest regret is not finding quilting earlier because I look back at that you know brand new mom and I just needed that creative Outlet so badly that I feel like now that I have it I am such a better mom because my cup is getting full with all this creativity so if you are on the fence jump in I love that just do it and you know there's no quilt police and you will be so proud like you can look at this rainbow quilt it is not perfect and I am so proud of that quilt exactly and it brought me so much joy and healing yeah and so I would just say go for it I love that I love that so much thank you so much for being here and for sharing and being so open and vulnerable I think it's a great reminder to all of us that there's healing to be found in creativity it's important to take the time oh and to make the time for ourselves as we're going through hard things and over and knows like you it might become that is going to be aong love when it could have just been a temporary temporary moment and so that's that's really really beautiful so you are busy with six kiddos at home so what does a typical day look like for you oh my goodness it it is so busy so um my youngest is in preschool this year so I you know drop her off at preschool 3 days a week and that's when I get my really good work time in so the minute she's at preschool I'm you know cutting out quilts sewing them up and honestly spending a ton of time on my computer so as it switched for me from Hobby to running a business I realized I'm on my computer probably 80% of the time and now only sewing 20% of the time yeah that's real I think a lot of people uh maybe underestimate that I know people all the time they're like you get to sew all the time for work and I'm like well not quite not as much as I want to because there's so much behind the scenes that I'm doing in fact my husband walked in my studio the other day and was like whoa you're actually sewing I was like I know it's a good day when I get to sew so it's yeah I'm I'm doing a lot of work and editing on my computer and so a lot of you know being the solo entrepreneur that we've created in in growing the smitten chicken business is I it's just me yeah I don't know how you do it CU I have a lot of help you know being here with Missouri Star we have an amazing team that makes everything go but you're I'm a little jealous you're a one woman show no it's it's crazy and you know I didn't realize in turning this into a business that now I need to be good at photography and I need to be good at video editing and I need to be you know good at writing and writing blog posts or just writing content in general editing my quilt patterns making sure I'm not spelling things wrong so it it really is this learning curve as I try to figure all of it out so well and it's a challenge every day right because you don't know what new skill you here here I can imagine you're like oh I'm just going to design this quilt and put out this quilt but there's so many things that you know come with that especially with social media now you know it's very competitive and things need to look good and all of that stuff and so I that's a lot of pressure so it's amazing that you have been able to to learn and grow are there any resources that you've you've used to like maybe help you along the way with some of that you know I think a lot for me has been connection and just meeting different designers and being like how do you do this thing or you know what's your favorite software to work on and then and then really getting this deep dive into that software so I I use the Adobe suite and so you know I've had to learn illustrator and in design and and all of those things and so asking friends who are way better at it than I am when I get stuck or when my art board is doing funny things it's it's been so much about collaboration and you know recently getting my newsletter up and going like that was a learning curve and I can reach out to friends who are way better at newsletters than me and be like so what exactly am I doing here so it's it's been so helpful and everyone in the quilting Community is so kind and has been so nice to help me along in my journey that's that's amazing and I I think it's it's a great example to all of us that like there's plenty of room for everyone and so being willing one to ask the question and not afraid that people are going to be mad that you have questions and um and taking advantage of those connections that you have in life to be able to learn and grow because there's so much that people can share with one another and it's awesome that you've been able to take that and and run with it and now build this really beautiful and successful business so congratulations oh thanks it's really really cool so is there anything else that you maybe have on the horizon that you want to learn like that's still just out there that you haven't quite mastered well I really would love to do fabric design and so that's been part of you know learning the iPad and and learning the Adobe suite that I'm really working on my portfolio and hoping to be able to have my own fabric oh I can see it it's GNA happen it will happen that would be so great I would I've always wanted to do that too yeah I I think I personally I love color and so getting able being able to play with color um I just sometimes I'm like oh if only I had this you know and and it's just not quite how my brain wants it to be but so yeah I'm I'm excited I can't wait until you release a fabric line I think it will be amazing I hope so still working still work in progress just work work on it and it'll come it'll come so that's really cool so Jen thank you so much for sharing all of this with us to for being so vulnerable in your journey and uh and you know helping women feel seen and understood I think it's it's so important in today's day and age so I really appreciate you being brave enough to share that with the world because it's not always easy especially when you first did it I don't think we were talking about it enough um and so being willing to take that leap and then use it in this beautiful way to continue to to grow and share is just really really inspiring so I appreciate you being here and sharing that with all of us I love being here can you remind everyone uh where to find you if they want to follow along with what you're up to you bet so um I'm Jen bellnap you can find me on Instagram and Facebook the smitten chicken I love it and then my quilt patterns are in my Etsy shop as well as on Missouri Star awesome thank you so much Jen I really appreciate it and I'll see you next time thanks [Music]