SNAKE HANDLER: A Story About Craft, Legacy, and Racial Consciousness

My good friend Maura Grace Ambrose joins for me for this SEAMSIDE special episode I’m calling FREE ADVICE where we answer your questions on quilting and the creative life.In this episode, we share our thoughts on the following questions:➞ how our quilt aesthetic has changed over time,➞ how to learn quilting without spending a lot of money or time➞ what to do with random experimental pieces➞ how to help objects made from imperfect salvaged materials look their best➞ Maura offers a fool-proof method for getting started with natural dyes➞ do you need a quilting hoop to hand quilt?➞ what’s it like to quilt professionally?➞ our favorite podcastsWe’re recording this on the one-year anniversary of our first SEAMSIDE chat, HOW TO GIVE AND RECEIVE which you can find here.→ Claim your free copy of 10 THINGS I WISH I KNEW BEFORE I STARTED QUILTING→ Get your free trial to the QUILTY NOOK → See images and more at the EPISODE WEBSITE → Follow Zak on INSTAGRAMA special thanks to the folks whose questions made this conversation possible: Marie from Canada, Amy from Pittsburgh, Teresa from Losa Angeles, Sherry from Kentucky, Judy from Florida, Kara from Maine, Adelaide from the Twin Cities, and Polly from North Carolina

In this episode, I share more about a quilt I call LIKE FAMILY. It's part of the Southern White Amnesia Collection, which explores the kinds of stories that Southern White families tell one another, or maybe more importantly, the ones they don’t tell one another about their own family history. You may have heard me talk about other pieces in the same collection on SEAMSIDE before, and if not, I'd encourage you to check out some of those episodes. So far, we've got SILVER DOLLAR, SNAKE HANDLER, OUR CHILDREN, and ONUS // ON US.In this SEAMSIDE conversation, we explore: ① an old Southern family burial ground ② why the phrase “like family” can often describe a one-sided view of relationships ③ a moment from THIS HERE FLESH by Cole Arthur RileyWHY LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE? This episode weaves together a vulnerable exploration of identity, history, and responsibility, providing listeners with a deep, reflective experience on how historical legacies impact our current world

I first met Victoria Van Der Laan in Catskill, New York, standing in the gravel driveway in front of the HUDDLE House where me and twenty-five other NOOKers where spending a long weekend quilting together. I had assumed she’d just whisk me away for a quick coffee and pastry while I was in town and that would be it, but Victoria ended up coming back to the house for a trunk show and then spent all afternoon with us just sewing and sharing stories. Noticing the warmth and generosity she moves through the world with, I knew we’d become fast friends.In this SEAMSIDE conversation, Victoria and I talk about: ① how the demands of life can pressurize our creative practice ② why her colors seem to vibrate ③ how to expand and contract as the season allows→ Get your free trial to the QUILTY NOOK → See images and more from this episode with SEAMSIDE EXTRAS → Learn more about Zak → Support Victoria through Buy Me A Coffee

I think I’ve been thinking about time all wrong. I’m not sure it’s linear, but maybe that it accretes and infuses itself into itself. What does all that mean? This quilt says it better than I ever can.In this SEAMSIDE conversation, I share some stories about: ① how we need a new way of thinking about time ② the life cycle of a single garment ③ how we can tend and nourish the past→ Get your free trial to the QUILTY NOOK → See images and more at the EPISODE WEBSITE → Follow Zak on INSTAGRAM

Talking to Kathryn Greenwood Swanson is like completing an electrical circuit that you hadn’t realized was open. Big ideas just light up this entire conversation. Kathryn and I catch up on the one year anniversary of our SEAMSIDE chat to catch up on everything that’s happened since we last talked. If you haven’t heard our first conversation, Kathryn runs a thriving creative reuse shop in Turner Falls, Massachusetts called Swanson’s Fabric, and you can find it here. In that conversation we talked about: the role of the communal stashhouse, the shame so often associated with our fabric stashes, and how to start your own secondhand fabric store like Swansons.In this SEAMSIDE conversation, Kathryn and I talk about: ① how to work with the energy of objects ② fixing the entire world in one fell swoop ③ our dreams for a cross-country multi-city quilty bus tour→ Get your free trial to the QUILTY NOOK → See images and more at the EPISODE WEBSITE → Follow Zak on INSTAGRAM

Talking to Kathryn Greenwood Swanson is like completing an electrical circuit that you hadn’t realized was open. Big ideas just light up this entire conversation. Kathryn and I catch up on the one year anniversary of our SEAMSIDE chat to catch up on everything that’s happened since we last talked. If you haven’t heard our first conversation, Kathryn runs a thriving creative reuse shop in Turner Falls, Massachusetts called Swanson’s Fabric, and you can find it here. In that conversation we talked about: the role of the communal stashhouse, the shame so often associated with our fabric stashes, and how to start your own secondhand fabric store like Swansons.In this SEAMSIDE conversation, Kathryn and I talk about: ① how to work with the energy of objects ② fixing the entire world in one fell swoop ③ our dreams for a cross-country multi-city quilty bus tour→ Get your free trial to the QUILTY NOOK → See images and more at the EPISODE WEBSITE → Follow Zak on INSTAGRAM

Every time Woomin’s work pops up in my feed it’s a quilty dopamine hit. Her appliqued wall pieces depict scenes from her life in Queens New York and back home in Korea. And you don’t have to see very many of her pieces to realize that her world is abundant in story-telling objects and almost completely devoid of pesky and interfering humans. To hear her talk about how in her previous sculpture practice, she often felt alone, solo on stage, but now having connected with fabric, she never feels alone surrounded by the rich narratives textiles carry. In this SEAMSIDE conversation, Woomin and I discuss: ① why objects make better story-tellers than humans ② how to capture a sense of home no matter where you may be ③ what our daily spaces reveal about usWHY LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE?Woomin Kim shares her journey from sculpture to textile collage, using fabric to narrate personal and communal stories. Central to Woomin’s work are the themes of home, identity, and the unseen labor embedded in everyday objects and environments. → Get your free trial to the QUILTY NOOK → See images and more at the EPISODE WEBSITE → Follow Zak on INSTAGRAM

This textile piece, OUR CHILDREN, that we’re talking about today explores how we’re taught about our racial identity, gender, and sexuality from a young age. It’s a part of a collection I’m calling Southern White Amnesia which explores the stories that Southern white families tell (and don't tell) about their own family histories.In this SEAMSIDE conversation, I share thoughts about: ① the first time I realized I was White ② the lingering legacy of off-handed comments ③ how to reprogram all those internal messages→ Get your free trial to the QUILTY NOOK → See images and more from this episode with SEAMSIDE EXTRAS → Learn more about Zak

The casual Instagram scroller would be forgiven if they scrolled past one of Rachel’s patchwork pieces and assumed it was something generated by artificial intelligence. But AI can only dream of creating the real-world objects of beauty that Rachel creates. They capture light and color, breeze and the occasional animal slops.In this dreamy SEAMSIDE conversation, textile artist and photographer Rachel Hayes and I discuss:① the rewards and perils of public art pieces ② the intangible and metaphysical layers of a quilt ③ how to collaborate with our physical environmentWHY LISTEN TO THIS EPISODEDiscover how Rachel Hayes creatively merges textiles with architecture and nature, challenging traditional perceptions of quilting and fabric art. Her journey from traditionally small-scale quilt patterns to expansive outdoor installations reveals the boundless possibilities of textiles in artHELPFUL LINKS→ Get your free trial to the QUILTY NOOK → See images and more from this episode with SEAMSIDE EXTRAS → Learn more about Zak

In this episode, I share a collection of stories behind SNAKE HANDLER, a large banner I made featuring a writhing white snake. It’s really a three-part story about wrestling, specifically wrestling with identity, privilege, and role in the struggle for racial justice. I share personal reflections on understanding and confronting my privilege, recommending reading suggestions, sharing two strategies I use to address biases and hurtful statements, and encouraging us to take active roles in addressing racial inequality.Get more free resources with this episode with SEAMSIDE EXTRAS! Click on the link below to access: https://www.zakfoster.com/seamside/snakehandlerHELPFUL LINKS→ Join the QUILTY NOOK https://nook.zakfoster.com/→ Weekly Email Goodies from Zak https://nook.zakfoster.com/newsletter/→ Follow Zak on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/zakfoster.quilts→ Email me [email protected]