Amy Lollis: Breaking Free from Creative Burnout & Finding Joy Again

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In this episode, I welcome Amy Lollis, a quilt pattern writer, fabric designer, podcaster, crocheter, and Oklahoma homeschool mom. 

About Amy Lollis

• Quilt pattern writer, fabric designer, podcaster, crocheter
• Oklahoma homeschool mom
• Creator behind Amy Lollis Creative
• Unofficial motto: "Make every day just a little bit more magical"

Topics Discussed

• No-Spend Challenge: Amy discusses her current 365-day no-spend challenge, designed to get off the "hamster wheel" of constantly buying the newest fabrics and tools
• Industry Pressures: Insights into the pressure of keeping up with trends and how the quilting industry changed during and after COVID
• Business Evolution: Amy shares her journey from brand "Happy Hippie Studio" to her current more authentic approach
• Fabric Industry Inside Look: Amy's experience working on a contract basis within the fabric industry and seeing how things work behind the scenes
• First-Year Business Mistakes: Lessons learned about authenticity, simplifying processes, and avoiding burnout
• Pattern Testing: Why Amy decided to stop using pattern testers and how she simplified her pattern development process
• Homeschooling Reality: An honest look at balancing homeschooling with running a creative business
• Managing Depression: Amy's candid discussion about dealing with depression and PMDD while running a creative business

Where to Find Amy 

• Instagram: @amylolliscreative
• Website: www.amylollis.com

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of turning a passion into aprofession, I'm excited to pull
back the curtain and share myown experiences.

(00:26):
Some episodes will be just me.
Diving deep into my personaljourney, while others will
feature guests who are alsonavigating the world of creative
entrepreneurship, will explorethe nitty gritty of building a
creative business, the lessonslearned and the unexpected
challenges that come withtransforming your craft.
Into a thriving enterprise.
And don't worry, I'm not leavingstorytelling behind.

(00:48):
Instead, I'll be weaving theminto the conversations about
what it takes to grow a businesswhile staying true to your
creative spirit.
So whether you're dreaming ofstarting your own business, or
you just love hearing aboutcreative entrepreneurship, this
season is for you.

Susan (01:05):
Amy Lollis is a quilt pattern writer, fabric designer,
podcaster, crocheter, andOklahoma homeschool mom whose
unofficial motto is to makeevery day just a little bit more
magical.
That sounds like a whole lot ofthings I can relate to.
Hi Amy and welcome to thepodcast.

Amy (01:22):
Hello, thank you for having me.

Susan (01:24):
This is so much fun.
We are currently as we speak,but before this episode is
released, you and I both havepresentations happening at the
Quilted Summit, and I think lotsof our listeners slash viewers
slash followers are there too.
Is that something that you dooften is contribute to shared
events like that?

Amy (01:44):
So this is actually only my second summit style thing that I
have done.
I did the virtual quilt summitlast year with BeeBurn and It
was a lot of fun.
I ended up booking a bunch oflike guild lectures from that
and yeah, that was about it.
I just, I got a lot, I got a lotof lectures from it which was a

(02:06):
lot of fun because it's like youget to connect with all these
people that you normallywouldn't have, access to.
My audience is relatively smallon social media and.
So it's just a lot of fun to getthat many people together and
the lineup for this has beenincredible.

Susan (02:22):
I agree.
I agree.
I think there's 25 differentteachers, each one, great in
their own right and such a widevariety.
And I always like to start withmy guests, not chronologically,
but just like diving into today.
Where are you today in your workand in your life and what's
exciting you right now?
And is this, summit and exposureand meeting new people all kind

(02:43):
of part of that?

Amy (02:44):
Yes.
What's exciting me right now?
I don't know if you like, Idon't assume that you like dive
way into my history on socialmedia or anything.
But right now I'm doing a 365day no spend challenge and I
started it essentially to getoff the hamster wheel of
constantly looking for thenewest things and finding the

(03:06):
newest fabrics and buying thenewest gadgets and trying to
keep up with the pressure ofwriting and designing for the
newest things that are comingout.
It seems every month.
It literally is every month.
But I was like, man, I've gotall these beautiful fabrics that
I've collected over the last fewyears that I'm just madly in
love with.

(03:27):
And.
My creativity has changed, myskills as a writer have changed,
and I want to take that growthand apply it to the things I
already own and see what I cando with them.
And it's this like really juicyprocess of like, why did I buy
this?
Why did I connect with the arton this?

(03:49):
What does it want me to do withit?
Like, how can I make this intosomething that really brings me
to life without Producingcontent for the company that
produced it, and I think for alot of us pattern writers, like
staying with the trends andwhat's new is coming out is
really good for exposure.

(04:10):
But creatively, it puts you in aplace where you're designing for
selling something.
We have to sell things, right?
We have bills to pay.
That's why we do this for aliving rather than just, being a
hobby.
I was like, man, I feel peopleare feeling the pressure of the
economy being weird.
And after COVID so a lot of thefabric industry increased during

(04:31):
COVID.
Everybody was stuck at home.
People were sewing for the firsttime in some time, for some
decades.
Um, and so everything kind oframped up and got like, wow,
we're like crushing it with Thecraft industry in general, and
then everybody slowly startedgoing back to work and back to
the normal lives, but in theindustry, a lot of people feel
the pressure to keep producingat the same level that they were

(04:54):
when people were at homeconsuming more.
And we're feeling the pressureof that as consumers to like,
keep consuming and creating atthat same pace, even though
we're back to our normal.
I say, quote unquote, normalbecause nothing's normal, but
our normal lives and I'm like,how can I get back to that place
of slowing down and deeplyenjoying this process without it

(05:15):
being a hamster wheel of.
Selling things.

Susan (05:18):
Yes.

Amy (05:19):
And so that's what's exciting me right now.
I'm writing.
I'm selling my patterns.
I'm still making living from mypatterns.
But I'm writing things to use mycustomers stash and to use my
stash rather than trying to haveeverything sponsored by fabric
companies and selling theirnewest collections.
And it's fun.
Like I'm, I wake up every day,like ready to create.

Susan (05:40):
I feel like this is the long view, the short view is the
new fabric line that came outthis week I'm gonna publish X
number of patterns this year orthis hashtag is trending or this
little reel is trending That'sthe short view That's the quick
results and it is so very easyto get caught up in that but the
long view is But what gives mejoy and also what gives my

(06:02):
listeners and followers joybecause I did take a deep dive
indeed into your social mediaand I saw that, when you scroll
through it quickly and you readthrough a whole bunch of posts
quickly, year or two getscondensed and I see that change
in you and in your followers.
It's like a breath of fresh air.

Amy (06:20):
Yeah.
So I don't know how far back youwent.
I had a moment in spring ish of2024.
I was doing ambassadorships.
I was writing patterns for newcollections for like fabric
companies.
I was doing look books.
I was doing like all thesethings.
And I was just like, My mentalhealth is like garbage right

(06:43):
now.
And so I just got on Instagramand had a public meltdown and
was like, I'm closing mybusiness.
This industry is a capitalisticnightmare.
It's sucking the life out of me.
It's sucking the life out ofeverybody else.
And I can feel that this iswhat's happening and I don't
know how to stop it.
And what ended up happening fromthat was I had about 3000

(07:03):
people, including someinfluencers in the industry
chime in and be like, yeah we'refeeling it.
We are feeling it, too.
Little did I know, I knew Bileadidn't register with me, that
was during H& H that year, and Iwas not at H& H.
And the entire industry'sleaders were all together in one
room.
When I posted that, and itstarted some conversations that

(07:27):
I was not part of because Iwasn't there, but I was like,
oh.
Okay, this is creating ripples.
It's creating waves.
And that I ended up actuallygetting.
A part time job after that froma fabric company owner.
So I do now I am doing contractwork within the fabric industry.
And it's ironic because I'msitting here basically telling

(07:49):
the whole industry to F off thisisn't okay.
And then somebody's Hey, I havea job for you.
So now I'm working like on acontract basis, within the
fabric industry and seeing howthings work behind the scenes.
I'm like, Oh, that's why thingsare the way they are.
Like the collections, the artthat goes into it and the

(08:10):
process of going from art tocollection The time and money
that it takes to take thecollection and get it to shelves
and to the end users and wherethe marketing goes and how we
market to end user versus shopowner.
And I'm like, Oh, this makes somuch more sense to me now.
How can I adjust my businessmodel where it fits with that,

(08:35):
but also brings me joy.
Because if I'm not having joyI'm probably going to shut my
business down again and just,disappear for a few months.
So it's been very eyeopening anda lot of fun.

Susan (08:47):
I think you've just hit on some really key points.
It feels like we never, for meanyways, I don't ever arrive at
this place of balance, life,work, creativity, production,
whatever.
But it's this never ending pushpull.
And it's not a bad thing.
People are interested, sotherefore you write a new
pattern for them using this newfabric that you're excited

(09:09):
about.
And then you get caught in thefollow up.
I just think that's part of thecreative process.
And it's fun that you're gettingto see another facet of it.
And that helps your viewpoint ofit and helps you make decisions
about how you want to wear itgoing forward.
That's so good.
You know how I'm always ravingabout bamboo batting in my
quilts?
Well, I found something thatbrings that same incredible

(09:32):
softness to your entire sleepexperience.
Cozy Earth's Bamboo Sheet Set.
As a quilter, I'm pretty pickyabout the feel of fabric, and
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on.
They're breathable, silkysmooth, and they feel amazing
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And they get softer and softerwith every wash.

(09:52):
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(10:13):
Prioritize your sleep.
Prioritize you.
Your creativity will thank youtomorrow.
In your blog, and I saw this in your social media a
little bit too, you talk aboutmistakes that you made in your
first year of business.
Does that relate to this burnoutor do you want to talk about a
specific few of those?
Because this season of mypodcast is focusing on business

(10:35):
themes.
So there are probably a lot ofpeople listening who perhaps are
just getting started or thinkingabout getting started in a
creative business.
What are some of the things theyshould look out for?
Both things to avoid and thingsto do.

Amy (10:49):
So my first year in business, I, my brand was Happy
Hippie Studio.
And I was like, yeah, I'm gonnabuild this brand based on the
super cool aesthetic.
And I'm gonna show up in my, allmy hippiness online.
And peace, love, and quiltinggrease.
And, I tried to build this brandbased on who I wanted to be.
Which was someone who was veryfree spirited in my creativity.

(11:12):
But very polished in mypresentation.
I'm none of those things.
I'm happy most of the time.
Sometimes I'm a hippie,sometimes I'm not.
I'm neither polished norprofessional at all.
So trying to show up in this waywhere yeah, I've got this brand
and I've got it all together andlike I'm fully integrated in who

(11:32):
I wish I was in life, that'sexhausting.

Susan (11:36):
True.

Amy (11:37):
It is so exhausting and I would be up at night like
scrolling the internet, tryingto find outfits to show up in
for social media that meets thatlike hippie meets professional
aesthetic.
And what am I doing?
Why did I start this business totry to be somebody on the
internet that I'm not, that Iwish I was maybe one day I will

(11:58):
be.
So that was mistake number onewas starting a business.
And trying to show up as who Iwish I was rather than who I am
right now.
Mistake number two was trying todo all the things.
Lot of people take these courseson writing quilt patterns.
And you learn, like, all of the,I'm using air quotes, right way

(12:20):
to write quilt patterns.
And then the process of usingpattern testers, and the
software that goes into it, andthe this and the that.
You don't need all that.
I didn't need all that and Iburned out trying to do all
those things while also tryingto show up on the internet as
the person I wish I was, not theperson I currently am.

(12:40):
So I learned the hard way,unfortunately, by stopping and
starting so many times that mywebsite doesn't need to be
perfect.
My I love building websites likeside note if anybody needs a
website built.
I'm your girl I love buildingwebsites but I would deep dive
into like web design to avoidworking on my quilting because I

(13:03):
was trying so hard to Geteverything perfect.
And then my social mediapresence I was like everything
has to be like perfectly editedand it doesn't I'm not Tula Pink
I'm not ever gonna be Tula Pink,right?
Tula Pink isn't even Tula Pink.
It's a brand that has been builton with a team based on her art.

(13:24):
I'm not that, I'm not going tobe that, and I can't wake up
every day and put a lot ofeffort into trying to be that.
So I have taken a lot of stepsback in the last few months that
have brought joy back into mybusiness.
I have simplified my accountingI This is really controversial.
I'm not working with patterntesters anymore.
That was something my, I have abook that's coming out soon that

(13:46):
I did have pattern testers forand I was This is part of a
process that creates abottleneck for me, like the
communication so when you writea pattern or a book or whatever
you produce and you're likesuper stoked about it, you ride
that wave of excitement and itgives you the energy to get it
out into the world and to doeven the kind of yucky parts of
the process that like aren'tyour favorite, like designing

(14:09):
the graphics or whatever And forsome of us who have a lot going
on in life, it's really hard tostay consistent without that
like wave of excitement to giveus the energy.
So I realized that the processof.
Using pattern testers, slowedthat down and I love pattern
testers like our, we build acommunity and we talk and we

(14:29):
email and they send me theirpictures and like life updates
and they've become my friendsand my editors and I have bought
sample quilts from my patterntesters before but it slows down
that wave of excitement.
The other thing is that I feltlike they deserved more from me.
Then I was able to give them soI wanted to be able to pay them.

(14:52):
I wanted to be able to use theirfinished products and marketing
to help them grow their socialmedia, to help them grow their
own businesses.
And for some, I did, there weresome that I was able to help
them break into tech editing orsample making or whatever.
And that feels really good forme to be able to help them start
their career.
But then the others, I was like,wow, I feel like I'm just like.

(15:13):
Wasting their time.
And I realized they get into itwillingly.
They choose to stand up andraise their hand and say, I want
to be a pattern tester.
But it just felt like it wasslowing down my creative process
and also taking their time forsomething that I wasn't able to
compensate them for.
I'm still new enough in theindustry that I can't pay them
what they're worth for theirtime.
So I was like, you know what?

(15:35):
I'm just going to not do patterntesting anymore.
I'll make.
Two or three of the quiltmyself.
I have a really great techeditor that finds like the
hiccups that normally patterntesters would find.
The other thing is I simplifiedthe writing process.
I used to use like a mix ofdifferent softwares, like
publishing softwares to get itlike perfect.

(15:56):
I don't do that anymore.
I make everything in one pieceof software.
I hit the export button.
We save it as a PDF.
We send it to the printer.
We're done.
There's no.
There's no bottleneck there withthe writing.
I've created templates for mycommonly used graphics.
So half square triangles orflying geese or whatever.

(16:16):
Created templates for all thosethings that are just drop and
go.
So yeah, that's the thing Iwould tell new designers is You
don't have to do things thequote unquote right way to be
successful.
In fact, a lot of the bestselling pattern designers out
there that are like crushing itand making a crap ton of money
and showing up all the places.

(16:38):
Are the ones that have radicallysimplified their business model.

Susan (16:42):
And I suspect even those who are teaching the courses on
how to do that, didn't always doit, maybe don't always still,
but didn't always do that, cameto that through a series of
learning, developing, growingteam, whatever the case may be,
but you don't have to start asyou say, with all the things you
just don't

Amy (17:03):
And you don't have to end with all the things either.

Susan (17:06):
true.

Amy (17:07):
I don't want to grow my business to the point that I
need 15 different pieces ofsoftware and a team of 12 people
to get a pattern out.
That, that just sounds like alot of work.
I just want to create prettythings and teach my customers
how to create pretty things.
And that's something that can bedone with far fewer steps than
the quote unquote professionalswill tell you that you need to
take.

Susan (17:28):
So how does homeschooling fit into all of this?
Is it part of your year?
Part of every day?

Amy (17:35):
Whoa.

Susan (17:36):
It's a loaded question, but I was a homeschooling mom
too.
So I'm super interested in this.

Amy (17:41):
People have this notion of what homeschooling looks like,
especially if they follow anyhomeschooling content on social
media.
The reality is that my kids arecurrently in the other room.
One's on an iPad playing a mathgame.
One is probably watching TV.
She's not feeling well.

(18:01):
And another is doingmultiplication in A book that we
bought from Barnes and Noble.
Just like with the craftindustry, the people that are in
the homeschooling industry buildthis social media presence to
sell a product, to sell alifestyle.
And so if you're on the outsidelooking in, you're like, Oh, all
homeschool moms have this,beautifully curated curriculum

(18:25):
that we sit at our reclaimedwood table in our puffy sleeved
dresses and we do ourhomeschooling.
No.
It's not that.
My house is not clean.
My children are not dressed.
We had toaster waffles forbreakfast.
Homeschooling fits into thisjust like simplifying the
pattern writing process.
You simplify homeschooling tothe point that you can do it

(18:45):
joyfully.
Because if you're not doing itjoyfully, you can't repeat it
day after day.
It drains you, it drains yourkids, it ruins your relationship
with your kids.
So no we have the simplesthomeschooling ever.
And it just gives everybody roomto create, and to play, and to
learn on our own terms.

Susan (19:06):
So good.
I'm I've been grateful manytimes over that I homeschooled
really a generation ago and itwas certainly before social
media.
And so I did not have thatpressure.
I still went to conferences andtraining and things like that.
So there was this ideal held upin front of you of what the
great homeschooling families do.
But I did not have that socialmedia type of pressure and I've

(19:27):
been so grateful for that.
And one of the things that Iheld dear to me all the way
through that kind of kept mysanity was The statistics about
how much actual one on oneteacher student time the average
kid gets in school and it'sminutes in a day.
And so I always said to myself Iknow I can achieve that much.

(19:49):
So there you go.

Amy (19:52):
Yeah, when we first started, and then we live in
Oklahoma, and I don't know ifyou've heard, like, all the news
about Oklahoma schools.
It's an absolute dumpster fire.
People asked when we firststarted do you think you can do
as good as the public schoolsand I'm like, I can't imagine
doing worse.
It'd be really hard.
You'd have to try to do worsethan what they're getting in
public schools.

(20:12):
And the people who supported usthe most were friends and family
who were teachers and principalsand they're like, yeah, no,
honestly.
Please keep your kids at home ifyou can because what we're doing
here is not working for us it'snot working for the kids and
They're not like prodigies.
Like none of my kids is going toan Ivy League school at 16 years

(20:33):
old or something.
They are all geniuses in theirown right but none of them is
like academically adept orspeaking Latin or playing
Beethoven like they're perfectlyaverage students that are above
average happy

Susan (20:51):
Yes.

Amy (20:53):
And that's, that was the goal.

Susan (20:55):
That's a key.
And you just, I almost just wantto pause and have a moment of
thinking about that.
Because that is so key.
It is not all about the gradesor the number of books or the
awards for sure or the ribbons.
It's about Raising productiveand happy citizens.
Yeah, good for you.
Good for you.
I think turning a corner alittle bit but still interwoven

(21:17):
through all of this.
You do talk a fair bit.
in your blog about dealing withdepression and with
discouragement and how thatplays into your life.
Like how does your creativespark stay burning when you're
dealing with that?
Or is it the thing that keepsyou going?
Do you know what I mean?

Amy (21:34):
It's neither, actually.
So I started quilting when I hadpostpartum depression.
And it was like, like the earlydays.
And I had three under four.
So like With the first two kids,I had two under two and it's
just this endless pile ofdiapers and dishes and crying
and snotty noses and your houseis disgusting and you can't

(21:55):
clean it because there's cryingand snotty noses.
And I was like, man, I just needto do something that's going to
stay done.
You feed the kids and you haveto feed them again an hour
later.
You clean up, you have to cleanup again an hour later.
I just need something to staydone.
I started sewing when my oldestwas teeny tiny.
I think she was like threemonths old.
And I just had horribledepression and there was no way

(22:16):
out.
And I was like, if I could justhave something stay done, I can
make it to tomorrow.
And I didn't realize at the timelike I would reach out for help
and people would be like, Oh ha,welcome to motherhood.
We all went through it.
Now it's your turn.
And I didn't realize at the timethat being that depressed and
that anxious was not normal.

(22:37):
Where everybody's oh yeah, babyblues, ha, we all get it.
And I didn't realize that like,it's not normal to be.
That depressed that like youdon't know if you want to wake
up tomorrow and then to havelike your friends and family
around you just not take itseriously because they're like,
yeah, it's normal.
So I started sewing, and I wouldmake the most basic simple

(22:59):
quilts that I could finish inlike a day or two during that
time, like they were just sobasic.
I thought we were ready to dothis.
And then I realized super earlyon that.

Susan (23:10):
so I

Amy (23:11):
Quilt math is easy.
I love geometry anyway, so I'mlike, wow, I can make almost
anything if I can draw it on apiece of graph paper.

Susan (23:19):
it didn't

Amy (23:20):
And so I started designing, I think my first two quilts that
I made, I used tutorials fromMissouri Star.
And then after that, I juststarted sketching things and
making them

Susan (23:29):
are using it

Amy (23:30):
on graph paper.
And that was, it was almost tenyears later before I started
Designing and selling mypatterns and whatnot, but the
depression didn't let up and Iended up with my youngest kid
was three and I was like, okay,this is not postpartum anymore.
He's three, like something,something's got to give.

(23:50):
So I kept creating and I keptstarting my business over and I
would get really depressed and Iwould just close my whole
business and be like, I don't, Ican't do this anymore.
And then I would feel better andthen I would start it back up.
At some point in my life, I havetried all the medications the
ones that were made fordepression ended up making me
like crazy, like they helped thedepression, but it was like

(24:12):
being on like cocaine or ecstasyor something, which is a whole
different level of dangerousbecause you don't make good
decisions when you're in thatstate of mind either.
And it, it did take until veryrecently to find out that it
wasn't depression, it was PMDD,which is related to your
menstrual cycle.
So my estrogen levels justbottom out and everything goes

(24:37):
haywire.
That's, I was also having likeautoimmune symptoms and my food
allergies would get worse andall these crazy things were
happening and I'm like, okay,this is cyclical.
Okay, so So now what do we do?
Because you can't takeantidepressants if you're only
depressed when yourprogesterone's too high, the
rest of the time they're gonnamake you crazy.

Susan (24:57):
great.
I consider it a debate.
I

Amy (25:00):
once I figured that out, and this is not who I am, this
is not how I am, this is just abrief season, and I'm gonna be
okay in three days.
So I don't need to, I don't needto burn my whole life down when
I get depressed, like I've doneover and over.
I don't need to like, start,packing my bags to move to
Maine.
I don't need to close my wholebusiness.

(25:20):
I can just be like, oh, this isjust a season.
It'll be over in a few days, andI'll be back to feeling like
myself.
I have treated it successfullynow for a couple months with
vitamins and herbs, and somefood choices, movement,
meditation, that sort of thing.
But, long story short, to answeryour question am depressed, I

(25:41):
just don't create.
I don't work.
I don't open my computer.
I don't sit at my sewing machinebecause I know it's gonna, it's
gonna be more than I can handle.

Susan (25:50):
So I, this was a question I had thought of before, before
we even got here, like how haveyou found ways and cause you're
referring to this, have youfound ways to shortcut is not
quite the right word, but waysto compensate maybe.
So things like, do you batchproduce things or do you avoid

(26:10):
things that have a productiondeadline?
I'm just thinking of ourlisteners who are.
facing some of these samethings.
What are some of the ways thatthey can work through this as a
season, but here's how I getthrough this season or how I
arrange my season so that I givemyself grace for these X number
of days that I need to.

(26:30):
Is that making sense?

Amy (26:32):
Yeah, so knowing that it's, knowing that it's coming helps.
Also taking, a lot of it for alot of people is a vitamin
deficiency that leads to thesethe hormonal

Susan (26:42):
It seems so simple, but until you don't know, right?

Amy (26:46):
You don't know.
And then when it hits, if youdon't realize what's causing it,
when it hits, there's alwaysthat underlying fear of, this is
the time it won't go away.
And I lived for so long with Iwould be in this like horrible
mental state, and then when Iwould be out of it, I would be
afraid to start anything newbecause I'm like, I don't know
when it's coming back.
And what if the next time itcomes back, it doesn't go away.

(27:09):
And I'm just stuck like this,like fighting for my life day
after day for the rest of mylife.
That would be terrible.
Knowing that it's coming, andknowing that it's going to pass
I give myself the grace to justnot do anything, honestly it,
and my family's reallysupportive okay, mom's not doing
great right now my husband'sokay, we're going to get some
easy food, so the kids can justpop something in the microwave,

(27:31):
if I need to skip it.
But yeah.
Going somewhere or being theprimary parent.
So I can get some extra sleep.
We build a structure around Oh,this is it's going to happen.
And again, now that I'm treatingit and I'm treating it all the
time, not just when it's, whenit happens those waves are far
less dramatic.
Like it's still, it stillhappens a little bit, but it's
not like the world is coming toan end.

(27:53):
So yeah, take your vitaminsevery day.
Not just when you feel yucky.

Susan (27:58):
True don't wait for the wave to be crashing before you
try to take measures.
I just, I so appreciate yourhonesty in sharing that.
I've dealt with my own healthstruggles too, and it really,
when you talked about that, thattrough, that low spot and being
afraid that it won't end.
Like I've been there too.
And there is that almost panicabout why even start?
Because it's just going to getsabotaged.

(28:20):
And that, that really touchedme.
So thank you for your honestyand sharing all of that, Amy.
This has been a real pleasurechatting with you.
I wonder if you would tell ourviewers quick, where you can be
found and especially go look atAmy's website, you guys.
It is awesome.
She is a great website builder.
But yeah, where you can be foundand what we can look forward to
hearing from you soon.

Amy (28:41):
So I am on Instagram at amyLolliscreative and on my
website at amyLollis.
com.
And as you mentioned, I don'tput a lot of the extra not
quilty related stuff on socialmedia.
Turns out the algorithm doesn'tlike that very much.
But that's okay.
It is on my blog.
It's also on Pinterest and I amalways happy to hear from people

(29:03):
in email.
My favorite thing in the wholewide world is when people reach
out to me and share theirstories.
I know you've got like a publicplatform here because that's how
quilting started, was womenwould come together and share
their stories and share theirsolutions to each other's
problems and complain abouttheir husbands and kids and
health.
And and now we don't have thatanymore.
It's pretty much a solitaryhobby these days.

(29:24):
Anybody can reach out to me atany time and email or DM in
Instagram with their own storiesand I'm here to listen.

Susan (29:33):
That's wonderful.
It takes a village for manythings and the villages aren't
what they used to be.
But on the other hand, we havethe freedom to make our social
spaces, our villages.
So we aim to do that.
Thanks again, Amy.
It's been a pleasure.

Amy (29:47):
Thank you.

Susan (29:49):
We've been chatting with Amy Lollis of Amy Lollis
Creative and I so appreciatethat she has shared so honestly
from her heart the insights thatshe has learned in difficult
seasons.
I hope that you have appreciatedher openness and even found it
to be challenging as well.
She's been keeping it real.
So until next time, may yoursorrows be patched, my friend,

(30:12):
and may your joys be quilted.