Interview: Lisa Nelson of Rubenstein & Ziff

Hey, do you guys remember my call of distress back when I was assigning swap partners?  There was a lady who had signed up but her email didn't work and I couldn't find her anywhere so I posted a Tweegram asking if anyone knew her.  Unfortunately, no one recognized her but there were a few helpful suggestions (which didn't pan out, sadly.)  I couldn't stop thinking about her and I was feeling pretty bad about not being able to locate her to assign her a partner.  Well, very shortly after all the partners went out, she sent me a very sweet email inquiry about whether or not she made the cut.  I WAS SO RELIEVED!  We worked out the email, her partner info went out and the world kept turning.  In fact, she was so grateful for my hard work that she offered up a prize for one of our QoA's.  Isn't that a happy ending?  I certainly think so.  

Let's find out a little more about our new friend, shall we?

Hello Everyone, my name is Lisa Nelson. I am currently living in Richfield, Minnesota (right by the Mall of America, y'all!) with my husband of 12 years, our daughter and our two silly dogs. I started quilting in my 30's! My Mother-in-law taught me to sew. (Trust me, I needed the guidance and her patience!)

I work for Rubenstein & Ziff in Customer Service and Sales. We got our start wholesaling fabric in the upper Midwest to tailors and furriers in the late 1920’s. As fabric stores and cottage industry manufacturers entered the marketplace, Rubenstein & Ziff began to serve them as well.

With the advent of the hobby and craft industry, and the increase worldwide of quilting retailers, Rubenstein & Ziff sought to expand business opportunities and market position. In December 1995, Rubenstein & Ziff, Inc. merged with The Quiltworks to form Rubenstein & Ziff, Inc./The Quiltworks. Our goal: to become a major player within the quilting and sewing trades.

Today, we have expanded our product base to include larger fabric offerings, wider selection of notions and quilting supplies along with a complete line of the latest books, patterns and gift items. We are proud to serve national and international customers, and offer safe, secure shopping 24 hours a day through our Online Wholesale Fabric & Supply Store.

My favorite sewing tool has to be my machine. I have a Baby Lock Melody. She just hums along... love her!

My favorite thing I've made has to be the string quilt I made for ME! It's so colorful and has all of my favorite fabrics. I call it "Lisa's Happy Quilt"! I wish I was more confident in my abilities and had more TIME to play/sew. I also adore making wall-hangings and buntings for family members and my daughter's teachers for the holidays

I have two techniques I'd love to learn. One - foundation paper piecing. (Not to be confused with English Paper Piecing, which I will NOT do... not a hand-sewer!) Two - Free Motion Quilting. (Yes, I have Angela Walters' books... just need time to try the projects in the books.)

**And now for my favorite question to ask ever...**

"If you were a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, what part of the sandwich would you be and why?"

Hmmm, if I were a peanut butter and jelly sandwich... gosh, I'd be the whole thing! I'm soft and sweet on the inside and kinda crusty on the outside! *tee hee*

Lisa has kindly offered up a copy of the book Making Quilts with Kathy Doughty of Material Obsession

 Thank you so much, Lisa!  

You can find Lisa on Flickr as LemonJam.

Happy Reading!

-Kristi-

PS I would just like to mention that I am currently sitting in a restaurant eating nachos and using the restaurant's WI-FI on my husband's Mac.  You can see how this would be disastrous for blogging, right?  Needless to say, I cannot figure out how to save an image of the book for you to look at, so please click on the link.  It is a gorgeous book and that link will give you all sorts of information and lovely pictures to ogle. 

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