Amanda’s vibe for her shop is simple:

No matter where you are in your sewing/quilting/knitting/crochet-whatever journey — you’re welcome here.
No gatekeeping. No quilt police. Just creativity, community, and a bunch of people cheering each other on.

And honestly? That’s the exact kind of energy I want Quilt Scouts to multiply.

In this episode of the Quilt Scouts Podcast, I sat down with Amanda, the owner of Hangin’ By a Thread (a Quilt Scouts Base Camp!) in Lafayette, New Jersey, and we talked about how her shop started, how she built a Base Camp that feels like a monthly friend-date + skill boost, and why being “bad at something” is not a reason to stop doing it.

Let’s get into it.

Meet Amanda: From “Garage Business” to Full-On Creative Headquarters

Hangin’ By a Thread didn’t start as a perfectly polished master plan.

It started as a pandemic-era garage hustle… and then life happened.

Amanda shared that during COVID, her husband got extremely sick and had to leave his career as a firefighter. Suddenly, they lost a big chunk of income, and she needed to figure out how to bring more money into the house.

So her brain did what creative brains do:

1. I can make things to sell.
2. If I’m making things to sell, I need supplies cheaper.
3. To get supplies cheaper, I need wholesale.
4. Wholesale requires distributors… and distributors require huge opening orders…
5. So if I’m ordering this much fabric, I guess I should sell what I’m not using…
6. Wait… am I opening a quilt shop?

As I told her, this is very “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” energy — and Amanda was like:
“Yes. That is my life.”

Same, girl. Same.

A Shop Built on Education: “Classes Are the Bread and Butter”

Hangin’ By a Thread is a fabric + yarn shop, and the class schedule is… honestly iconic.

Amanda said they host 40–50 classes a month, ranging from one-day workshops to multi-week series. They cover:

• quilting
• garments
• bags
• knitting
• crochet
• all the things

And here’s the key detail: for Amanda, education is the backbone of the business.
Retail is the “icing,” but teaching is what makes the whole thing work — and her staff is a huge part of that.

Also: she’s a maximalist. Her official stance is basically:

“Minimalism? Couldn’t be me. More is more, baby.”

How Amanda Found Quilt Scouts: “What the heck is this? I need it.”

Amanda discovered Quilt Scouts through a Facebook group called Young and Millennial Quilters, where someone posted asking if anyone else was a Scout.

Amanda’s reaction:

• What is Quilt Scouts?
• I must investigate immediately.
• …I guess I need to be a Base Camp now.

And if you’re wondering if she hesitated or overthought it…

Nope.

Amanda described herself as a jump in headfirst, figure it out later person. If she gets excited about something, she hyper-focuses and says:

“How do I make this work in my situation?”

Which, honestly, is peak Quilt Scout energy.

What Quilt Scouts Does for a Quilt Shop (Besides Being Fun)

One of my favorite parts of this conversation was hearing how Amanda uses Quilt Scouts in a way that supports her shop and her community.

Here’s what she shared:

1) Past badges make everything flexible

Because badges are archived, members can join anytime and still earn older badges later — which takes pressure off of “keeping up.”

2) Badges spark class ideas

Amanda can look at her existing class schedule and say:

“Oh—this class totally counts for Triangle Trekker.”

Then she adds a note to the class description like:

“Hey Quilt Scout! You can earn your badge by taking this class.”

And suddenly people are asking, “Wait… what’s Quilt Scouts?”
Which leads them to join.

3) It makes skill-building feel just as valid as finished projects

Not every class has to end with a Big Ta-Da reveal. A class can be:

• a technique
• a skill
• a “try it and see” experiment

That’s the whole point: earning badges through the process, not perfection.

What a Base Camp Night Looks Like at Hangin’ By a Thread

Amanda’s Base Camp meets:

🗓️ First Wednesday of every month
🕕 6 PM

And the structure is basically: community + snacks + learning + chaos (affectionate) + optional afterparty.

Here’s the vibe:

• Everyone brings a snack to share (snacks are mandatory)
• People sit with their “little friend groups,” but newcomers are welcome
• They talk through the badge + what they’re doing that night
• Then everyone works on the project/skill
• And yes… there is an afterparty.
  Like, a real afterparty.
  At a BYOB spot.
  Sometimes with champagne.
  Sometimes margaritas.

Amanda said it best:

“Don’t let anybody fool you. There’s drinking at our Base Camp meetings.”

I mean… that’s just adult crafting culture, right? 😅

Friendships, Without the “Guild Vibes”

Amanda shared something I hear a lot: some people avoid guilds because they feel clicky or intimidating.

She’s had people tell her they’ve tried joining guilds and felt:

• judged
• sized up
• like they didn’t belong

And she said Quilt Scouts feels like the opposite.

Anti-click. Anti-drama. Good vibes only.

And I’ll echo what I shared in the episode: Quilt Scouts has been shockingly drama-free.
No quilt police. No weird hierarchy. No “who’s the treasurer and why are they mad” energy.

Just people making stuff and helping each other.

The “You Can Suck at Something and Still Enjoy It” Rule

Amanda dropped a line in this episode that deserves to be embroidered on a pillow:

“It’s okay to suck at something and still enjoy doing it.”

YES.

She uses this mindset in her Sewing 101 tote bag class, where most of the time is spent learning:

• how to thread the machine
• how to wind a bobbin
• how to get comfortable

People come in saying, “This is going to be horrible.”

And Amanda’s basically like:

“Cool. It can be horrible. And you can still love it.”

Then she gave the perfect example:

You sing in your car at the top of your lungs.
Are you becoming a professional singer? Probably not.
Do you still do it because it’s fun? Yep.

So why can’t sewing be the same?

A Favorite Base Camp Moment: 23 People Showed Up (Chaos Badge Earned)

Amanda said one of her most memorable Base Camp moments was their very first meeting — which landed on the UFO badge month (finishing projects).

She decided to teach a binding sampler night where people practiced multiple types of binding on little quilted squares.

She prepped for 15 people.

23 people showed up.

So they shared machines, did binding, seam-ripped it off, and used the same square to practice the next binding.

Amanda’s takeaway:

“I thrive in chaos and this is the best moment ever.”

Honestly? That sounds like a badge.
Like a “Camp Chaos Captain” badge. We’ll workshop it.

What Amanda’s Excited About Right Now

Amanda’s shop is doing big, fun community stuff — including:

A Quilt Retreat in March

It’s hosted right in the shop (no lodging included, which keeps the cost lower), and they partnered with a local bed & breakfast that offers discounted rates for retreat attendees.

State Fair Field Trip Energy

At their last retreat, the state fair was happening — so they got tickets and went together to see quilts and entries.

And now… BIG NEWS:

Because so many of Amanda’s students entered projects last year, the state fair is giving the shop their own division with categories like “My First Quilt.”

That is SO cool. Like… she’s literally expanding the creative footprint of her community.

How to Find Hangin’ By a Thread (and Visit in Person)

If you’re in New Jersey (or traveling through for farm vibes, hiking, lake life, and all the Garden State goodness), you can find Amanda here:

• Social: HanginByAThreadNJ on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok
• Website: hanginbyathreadnj.com
• In person: 11 Route 15, Lafayette, New Jersey

And yes — she’s currently the only Quilt Scouts Base Camp in New Jersey, so if you’re nearby: hello?? destiny??

What a Quilting Adventure Looks Like for Amanda

To close out the episode, I asked my favorite question:

What does a quilting adventure look like for you right now?

Amanda’s answer wasn’t about one single project.

It was about learning and evolving — not just for her own skills, but for how she teaches. She wants to keep spreading quilt knowledge and reminding people that quilting isn’t going anywhere, and it’s not just “old dingy fabric and the same block forever.”

The industry is changing. Quilting is evolving.
And her adventure is navigating that change and helping other people feel excited to learn too.

Want More Episodes Like This?

If you enjoyed this campfire chat, I’d love for you to follow or subscribe so you don’t miss future episodes. And if you have a minute, leaving a review helps the podcast find other quilters who could use a little creativity and community too.

Until next time — happy trails, Scout. 🏕️✨