5 Questions with Home Sweet’s Jennifer Nelson

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I first ran across Jennifer Nelson’s block-printed organic fabric when I worked on Crafting a Green World’s Fab Fabrics series. All of Home Sweet’s fabric is block printed by hand on organic fabrics using eco-friendly inks. I’d featured her gorgeous fabrics a couple of times, and then in 2007 she was magically my booth neighbor at Crafty Bastards in Washington D.C. Small world!

Jennifer is an awesome gal, and her work reflects her cheerful, friendly personality just perfectly! I’m super excited to share Jennifer’s 5 questions, so you guys can get to know her a little bit, too.

1. Tell me about how you got started crafting.

I’ve always crafted. After I learned how to sew in high school (and thanks to a thrift store full of ridiculously cheap clothes), my wardrobe consisted mostly of a-line skirts reconstructed from muumuus. I started block printing when we bought our first house, and I was looking for a way to furnish it. I wanted to respect its history, freshen it up and stick to a tight budget!

2. What draws you to eco-friendly materials?

I went to school for environmental science. My first career focused on improving water quality and agricultural sustainability- I’ve been a certified crop advisor for about eight or nine years now. I also love things that are really beautiful. Happily, there are materials out there that are really really gorgeous and also ecologically sustainable- it just makes sense to use them, and to tell everyone else why they should use them too!

3. What inspires you?

Gosh… everything. The beach. Architecture. Other fabrics. Geometry. Quilts. A lot of vintage textiles, wallpaper and artwork. I look for things that I can reinterpret with simple forms and new colors.

4. Who are your crafty heroes?

I haven’t met anyone who works with fabric that I didn’t like. Sara Parker, Chanee Vijay ({me}longings studio), Betsy Olmstead, Liz Galbraith… We share a common bond, I think. While I haven’t met them in person, Jesse Breytenbach and the folks at Ink & Spindle are so very inspiring. I love their blog posts.

5. Where can folks find your work?

Etsy right now, and at craft shows in the Mid-Atlantic. I’m thinking of making a shift with Home Sweet- moving from a focus on producing goods to teaching people how to make their own. Would that be good?

I think that would be fabulous! What about you guys?

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