Today we’d like to introduce you to Kari Carmack Goodwin.
Kari, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My story is still a work in progress so it is hard to know where along the continuum I should start. The simple version is that I grew up in Columbus, Georgia, surrounded by loving family and friends. My world shattered when my older sister died in a drunk driving accident when I was 13 years old, and I have been recovering in ways seen and unseen ever since. I have found so much peace and self-discovery through my artistic process, but it didn’t just start as a part of recovery.
Some of my earliest childhood memories are 1 – painting pictures on the kitchen cabinets (an activity sanctioned by my parents) and 2 – sitting in the floor of my room surrounded by scraps of cardboard, tape, and markers absorbed as only kids can be in the process of making things, so I guess you could say my need to be creative goes back as far as I can remember and has always provided an exciting sense of purpose. It resurfaced as a potential source of income years later, after I was three kids deep into my life and staying at home with them provided the most sensible choice for our family.
I had graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and was in graduate school when my second child was born, so after the initial warm fuzzies gave way to a new routine, I found myself looking for things to do to keep myself busy and replace that sense of purpose I had while I was in school. I started quilting and crafting at that point, and once the quilts started to stack up and accumulate in my house, I started selling them online. I found I was a bit of a natural when it came to selling on Etsy and within a few months, I had successfully launched not one but four Etsy shops, all with very different mediums and themes. I am no millionaire by any means, but when it came to the idea of a “Quit Your Day Job” Etsy success story, I feel like I have fit that bill.
After about four years, I decided I wanted to focus more on the “Artist” side of the business, so I closed one shop, gave one to my Mom, one to my younger sister, and am now left as the sole proprietor of just the one shop… Kari Goodwin Quilts. I have a deep sense of pride knowing that I have helped two of the very most important people in my life discover their own sense of independence that working from home and earning money through creations made by their own two hands provides.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As with anything, there are of course struggles. Working from home is no different. Sometimes I get bored with my work and want to scrap it all and start over, and have struggled being self-taught and having no clear direction at times. I have often wondered at my special ability to take something relatively simple and make it more complicated, for instance, in dying my own fabric and only using organic cottons, which not only limits my design choices but drastically increases the cost of materials for myself. (Although now, I have just accepted that this is who I am and try not to let comparison be the thief of joy in my life!) On a very personal note, I can be very difficult when I am in the “artist brain” place. I have snapped at my kids many times for interrupting me while I am trying to work and concentrate, which I am sure has been difficult because the illusion is that I AM there and available, when in fact I am not. It’s like the “lights are on but nobody’s home” except it is more accurately “the lights are on and you can knock on the door, but you might get yelled at for making me stop what I’m doing to answer it”… It is a balance and adjustment that I have had to learn through trial and error, setting clearer boundaries with my family on the one hand, and learning to move more fluidly between the two worlds I live in and be more available on the other hand. The two worlds I would describe as: The rabbit hole nature of art and the very grounded world of motherhood. Other challenges have come from changes in the online marketplace.
When I started in 2011, the online selling community on Etsy was very intimate and artist-driven. It has since gone public, selling market shares, and encourages manufacture based selling models instead of just hand made. This has made it hard at times to adapt to that marketplace as a person who still makes things the slow way. There has been a resurgence in the handmade movement, with phrases such as “slow fashion” and “cottage industry” in regular circulation, which I feel as alleviated this pressure a little bit. All in all, pain is a part of life, but struggle comes from holding onto that pain, which I aim not to do. Adapting and changing in response to what works and doesn’t is something I am faced with constantly, but I feel like that is very natural, and have learned to embrace it.
Kari Goodwin Quilts – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I am a designer who’s medium just happens to be textiles and fibers. Sustainable and environmental morals have guided me to the use of only organic cottons in my work. When I found that organic materials on the market had little in the way of depth of color and variety, I decided to start dying my own organic cottons with non-toxic water-based dyes and have just grown the concept from there. I treat my work like play for the most part and no two quilts are ever the same. Many of my quilts are made using no patterns or only rough sketches and I assemble the quilts as I go in a carefree way. I have never once aimed for perfection in my work, so I am always happy with how it turns out and embrace the imperfection of it. There is a deep tradition of drawing parallels between quilts to the joys or struggles of life and exploring their cultural, social, and political significance. I love this aspect of quilt making. Whether shared or kept secret, within each of my quilts there is a hidden story inspiring the design or color choices. Of support or dissent, of surrender or rebellion to a cause. That is for you to see and decide for yourself.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I would probably have to say that my proudest moments come from the feedback of my customers. For instance: When I learn from a customer who bought something from me years ago, that they still love and use their quilt and it’s in great shape; Of all the gifts at the baby shower, mine stood out as something truly special: That Mommas who have lost something dear to them use my quilts for comfort when they need a moment of self-love, I feel a deep sense of satisfaction in my work. I have donated quilts to first responders of the Pulse Club shooting in Florida, the Linus project who gives blankets and quilts to kids in the foster care system, and regularly donate fabric and scraps to local schools and women’s shelters. I have donated parts of proceeds to environmental groups such as the Long Leaf Alliance in the state of Georgia whose mission it is to reforest Georgia with the native longleaf pine habitat, and the Sierra Club. I am very proud of all of this, but I do feel like my best accomplishments are still yet to come.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://karigoodwinquilts.com/
- Phone: 7062894666
- Email: goodwinscustomcrafts@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karigoodwinquilts/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GoodwinsCustomCrafts/
- Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/karigoodwinquilts/
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