Lacey Swain has one of the cooler jobs that exists–licensing at Sub Pop–and a sick ass side hustle of making quilts so wrong, they're right-on. She explains below. Thanks for doing this interview Lacey, I know it was a pain in the ass!

Who taught you how to do this? When did you start?

I made my first blanket in early 2000s—probably 2002?—as a wedding gift but it was in a totally different style and wasn’t quilted per se. I’d make baby blankets for friends here and there throughout the years, but I didn’t get heavily into sewing until 2015. I wish I could say that I come from a family of seamstresses, but I’m mostly self-taught. I learned the basics of sewing from my friends and from one class at South Seattle Community College and a whole lot of trial and error.

How long does a Lacey Swain quilt take to make?

These guys all take radically different amounts of time to complete but I’d say each one is 30-40 hours minimum, but sometimes I can get that taken care of in a week and other times it takes me months to finally finish one. I usually work on more than one at a time so that if I get frustrated or am not really feeling it on one project I can switch to another until I get my groove back.

How did you land on your style?

Many years ago it dawned on me that I’m a pretty good cook, but only if I am I trying to make a meal out of the various incongruous ingredients that happen to be lying around. I’ll peruse a recipe but I rarely follow it step by step, and that’s also how I do my sewing. My style is fully born out of my refusal to just do it the right way—I don’t pin anything anymore, I rarely press my seams, and I don’t care about a straight line. If things get wonky while I’m putting a blanket together I just keep on trucking and make it work. I started doing the micro-quilting as a way to cover up puckers and shifting and I think it works. I’m fully influenced by the Gee's Bend quilters both in style and ethos, and learning about those badass ladies really pushed me back into sewing. Also, my friends are pretty killer, creative folks and I’m impressed by them daily. My friend Jill Murphy's quilting work is also an inspiration.

How much do you charge for a quilt?

I’m really crummy at money in general and I’m awful at putting a monetary value on my time specifically, so so far I’ve given them all away. How much should I charge? I have no idea! I’ve had two business ideas regarding my blankets—the first one was a business where I’d make baby blankets for people to pass off as things they’ve made themselves (complete with tons of mistakes!) and the second business was one where I’d make adult size baby blankets for people in exchange for a monetary donation plus rights to your life story, but I’ve had no takers for either option.

Can strangers commission you, or are you just a friends and fam supplier?

I will make blankets for anyone! The people who’ve received them so far are mostly just folks who expressed interest in them. If you want a blanket I’ll make one but since they’re free you kinda just get it when yours is ready.

Any future plans for your quilting?

One of my next projects is going to be a memorial quilt for a friend who just lost her husband. She’s going to give me some of his old clothes and I’m going to do my thing with ‘em. I think it’s going to be a really intense project but I’m looking forward to it.