On the Set of Quilting Arts TV

Earlier this month, I flew to Denver, CO for the recording of Quilting Arts TV, Season 3200. I had been privileged to be a guest on QATV before, but this time was extra special because Bernina of America invited me to the Bernina Guest Artist on the show!

Thanks to my friends Susan Brubaker Knapp (the host of QATV) and Brandy Maslowski (the Quilter on Fire) who were snapping photos the entire time, I'm delighted to share with you lovely readers what it's like to be on the set of Quilting Arts TV.

Getting Ready

The day starts with hair and makeup. Mel Beach was the QATV guest being recorded before me, so she was in the chair first, along with Susan.

Mel Beach and Susan Brubaker Knapp getting hair and makeup styled

Finally, my turn!

Kestrel Michaud getting hair and makeup styled

Since Mel and I were filming on the same day, we took this pic next to the whiteboard that had our segments scheduled for the day. Her four segments were in the morning, while all three of mine were in the afternoon.

Mel and Kestrel with the day's schedule

My hair was styled in the morning. Since I had to wait several hours until after lunch to film, the stylist left my "princess curls" in bobby pins so they would still look good by the time I would be on set. Brandy helped take the bobby pins out later that day.

Brandy letting Kestrel's hair down

As the Bernina Guest Artist, all three of my segments featured one of the Bernina sewing machines on set. In this case, I proposed topics that would all use the sitdown Q16. My topics were:

On Set

The set is very impressive, as one would expect of a television recording studio. There's a full crew, lights, sound equipment, multiple cameras, etc. And none of that equipment or the crew are part of the recorded footage that's published and aired on TV. Very cool. Here are some photos that show the set as I'm preparing and recording my segments.

Kestrel and Evan setting up equipment stands for her Quilting in Augmented Reality segment
I worked with Evan, one of the videographers, to set up a stand that would hold my cellphone for my Quilting in Augmented Reality segment.
The view from in front of the camera
This is what I see from in front of the cameras when on set.
Two photos of Kestrel showing her XR glasses and what she sees while quilting
Left: I'm wearing my XR glasses. Right: My phone is positioned to point the camera at the needle. I see what the phone's camera sees in order to quilt while wearing the glasses.
Filming into the XR glasses
Vanessa, the producer, wanted to try taking a shot with the camera looking through my XR glasses. It was tricky, but that's what we're trying to do in this photo.
Susan Brubaker Knapp and Kestrel Michaud posing in front of the Q16
Susan and I took quite a few photos together. Most of the quilts I took as examples were my fan art quilts, becaues they are generally the only quilts I consistently have at my house.

After we finished recording, we ladies took one last photo all together. What a fun day!

Susan, Brandy, Jeanne, and Kestrel on set by the Q16
Top row: Susan Brubaker Knapp, QATV host; Brandy Maslowski, Quilter on Fire; Jeanne Cook-Delpit, Director of National Events at Bernina of America. Bottom row: Kestrel Michaud, Fine Art Quilter