On today’s episode of the Craft Industry Alliance podcast, we’re talking about illustrations and textiles with my guest Kristen Balouch, founder of Little House Cottons, an organic quilting cotton company that produces fabric based on her original illustrations.
Kristen is a children’s book author, illustrator, and textile designer who has written and illustrated more than a dozen books for children. Her work has been recognized by organizations including the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation and the Society of Illustrators. She founded Little House Cottons, a boutique organic cotton brand featuring her whimsical designs in 2022. She is a graduate of Pratt Institute; her career has spanned more than thirty years, inspired by the universal themes in folk art and color play. She divides her time between a tiny apartment in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and her studio in New York’s Adirondacks.
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We begin this conversation with Kristen talking about her childhood spent on a commune in California’s Redwood Forest until age 10. Kristin shared memories of her unconventional upbringing, including making pottery from clay and developing an early interest in art and crafts.
Kristen went to high school in Akron, Ohio, where an influential art teacher inspired her to pursue art in New York. She described how she saved money from a part-time job to attend a Pratt summer program for high school students at age 14. After moving to Florida, she continued her art education with the support of another dedicated art teacher. Kristen attended Pratt as an undergraduate, initially as a drawing major before switching to computer graphics.
While in school, Kristen made a wordless children’s book with an unconventional format. She began pursuing children’s book illustration after graduation while living in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
Kristen discussed her journey to publishing her first children’s book, explaining how she secured a contract with Viking Children’s Books after submitting her portfolio to publishers she admired. She described two books she illustrated: “Listen to the Storyteller,” which included music components with performances at Carnegie Hall, and “The King and the Three Thieves,” a Persian folktale based on a story her husband grew up with. Kristen noted that she transitioned to illustrating full-time while being at home with her son after getting married.
Her children’s illustration work naturally led to fabric design. She began designing for Birch Fabrics, where she created several collections. Kristen also shared her experience exhibiting at Surtex, the surface design trade show, where she first exhibited with a group of artists and later alone, which helped her secure a client for designing scarves for a German company.
She then transitioned to creating organic cotton fabric under the brand Little House Cottons. We discuss her experience running a full-wrap business, including design, manufacturing, and distribution from her home studio. We also chat about Kristen’s approach to retail and wholesale shows, vending at QuiltCon, and her advice for aspiring children’s book illustrators and fabric designers.
Kristen recommends:
- An electric kettle
- Silkscreening with fluorescent inks
- Podcasts including This is Love, Criminal, and Where Should We Begin with Esther Perel
Keep up with Kristen on the Little House Cottons website and on Instagram.
