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Making shit up.

November 16, 2018 thecraftsessions
Screenshot 2018-11-15 10.16.38.png

Years ago I made a quilt that wasn’t quite right - and I think I’m about to make another. You see in craft there are many norms. We call these norms ‘rules’ and they are often based on tradition. We hear that the right way to do things is X and if we’ve done it kinda Y-like we may be “lucky” enough to be informed of the error of our ways. And sometimes that can be useful - maybe we didn’t know about X way of doing things. And maybe X would work better. But sometimes we get so caught up with X that we forget it’s even possible to think up Y. And Y could be just what we needed.

I’m right in the middle of doing my middle kids quilt and gee-willakers I’m loving it. It is a true joy project - the process is magically calming and exquisitely sensory. The hand-quilting part of making a quilt is a basically a menial task with all the non-thinking mindfullness that the menial entails. Plus I get to look at the pretty quilt while I’m doing it. And I think that the hand quilting I’ve chosen to do - which I was really uncertain about - is enhancing the look of the quilt delightfully.

To make the process even more joyful I’ve (rudely) taken over the whole of our dining table for the duration, and am making us eat dinner in our brekkie spot. Which means the quilt is always out and ready, so I can do a stitch or two here and there throughout the day. As projects go this one has been totally joy filled once I got over my stories and my fear. I really had to sit in the fear that it wouldn’t work in order to take a step forward.

I handquilted the star to make it the focus of the quilt. And as I’m just over half way through quilting the star, I’m naturally starting to think about how to quilt the rest of the quilt. Outside the star the rest of the quilt is a dark denim chambray, which I really want to keep as a background rather than bringing it into the design….which brings me to the subject of today’s post which is “Making shit up”.

Screenshot 2018-11-15 21.19.55.png

Years ago when I made the spot quilt, I broke with quilting tradition - or at least how I was taught to make a quilt. You see I was trying to show different techniques of quilting for a workshop, so decided to put all the techniques together. I used hand quilting as a feature in the middle of the quilt, and then for the rest of the quilt I machine quilted it. To the best of my knowledge a half-hand-quilted/half-machine-quilted quilt really isn’t a thing. I don’t think there is a special category at the quilting show for this particular mishmash of techniques. To the best of my knowledge this breaks with tradition.*

But after living with the spot quilt for many years I really adore it this hand/machine combination. You see the middle part of the quilt is hand quilted which gives the quilt a tactility and a warmth that a fully machine quilted quilt often lacks (in my opinion!) AND the machine quilted part of the quilt has a certain fluidity that is lacking in the more densely hand quilted spot. This means a cosy quilt with the benefits of both sports - machine and hand.

While the lovely Mary Jane Mucklestone was in town I hosted a workshop with her in Sydney, and one of the things she talked about was the idea of tradition, and how it is not always as traditional as we might think. MJ is a wealth of knowledge and history of Fair Isle and Shetland knitting - she’s even written books about it! And so what she said surprised me - which was, that traditions are incredibly practical, that there are reasons why the crafters make the choices they do, but also that sometimes in some places, and some families, they do things differently based on their preference. For example some people sew their ends in, some weave in ends as they go, some tie knots and others (shock and horror) do nothing but leave their ends dangling. MJ spoke of how tradition isn’t set in stone, and that she is often surprised by the methodologies people use.

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While traditions have much to teach us, we can sometimes stuck on the idea that they are the only ways of doing things and this is a problem. At workshops and festivals and craft fairs and shows, I’ve heard many a lovely human tell another lovely human, that they are doing it wrong. And maybe they are. Maybe in that case there is a better way of doing something, or a way more in line with tradition…. and yet I also want to put my hand up for the idea that we should engage with making shit up regularly. Making shit up to see if we can find a better way, a more practical way of doing something. Making shit up because tradition is not set in stone. Making shit up because traditions evolve. Making shit up because it’s fun and we like the result better.

Every technique was made up at sometime by someone. Whether it was made up yesterday by you, or 150 years ago by women on a far off isle, all options are equally valid. Neither option gets to exclusively own credibility - not the traditional method, nor the new and shiny idea.

Our craft is not a performance for others, but rather it is a lived experience. And as such, all that matters, is that you are pleased with the results you get from the method you have chosen.

I wrote a while back about Breaking the Rules in craft and how often the “rules” are dictated by the values or the circumstances of the people who made them up. For these quilts - I initially broke them to demonstrate techniques for a workshop but now after living with it, and loving it, I think it might be my thing. This beautiful star quilt is going to also be a mish-mash quilt. A hand quilted star with a machine quilted background - just the thing to top it off,don’t you think?

Do you enjoy making shit up? Or are you tradition all the way? Have you invented a technique like mish-mash quilting? If so I’d love to hear about it…..

Felicia x

*Maybe this is a thing in some part of the world I don’t know about? Or is part of some beautiful tradition that I have never seen? I really don’t know that much about the history of quilting. I’d love to hear if you know of a place that does this mish-mash.

In Thoughts On Craft Tags rules, joy, tradition, quilting
16 Comments

Best Of: Gee's Bend - The Architecture of the Quilt

October 29, 2014 thecraftsessions

Gee's Bend: The Architecture of the Quilt

I mentioned this book briefly in my Around the Traps post about quilting the other week but it deserved further attention. Gee's Bend: The Architecture of a Quilt, has been on my dining room table for over two weeks now, and I can't stop looking at it. At breakfast. At lunch. When I'm having a cuppa. And I know this is a big call but I want to say that this is by far the best craft book I have ever purchased. No matter what type of crafter you are - you will find inspiration in here.

I'm going to let my (slightly dodgy) pictures do the talking but I think but I need to say that these pictures do not do the quilts justice. There is a subtlety to the fabric choices and colour and wear is just incredible, and which you can only see by looking at the real images. And that these are only a small smattering of what is in there (I haven't even included my favourite). AND then there are the stories about the quilts and about the lives of the women who made them ,which just makes the whole book so much richer. 

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I am totally in love and know this book will inspire me for many years to come. 

You can buy it from the usual places and you should. Or if you are joining me for #stash_less then I'd suggest you ask for it for Christmas ;)!

I'd love to hear your comments if you have it or have seen it or would like to see it.

Felicia x

In Best Of, Inspiration Tags quilting
4 Comments

Part 3 - I was totally wrong about patchwork!

May 16, 2014 thecraftsessions
The quilt top. Image used courtesy of Siobhan Rogers of Beaspoke Quilts

The quilt top. Image used courtesy of Siobhan Rogers of Beaspoke Quilts

This is the third installment in this little mini-series and probably the last. (If you haven't read Part 1 and Part 2 you might want to backtrack as I describe just how wrong I've been and why). In this one we tackle the thing I’ve found the trickiest to love - that is the use of lots of printed fabrics in quilts. But again, over the last few years I have found more and more examples of quilts I love, that have this characteristic. There are beautiful examples of this kind of patchwork all over the place if you just start looking….

This style of patchwork involves the cutting up of a beautiful print and putting it next to another beautiful print – sometimes in a traditional pattern and sometimes not.  And the thing that I have found tricky about it in the past, is the sense of overwhelm I feel. Sometimes it feels visually a bit too much – but I think that was because I was looking at the wrong quilts. Done right this can bring so much life and depth to a quilt.

So I thought I would show you just a few examples to demonstrate how mixing printed fabrics can be done in a way that is thoughtful, considered and ultimately stunning.

I haven't had quite enough time to gather all the permissions I wanted to to use other people photos so this post is a little link heavy. Still I hope that you enjoy the assortment of quilts I have pulled together that yet again demonstrate how wrong I was about patchwork! 

 Simple Traditional

First up – those of you that have followed The Craft Sessions over the last year will probably realize that I have a little crush on Naomi Ito’s Nani Iro fabrics. Little is possibly an understatement. I have just a small pile which I occasionally dive into when I’m feeling brave.

And that is how I came across today’s first quilt. I was looking for things to do with double gauze. I wanted to see how it would work best – a garment or a quilt. I remember seeing this quilt for the first time and thinking “wow!! that is clever”. And it is. It is the use of the print to enhance the simple design. It is the fact that there is quiet in the quilt. It is the simplicity of it – the use of a traditional pattern in a simple way using beautiful fabrics to make something stunning.

The finished quilt by Siobhan Rogers - photo used courtesy of Siobhan Rogers of Beaspoke Quilts

The finished quilt by Siobhan Rogers - photo used courtesy of Siobhan Rogers of Beaspoke Quilts

 And then after a little digging I discovered that the quilter is Australian Siobhan Rogers of Beaspokequilts. Her work has been featured in magazine after magazine and she seems to just have an incredible output. You can find more of her gorgeous work at her blog or her instagram.

This simple traditional square cross quilt comes from Leslie who we will talk about some more below. And I wanted to include it because I love the simplicity of it. 

Image used courtesy of Leslie Keating.

Image used courtesy of Leslie Keating.

Click this link for another gorgeous quilt that is simply a collection of squares by Alessandria Taccia. And click here for a beautiful, more complicated star quilt that is so very pretty. 

And then this stellar quilt by Toshiko Jinzenji. It is crazy good.

 

Old School Traditional

If you like the idea of Old School Traditional quilts but want something considered and modern then you can't go past the lovely Karyn of Make Something. Karyn runs a shop called The Workroom in Toronto and has consistently made quilt after amazing quilt for years. Watching her work over the last few years and the work of her teachers and students, has been a big part of my patchwork turnaround. So thanks Karyn! 

If you go back through her flickr pages or join her instagram you will find inspirational quilt after inspirational quilt after inspirational quilt. 

 

Improvisational

Next quilt style up is totally different in it’s style - freestyle quilting.

The first example is by one of our awesome teachers Leslie Keating of Maze and Vale. Leslie designs and prints her own fabrics and then uses them in her improvised patchwork quilts. She taught this style of patchwork at last year’s event and had people raving about “freedom” and “joy” and …. Have a look at some photo’s here.

Image used courtesy of Leslie Keating of Maze and Vale.

Image used courtesy of Leslie Keating of Maze and Vale.

Image used courtesy of Leslie Keating

Image used courtesy of Leslie Keating

Image used courtesy of Leslie Keating. 

Image used courtesy of Leslie Keating. 

I think the thing that really makes Leslie’s quilts quietly sing is that fact that her fabrics all have a similar tone to them. I love the use of different neutrals and the different basecloths. And then there is the style. I love an improvised quilt – but it isn’t something I think I would feel free enough to do. Leslie's Improv technique achieves these random unplanned and stunning results. 

Photo of a quilt from The Craft Sessions 2013 class taught by Leslie.

Photo of a quilt from The Craft Sessions 2013 class taught by Leslie.

Another quilt that demonstrates this style beautifully is by the lovely Siri Hayes. Siri is my friend. She is an amazing artistic photographer but one of the benefits of being her friend means that I also get to see some of her amazing craft work. The woman is clever. And one place she always floors me is her use of colour.

Photo and quilt by Siri Hayes

Photo and quilt by Siri Hayes

Siri took Leslie’s class last year and put together a beautiful quilt top that I was a little obsessed with. And then just before I left, I went for craft night at her house and saw another one she was putting together and it is just stunning. This is one of those times when someone’s inate (or learned?) understanding and use of colour is what makes the quilt top sing. I asked her to take some photos for me. They don’t do it justice –said with total love for the quilt as the photos are gorgeous. There is always a subtlety to what makes the colour in a particular work sing. Maybe it goes back to some of the points in my last post or maybe it doesn’t’? I still don’t feel I undertand this one enough. But I love watching other people achieve it. Still so much to learn.

Photo and quilt by Siri Hayes

Photo and quilt by Siri Hayes

Photo and quilt by Siri Hayes

Photo and quilt by Siri Hayes

I also love this quilt again by Siobhan that she did in collaboration with the wonderful CLOTH fabrics. Gorgeous colours and use of prints.

Quilt by Siobhan Rogers of Beaspoke Quilts for CLOTH

Quilt by Siobhan Rogers of Beaspoke Quilts for CLOTH

Three more people/quilts you should look at if you like this style of quilting are 

Maggie and Sparrow - An Australian quilt maker with a gorgeous sense of colour. Her colour palates are so interesting to me. They are harmonius and very very calm. But she uses colourways I just wouldn’t think of. Again another person that gets colour.

Lotta Jansdotter's quilt from one of her earlier books.

And have a look at this one by Insung from Namoo here.

 

And with that I have to get to bed. I think I've mentioned it on each patchwork post but just in case I haven't - if any of these lovely quilts have inspired you to give patchwork a try then please join us at The Craft Sessions this year. The lovely Melissa of Tiny Happy fame is teaching Freedom Patchwork which will have you capable, confident and joyful by the end of the day. 

Felicia x

In Inspiration, Thoughts On Craft Tags patchwork, quilting
2 Comments

Part 2 - I was totally wrong about patchwork!

April 22, 2014 thecraftsessions
Photo courtesy of Maura Grace Ambrose.

Photo courtesy of Maura Grace Ambrose.

So this post follows on from Part 1 - I was totally wrong about patchwork! but starts from a "how do they do that? HOW are those quilts so beautiful?" perspective. After explaining how I have fallen in love with patchwork over the last few years, I wanted to take it a step further today and tell you about some of the things I think that make their quilts so amazing. I also feel the need to say that I might totally be stating the obvious in this post - but for me it took some time to figure out what they had in common that I loved - so I thought I would share.

At the end of the post I am going to suggest some other patchworkers/quilters you might like to have a look at and a couple of artists I like who make quilt like art or art that looks like quilts. There are so many other makers out there to inspire you to give patchwork a try.

Form and Composition

Quilts have always been about form and composition. But each of these quiltmakers has put their own stamp on tradition. 

Hopewell through their use of simple shapes - some of them remind me of Rothko or Albers paintings - make simple but really interesting quilts combined with what they do with colour. Lindsay Stead does it with her use of traditional patterns at different scales - she talks about her process a bit in this video on her site. Maura just appears to fiddle with traditional patterns and makes magic - she seems to deformalise the formal. And Meg talks about using a traditional methodology and fiddling with it to get her amazing strip quilts.

The Similar Colour Trick

This I think is the key - but I'm finding it tricky to explain. Each one of these quilt makers use this "trick" where the quilts aren't just flat colour. For example instead of using a single dark colour,  they use two (or more) very similar colours as their "dark".  They use this trick in different but clever ways to make quilts that have so much more depth and life than they would if they just used flat colours.

This is best way to show the similar colour trick is through pictures methinks.

The Georgia quilt below actually uses two different flat cottons - one navy and one black as the "dark" in this quilt. Until I saw this quilt it would never have occurred to me to use two similar colours and especially not navy and black. Seeing this was one of those life altering moments. My reality shifted a little. I mean look at it! It totally blew my mind....how clever does Maura want to be.

Photo courtesy of Maura Grace Ambrose

Photo courtesy of Maura Grace Ambrose

Photo courtesy of Maura Grace Ambrose.

Photo courtesy of Maura Grace Ambrose.

She then gets a little cleverer. Maura now uses her own naturally dyed fabrics, which means that the fabric itself has subtle variation in it and isn't flat (this is like the effect of a semi-solid for all you knitters out there). This is beautifully shown in her Idaho quilt below - what could have been quite a dramatic sharp quilt is softened by the use of the naturally dyed fabric. Often there is variation in both the background and the feature colour of her quilts. 

Photo's courtesy of Maura Grace Ambrose. 

Photo's courtesy of Maura Grace Ambrose. 

Linday Stead does this thing in many of her quilts, where she uses flat colours but two slightly different shades of the one colour. There are two examples below. This is so simple and yet so effective.

Two different reds - Photo courtesy of Lindsay Stead.

Two different reds - Photo courtesy of Lindsay Stead.

Two different background colours - Photo courtesy of Lindsay Stead.

Two different background colours - Photo courtesy of Lindsay Stead.

Another one that Lindsay has just finished has just been accepted into Quilt Canada and it shows this perfectly in the background. Have a look at it here - http://instagram.com/p/nDcLdCrc93/

Meg Callahan does this sometimes by using a dyed fabric in just in parts of the quilt - like the red one. Or in the black one below the dyed fabric is used as the dark fabric throughout the whole quilt.

Photo courtesy of Meg Callahan

Photo courtesy of Meg Callahan

Photo courtesy of Meg Callahan

Photo courtesy of Meg Callahan

Photo courtesy of Meg Callahan

Photo courtesy of Meg Callahan

So after seeing that this was a common element to many different makers, I emailed the lovely Anna and asked for some words about why the similar colour trick has such an amazing effect and she said this:

“The use of colours which are harmonious (close to each other on the colour wheel) create a harmony of effect. The contrast is subtle, so the effect is subtle. The colours sit together like good friends. But by having more than one flat colour, the effect creates more interest. There is variety, texture, depth, subtlety of difference.

In the case of the Georgia quilt, it helps create the pattern - it makes it more complicated than if it was one colour. The added detail of the two colours with the floral fabric does this too - adds variety and breaks up the consistency. They create interest and a place for our eyes to settle.”
— Anna Farago via email

There are so many examples of this out there when you start to look. 

Contrast (or not)

I talked a little bit about value in my colour post but these people use value so cleverly. Many of the quilts combine the use of high contrast with the use of the similar colour trick. These create quilts that are quite dramatic quilts but because of the similar colour trick, they aren't hard and crisp but instead have a softness to them (in my opinion). 

Hopewell use contrast in a different way and often have less contrast combined with a more harmonious colour palate. This create quilts that to me, feel much calmer while still being interesting due to their composition, form and use of multiple shades. Which brings me to ......

Multiple shades with a difference  

Claire and Eliza of Hopewell do something similar to the similar colour trick but in a totally different way. They use less subtle differences in colour than the other makers but they do often use multiple shades of a particular colour. These shades are then further varied through the use of prints and patterns and (I think?) shot cottons and chambrays. A shot cotton is one where the warp and the weave are made with different coloured yarns which means the colour changes as you look at it from diffferent angles which provides depth.

For example - when you look at it from a long way away, the background in the quilt on the right looks like a creamy grey. Up close it is a grey dot on a cream background. 

Photo courtesy of Hopewell

Photo courtesy of Hopewell

Photo courtesy of Hopewell

Photo courtesy of Hopewell

This again creates interest but the harmoniuous nature of using shades of one colour give these quilts their simple joy!

Other people you might be interested in 

Most of these people I know of via instagram. It is a wonderful resource where many makers are posting about their process. You can learn many things just by looking at the pictures. 

Doreshandmade - Uses form and composition, similar colour trick and the multiple shades thing.  This one is a lovely example of all that. There is also something else in there that I haven't yet put my finger on.

Counterpane - Handmade quilts and custom handiwork by Pauline Boyd. These quilts are something special and don't fit in with any of the stuff I spoke about above. They are just art really. She uses fabrics from Ilana Kohn and Ace and Jig to produce these beauties. Have a look at her instagram stream as well. 

Make Something and The Workroom - Karen's blog is Make Something and her business is The Workroom - she is based in Canada. For years she has consistently surprised me with a more traditional style patchwork that sings. The star I made for the Freedom Patchwork front picture was based on one I saw on a quilt she featured. 

The Purl Bee - This is the blog of Purl Soho. These guys are a masterclass of colour and the similar colour trick. Have a look at their quilt page. I've been on their mailing list forever and they just keep coming up with the goods, month after month after month.

Other artists to look up whose work may interest you would be Louise_Bourgeois or Agnes Martin. Also have a look at Ethan Cook. You need to do a google search for images as his website is almost completely bare.

I would love to hear of others I should look at in the comments.

Felicia x

PS. I said it on the last post but in case you missed it - we are teaching patchwork at our retreat in September. The lovely Melissa of Tiny Happy fame is coming from NZ to spend a super day skilling you up in our Freedom Patchwork class. 

PPS. Part 3 of this post is now up on the blog.

In Inspiration, Thoughts On Craft Tags patchwork, quilting, colour
4 Comments

Part 1 - I was totally wrong about patchwork!

April 16, 2014 thecraftsessions
Quilt by Meg Callahan. Photo courtesy of Meg Callahan.

Quilt by Meg Callahan. Photo courtesy of Meg Callahan.

I'm often wrong. Which I love. I love the fact that there is always more to learn and that I don't already know everything. And that sometimes things I have believed wholeheartedly turn out to be complete piffle. And that sometimes you have to learn things slowly, rather than just being taught. And so today, because all those statements are true, I want to say that I was wrong about patchwork. Totally wrong.

I didn’t think I liked patchwork. In fact I have been known to say that I h#%e patchwork. I want to interject in my own post and say I now realise my previous statement is total blasphemy (Anna just looked at me and sighed, bless her). Patchwork is obviously not one thing, and there are so many styles and tastes that there is something there for everyone. Yet again, one woman's water is another woman's wine..... 

But back to where I started. I thought patchwork was way too busy and too bright and messy and loud. It just seemed too much. And then on top of that I really hated the idea of taking a beautiful print and chopping it into little pieces. That didn't make sense to me. And that is not to say that I didn’t see the a quilt here and there that I liked, but for the most part I thought they weren’t for me. 

That said, I liked quilts – their function and the feeling of them. We sleep under one in the summer rather than a doona. I even made a few – wholecloth quilts of course - where I didn’t need to snip up the pretty pretty fabric. And I also think there was also some kind of avoidance of patchwork hidden in my dislike, in that I was also a bit scared of trying it. It seemed like a different science to making a frock. One where colour choice was oh-so-important. The same quilt pattern can look so vastly different – stunning or super-ugly based on this simple but complicated thing called colour and fabric selection. Learning how to do that felt a little bit impossible. 

And then it happened - slowly but surely I was shown the error of my ways. About two or three years ago quilts started popping up on the web and pinterest that I didn’t just like - I LOVED!  And they were sometimes quilts where pretty fabric was chopped up, and still I loved them. And then I started seeing people who were making quilt making into an artform with their incredible talents in composition and form, and their deep understanding of colour.

Quilt by Lindsay Stead. Photo courtesy of Lindsay Stead

Quilt by Lindsay Stead. Photo courtesy of Lindsay Stead

Quilt by Lindsay Stead. Photo courtesy of Lindsay Stead

Quilt by Lindsay Stead. Photo courtesy of Lindsay Stead

And I really did fall in love. 

So I thought that today I would share some of my favourite quilt makers - the ones that have made me fall in love. Then in the next post, I'll tell you a little bit about what I think they have in common that makes their quilts oh-so-special. 

Denyse Schmidt

First up there was Denyse Schmidt. For those of you who haven't heard of her she is a quilting pioneer and really the first person whose quilts spoke to me. I first saw her work about five or six years ago and I loved her Sonic Blue/Deep Blue quilt. A bit improv-ish, still simple but stunning. (There is also the Tangerine version). Pretty fabric was cut up but I wasn’t forced to shield my eyes from the busyness. I can picture this quilt in my mind so easily as I have looked at it so many times. And then she did a range of quilts called the Mount Lebanon series. Go and have a look at them. They are really beautiful and even more quiet. And at the time I hadn't seen anything like them. 

My dislike shifted a little, and I purchased a couple of quilting books - the super one from Purl Soho and both books by the incredible Denyse. And there were some beautiful things. Things that I felt could be adapted to my taste. I started to see the potential.

And I started pinning things on Pinterest. And slowly, but surely have built a whole board of quilts I love. 

Maura Grace Ambrose of Folk Fibers

So then, about two years ago, I came accross Maura Grace of Folk Fibers. Wow. I fell so hard and so deep - as did the rest of the world. I think it was the Colorado Quilt (shown below in reds and pinks) initially and then the Georgia (dark one) and then the Idaho (yellow). Totally different quilts but all with something totally interesting and stunning about them. Maura uses naturally dyed fabrics, machine piecing and then hand quilting producing these amazingly tactile looking quilts. I adore the yellow Idaho one so much I think I dream about it.  And at the time Maura was blogging a little more, and I had just joined instagram where she documents her process. Maura has made one amazing quilt after another for years now - developing her style and her techniques over that time. It has been truly amazing to watch.

Colorado Quilt - Photo courtesy of Maura Grace Ambrose

Colorado Quilt - Photo courtesy of Maura Grace Ambrose

Georgia Quilt - Photo courtesy of Maura Grace Ambrose

Georgia Quilt - Photo courtesy of Maura Grace Ambrose

Idaho Quilt - Photo courtesy of Maura Grace Ambrose

Idaho Quilt - Photo courtesy of Maura Grace Ambrose

And through watching I became a little obsessed with learning more processes. I had to learn how to do a sashiko type stitch on a quilt. I made a wholecloth quilt or two for my small girl in order to teach myself how. And then progressed on to my imperfect quilt which I loved making almost as much as I love it finished. It was definitely a process as well product thing for me.

Sawtooth quilt. Photo courtesy of Maura Grace Ambrose.

Sawtooth quilt. Photo courtesy of Maura Grace Ambrose.

Flying Geese Quilt. Photo courtesy of Maura Grace Ambrose.

Flying Geese Quilt. Photo courtesy of Maura Grace Ambrose.

Making a few quilts and planning many more has meant that I have become even more curious about other makers. So in the last few months I have gone out looking for more. I have been looking for people who make quilts that I love, so that I can analyse them to figure out why I love them so much. What is it about them that speaks to me - and once I understand that - what it is that I want to make. It is all part of my visual diary process for quilts. 

I have found another three modern quilt makers that I LOVE (and I can't wait to find more). I love watching their work and their process (often via instagram) and anything they want to give me really and I have come to the conclusion that I actually LOVE patchwork (and them. I really love them - they are so inspiring!) 

I'm going to show you a few bits and pieces from my three latest loves in no particular order, but please follow the links and have a look at their work. There is so much more to their work than I am able to show in one post. 

Hopewell Workshop

Hopewell Workshop – wow! They have been popping up all over the interwebs. Claire and Eliza really understand simple composition, colour and form. The simplicity of those three things in their quilts really make my heart sing. I adore their use of simple prints mixed with plain fabrics,  and simple arrangements. Unlike many of the other quilt makers they aren’t solely making one-of-a-kind pieces and the quilting is done on a machine. Which makes their quilts more accessible. They are true masters of fabric choice.

Tell Tale East - Photo courtesy of Hopewell.

Tell Tale East - Photo courtesy of Hopewell.

The Lakehouse Quilt - Photo courtesy of Hopewell

The Lakehouse Quilt - Photo courtesy of Hopewell

Lavender Horses - Photo courtesy of Hopewell.

Lavender Horses - Photo courtesy of Hopewell.

Pink Little Courthouse - Photo courtesy of Hopewell.

Pink Little Courthouse - Photo courtesy of Hopewell.

Lindsay Stead

I first came across Lindsay Stead on pinterest. The amazing quilt below right won First Place in the Minimalist Design Category at QuiltCon 2013. And was all over the place. But it was only after finding her through instagram and then her website that I realised how amazing she is as this quilt as not a one off. She is a master of mixing up a traditional pattern in new ways. The one below left won the Judge's Choice Award in the same year.  The two quilts towards the start of the post are also hers. 

Quilt by Lindsay Stead. Photo courtesy of Lindsay Stead

Quilt by Lindsay Stead. Photo courtesy of Lindsay Stead

Quilt by Lindsay Stead. Photo courtesy of Lindsay Stead

Quilt by Lindsay Stead. Photo courtesy of Lindsay Stead

Her latest series of quilts explores scale - enlarging quilt blocks to full quilt size. I love these. 

Photo courtesy of Lindsay Stead

Photo courtesy of Lindsay Stead

Photo courtesy of Lindsay Stead

Photo courtesy of Lindsay Stead

Meg Callahan

And finally Meg Callahan - the quilter about whom I know the least but again I found via pinterest. I didn't even realise the quilts I was pinning were the same person until I went through the wormhole and found her website. I actually didn't realise initially that they were quilts. I thought they were blankets that were printed. Again I was wrong ;). And wow! Her patterns aren't traditional. They are more detailed than a common traditional quilt pattern and more geometric. And they are unlike anything I have seen before.

M.Callahan_Spine_Quilt.jpg
M.Callahan_Ada_Quilt.jpg

I mean c'mon. Look at those things. I could have added a heap more of Meg's quilts but this is already a photo heavy post. Go and have a look at her site.

So next post I'll tell you about the things I have learned about why these quilts are so special - other than just their genius. I've looked at them a lot and they have some things in common that we can all learn from. I'll also give you a bit of a list of other wonderful work I've seen you might want to check out. 

If this post has sparked your interest in what patchwork might do for you, you might consider joining Melissa Wastney at our Freedom Patchwork course in September. She will be teaching a day of patchwork exploration, where you will come out with the skills you need to start making for yourself. Imagine the possibilities.

If you have other people that you think I should look at please leave them in the comments. I am hungry for more. Or maybe you just want to tell me about things that influence your quilting and patchwork. I'd love to hear. 

Felicia x

Part 2 and Part 3 of this post are now up on the blog.

In Inspiration Tags patchwork, quilting
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Welcome! I'm Felicia - creator of The Craft Sessions and Soul Craft Festival.

This blog aims to celebrate the connection between hand-making and our well-being.
These posts aim to foster a love of hand-making and discuss the ways domestic handcrafts elevate our everyday.

I love the contributions you make to this space via your comments and learn so much from each and every one. x

Thoughts On Craft

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Another #theyearofthescrap #ellenscardigan using some #oldmaidenaunt alpaca silk from many years ago. What I love about this little cardy is it’s simplicity and how little yarn it uses. Perfect for scrap knitting. I now have a little pile of ba New blog post: Craft as elevating the mundane! I think this idea is so important. 🌿 'Making is about enriching the moments of our lives; it’s about making the mundane (and not the extraordinary) more abundant and that bit more lush…. el Block 8/12 - I’m so excited to be back making this for my smallest for her 10th birthday. It’s a #stash_less #theyearofthescrap quilt that is based on an incredible #geesbend quilt. And it’s all scraps and precious bits and pieces.
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Featured
Making Fast Fashion: Some More Of The Grey
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Is My Making Fast Fashion?
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