Читать книгу Simple Quilts for the Modern Home - Stephanie Soebbing - Страница 5

My quilting journey started out of a need to set aside my hectic work schedule and focus on some creative time that I desperately needed. At first I struggled with quilting. Every stitch, seam, and set of instructions caused frustration and I needed help. Then I discovered my local quilting guild, Mississippi Valley Quilters Guild in the Quad Cities in Illinois and Iowa. It was a large guild with about 300 members that regularly brought in regional and national instructors. I finally found a resource to help me improve. I took at least one class every month on every technique I could find so I could learn as much as possible.

By 2011, I was the one teaching the classes. While the guild I loved had taught me so much, most of the quilts at Show and Tell were traditional. I appreciated the craftsmanship and had made more than a few quilts that fit in just fine. But I knew that traditional fabrics, colors, and patterns just didn’t resonate with me.

When nearly 30 people signed up for a class to make a Lone Star quilt, nearly everyone showed up with fabrics you’d expect to find in a classic quilt pattern—light backgrounds, reproduction fabric, or repetitive small patterned fabric. I came with a black background and bright vibrant solids forming a rainbow in the center of the diamond. I chose fabrics that made me happy, not ones that matched my bedroom decor.

I started designing my own patterns, using the brightest colors I could find at my local quilt shops. Bright, fun, funky prints worked best with my tastes and looked appropriate in a modern, contemporary home.

Through my blog, QuiltAddictsAnonymous, I was invited to interview Kaffe Fassett in person at the opening of an exhibit of his quilts. The trip completely transformed my thoughts on quilt design. When I arrived and saw the bright colors, no-neutral quilts, and that 12-inch blocks are nice, but not necessary.

I read Kaffe’s autobiography to prep for the interview. I only had a few minutes with him, and as a former journalist I wanted to be prepared. I realized no matter what Kaffe created—paintings, knitwear, fabric, quilts—everything he did was a reflection of his true self. He created what his soul needed and success followed.

The designs for this book started coming to me in the middle of the night on the way home from the exhibit. By the time we arrived home half of the designs were sketched out. That’s how the seeds for Simple Quilts for the Modern Home were planted.

Staying true to myself and my mission to make quilting easy and accessible to everyone, I have created 12 quilts that are simple to piece. Some look more complicated than others, but once you break them down, any of these quilts can be made by a confident beginner or an advanced quilter looking for a fast project.

Happy Quilting,

Stephanie Soebbing