It’s January’s Guild Member Of The Month Beth K.!
1. What motivated your interest in quilting?
I think It would have to have been watching my Grammy quilt. She enjoyed It a lot and she made quilts for every one of her Children, Grandchildren, and Great Grandchildren. Everyone was always so happy to get the quilt and I wanted to be a part of that.
2. Who taught you to quilt?
My Grammy Eunice Hubbert. She raised me and I spent pretty much every single day with her up until she passed due to Cancer. She was always sewing clothes for the family, piecing a quilt top or hand quilting every single day of her life. There was many a time when she would be piecing a quilt with myself setting on the floor next to her & when she would make a mistake she would have me use a knife to remove the stitches! Still to this day I will use a knife over a seam ripper any day! I made my first quilt when I was 9. I picked out the pattern & fabrics, then I used cardboard templates to draw each and every piece on the fabric and cut them out with scissors. Grammy tried to show me how to hand quilt once It was completed, and I was always amazed when I went to school my stitches were um… “less than perfect”, but when I got home they looked just as good as Grammy’s did. It took a few day before I figured out she was restitching what I had done the night before and when I talked to her about It she just patted me on the back and said “Some people just don’t have the quilting touch, why don’t you go use the sewing machine and let me work on this” She was right, my hand work was horrid and It still Is! For the life of me I just can’t figure It out!
3.What/Who has influenced a change in your sewing/quilting styles since you started?
I’ve changed?! i hadn’t really thought much about my style changing but when asked this question I took a look back at the quilts I have made and yes I have changed a lot! I would have to say the Internet and all the quilting blogs I read have changed me more than anything. Back when I started quilting I was into only traditional quilt patterns and styles, now I prefer to make something that is going to stand out from what everyone else makes. I refuse to use fabric that is big on floral designs unless i am going to do some fussy cutting
4. What the most difficult quilt pattern you’ve done and would you do It again?
Double Wedding Ring, and maybe! I was Inspired by a double wedding ring quilt I saw on the Internet this past year that was made In bold bright prints that has me thinking I just might want to tackle the pattern one more time!
5. What is the one quilt you have started and never finished?
I only have to name one?! OK that’s easy it would be a little number called Not Your Grandmother’s Log Cabin! The pattern book is a big pain in the tushy! One page says to cut the strips on way then you turn the page and it tells you half of them have to be cut at another angle. I gave up on it the third time I had to buy Charcoal colored fabric because I cut the strips wrong for a second time in a row! The fabric and few pieces I have gotten together are in the drawers on my cutting table gathering dust for the past two years!
6. Where do you see this industry going in the next 30 – 50 years?
I try not to think that far ahead…. then again I try not to think at all! :O)
7. Do you prefer the piecing or the quilting process better?
Well I use to enjoy piecing the best, but then I got my first quilting machine and well lets just say the amount of quilt tops I would make in a year dropped substantially!
8. When did you know you wanted to do long arm quilting as a “profession”?
To be honest It just sort of fell into my lap. My aunt and I purchased my first machine a few months after my Grammy had passed away with the soul purpose to use it to finish up the multitude of quilt tops she left un-quilted. After a year or so I was asked by a relative if I would quilt a quilt for her and I said sure why not. A few days after that I got a call from a neighbor to quilt a small quilt for her. At that time I worked totally for cookies! One quilt, one batch of cookies… I think you can figure out about what time I gained all my weight huh?! It wasn’t long after that when Mrs. Dust sold her quilt shop and it reopened in Effingham as Angie’s Nine Patch. My aunt and I would make a trip inside every couple of weeks and one Saturday (not sure exactly what year It was) when I walked in Angie said something about me not leaving until Karie (one of her employees) could get to the shop, Karie wanted me to quilt a quilt for her. I was a bit shocked, someone I didn’t know all that well and I wasn’t related to wanted me to quilt a quilt for her? When Karie came rushing into the shop, apparently on a break from her other job, I said I would quilt the top for her no problem. Karie was my first non family member that I quilted for & got real money from! Things just kind of went from there, it wasn’t ever truly going to be a “job” for me but it didn’t take long before I decided that I loved It a lot and If I worked for myself I could sleep in late and never change out of my P.J.’s! It was perfect for me!
9. Have you ever been “stuck” on what to quilt on a quilt?
YES! Most quilts are pretty easy enough to come up with quilting designs for but some quilts just don’t “speak to me.” My Aunt Geneva has said she can tell right away when I am having problems deciding on a quilting design when she looks into my studio room. Apparently I like to set on the floor a few feet away from the quilt in question and glare at it! I have never noticed myself doing it but she has given me photographic proof.
10. What Is your favorite color to use in a quilt?
Black! I think a little touch of black or charcoal can really make a quilt pop…. unless it’s a quilt made of all neutrals of course!
11. What sparked your interest in miniatures?
On my first ever trip to the Paducah KY. AQS QuIlt Show I saw my first real miniature quilts. It was love at first sight! I bought a few paper piecing mini quilt patterns that same day. But when I got home I decided It would just be easy to convert a regular pattern to a mini version than to go with the paper piecing. I have purchased a few mini quilt kits the past couple years…. now If I could just remember were It was I put them?!
12. What pet peeves do have about quilting?
Were do I start! I have a few but I think the one that drives me nuts the most would be Wavy Borders! As a Machine Quilter I see a lot of them and have a few different ways to deal with them but sometimes they just have to much of a wave and I have to remove the border, remeasure, and re-sew It back In place. If you have a problem with borders you can find help online just google It!
13. What techniques or new Ideas are you hoping In the next two years to try?
I just purchased the Quick Curves Ruler and a few of the patterns to go along with It. I have never done any curved piecing before so It’s something new for me to try out along with the new ruler. The ruler designer Jenny Pedigo of Sew Kind Of Wonderful, has some videos on her blog that I have watched a few time now so I think I can figure It out. I love the patterns she has designed to go with the ruler and I hope to have at least one of them ready to go into our guild quilt show this September!
14. What five favorite quilting tools do you like?
man I never knew how hard this question was when I asked it to all the other quilters of the month! Narrowing It down to just 5 is HARD!
5. my cutting table. I added wheels to the legs for easy moving and the wheels made It the perfect height for me to cut! It was my Aunts office desk at the school but before that It was a classroom desk!
4. my big Ironing Board cover, every quilter needs one trust me!
3. a SHARP rotary cutter blade! I change to a new blade before EVERY new project, It helps me get better precision cut pieces.
2. a Steam Iron that doesn’t leak!
1. my design wall! I can’t live without Its 7 ¾’ x 8’ of It! It was the best thing I added to my sewing room when we remodeled a few years back and It has a secret! It Is hinged to the wall like doors and I store my rulers & cutting mats behind the wall to keep them all organised!
enlarge this photo by clicking on it!
15. Do you like the trend of “solid colors” of today?
Yes… I think?! I love solid colors and I think every quilt needs a little solid color fabric to give your eyes a resting spot. Some of the modern quilts on the Internet really draw my eye but I am just not sure I would ever make one for myself. Time will only tell!
16. How much time do you spend on the Internet researching quilting Ideas?
More time than I want to think about! I love reading quilting Blogs and checking out the websites of quilt magazines & fabric company’s. You can find some great free patterns and lots of inspiration online. I have been known to post a multitude of links on my Facebook wall and some nights I stay up way to late, but one advantage to working from home Is the advantage to set my own hours!
At this point of the interview i noramly ask if there is something the quilter of the month would like to end the post with! Instead i think i’m going to ask myself a question… yap had to do it!
17. Can I tell the group something about me that they may not know?
Sure I can, no problem! Did you know that I love Photography? I am just starting to get into it really and I know I still need tons of practice but i love it all the same. I need a new camera for starters but i am finding it doesn’t take a fancy setup to get a good photo. Some of my favorites i have taken with my cell phone! Want to see some of them? No of course not, but here they are anyway! Oh and thanks for reading!
Posted on January 21, 2012, in Uncategorized and tagged Crossroads Quilters Guild, design wall, Effingham Il., Guild Member Of The Month, Quilter of the month. Bookmark the permalink. 1 Comment.
Good “interview”! Enjoyed reading about one of my favorite quilters…