My First Quilt – Part 3
Full of unsure stitching and unpicked seams, first quilts are often far from perfect. But they are full of character – and full of memories. Celebs of the quilting world take their earliest quilting attempts out of the attic to reveal their wonders and flaws and to reminisce a little about the whole ‘getting started’ experience. Get ready for the third and final part of My First Quilt! By Janai Velez
Helen Godden
Website: HelenGodden.com
Email: helen@helengodden.com
Facebook: Helen Godden Quilts
“Couldn’t find my first quilt, but here’s the second one!” – Helen
Helen Godden describes her first quilt as cartoon-like, kitsch and corny. It’s a pictorial quilt featuring a cow with the words ‘Outstanding in her Field’ hand stitched on. She couldn’t find this quilt, so she tells us about her second one, Savannahscapes.
When did you make your second quilt? 2004, I only started quilting in 2004.
What inspired you to try quilting in the first place? My mum. In a way, it was therapy to be playing with fabrics in her sewing room as I was recovering from the traumatic previous 12 months, which included post-natal depression plus post-trauma stress after my husband fell 15m off a cliff (survived, fortunately, and is now 100% recovered. I’m from an art background with zero interest in cutting up floral fabric and joining together squares and triangles. But Mum took me to a quilt show, where I saw free-motion quilting for the first time and my eyes were opened to the possibilities of using a quilt as my canvas and the quilting as the lines in my artwork.
How did you learn the quilt-making basics? I completely went with my instincts. Mum is a traditional quilter from a drafting background, so everything is straight and mathematically accurate. I drew a design on paper and said this is what I am going to create. Mum just knew to step out of the way and keep offering fabric and scissors and cups of tea. I work at hurricane speed.
Did you use a pattern or did you design your second quilt yourself? All my own design – never used a pattern, probably couldn’t follow one!
Did you make mistakes? I decided I couldn’t sew straight lines and they didn’t appeal, so everything is appliqué. Even for patterned fabric I appliquéd fabrics to create more fabric, so in some places it’s seven fabrics thick. This made it hard to quilt on Mum’s little domestic machine, so I struggled, but what I lacked in knowledge I made up for in enthusiastic.
Learn fabric and painted appliqué finished with free-motion machine quilting with Helen Godden!
What size was your second quilt? It’s 55 x 95in [140 x 240cm].
How long did it take to make? About four weeks.
Was it difficult to choose colours and a theme? No, African landscapes are easy colours to play with.
Who was it made for? Myself.
Where is it now? Hangs in my entrance hall – one of only four quits that are given wall space amongst my framed artwork and my family’s indigenous-art collection. The rest of my quilts are stored lovingly in our unused bath tub … classy!
How has the style of your quilts changed since? My work is predominantly painted now and with far less appliqué. My work is still always distinctively themed and pictorial, strong design, bold and colourful.
In hindsight, how would you now score it out of 10 (10 being excellent, 0 being poor)? 7/10. I would give it sooooo much more quilting now … I see two-inch gaps in between quilting and that, to m,e is a freeway of potential for extreme free-motion quilting!
Natalie Bird, of The Birdhouse
Website: www.thebirdhouse.com.au
Email: thebirdhouse@bigpond.com
When did you make your first quilt? This quilt was made in 2003.
What inspired you to try quilting in the first place? I used to make cloth dolls and stitcheries. My mum encouraged me to make a quilt, but I resisted for a long time.
How did you learn the quilt-making basics? I just made it up as I went along. I used metric measurements, rather than imperial, because even though Mum explained that quilters use inches, I am stubborn and thought that was very ‘backward’ thinking – but I did switch to imperial after a couple more quilts.
Did you use a pattern or did you design your first quilt yourself? No, I designed it myself, but was inspired by a Chook Shed quilt called Everyday Angels. I didn’t really know what I was doing, and I’m amazed it worked out.
Did you make mistakes with your first attempt? I don’t remember any specific problems, although it is quite huge, and it was easier to make it ‘quilt as you go’. I machine-stitched the appliqué, because there was so much of it, which horrifies me now, as I am a hand-stitcher all the way. I also painted the words onto the quilt, rather than embroidering them.
What size was your first quilt? It’s a queen-size bed quilt.
How long did it take to make? It took a few weeks, I think, with help from my mum and some friends.
Check out Natalie Bird’s Forest Friends Embroidery!
Was it difficult to choose colours and a theme? No. At the time, I had a very specific colourway that I always used. Red, blue and mustard. I was really into Raggedys, also. I found the blue background fabric, which really set me on the path.
Who was it made for? It was just for myself, with the purpose of selling the BOM patterns.
Where is it now? Now, it sits in a cupboard in my garage, along with a lot of older quilts.
How has the style of your quilts changed since? My style has definitely evolved since this one. I use a lot more piecing combined with appliqué, a more subtle colourway and not quite so huge appliqué design. I would say my drawing style has improved, too.
In hindsight, how would you now score it out of 10 (10 being excellent, 0 being poor)? I would score it about a 2 or 3, max. I don’t like that it’s machine appliquéd.
Claire Turpin, of Claire Turpin Design
Website: www.claireturpindesign.com
Email: claireturpindesign@gmail.com
When did you make your first quilt? I made my first quilt 16 years ago.
What inspired you to try quilting in the first place? I made my first quilt for the birth of my first niece. My brother and his wife were expecting their first child, and a girlfriend of mine, who was new to quilting, suggested that I make one.
How did you learn the quilt-making basics? I’ve been sewing in some form all my life, so I knew what to do sewing-wise, although looking at how bad it is now, I can see that I have definitely improved my craft since then. I did get to learn the joys of cutting with a rotary cutter. I had some guidance from the staff at my local quilt shop; the rest I learnt as I went along from magazines and books.
Did you use a pattern or did you design it yourself? I started with a pattern, which was a country-style appliqué pattern, but I did change probably half of the designs myself – I tweaked the pattern a lot.
Did you make mistakes with your first attempt? Well, I didn’t think I made any mistakes, but looking at it now, the stitching is terrible. Embarrassingly bad.
What size was your first quilt? It’s a cot-sized quilt.
How long did it take to make? That I can’t remember, but I recall sitting in Kings Park [Perth] on a very hot Australia Day, stitching the blocks while waiting for the fireworks.
Was it difficult to choose colours and a theme? Not at all. I went with a girlfriend to Calico and Ivy, a very gorgeous patchwork shop in Perth and discovered Stargazey fabric by Jan Mullens — it was such a surprise to find all this amazing bright, colourful and modern fabric. It was very inspiring and had me hooked.
Who was it made for? It was made for my niece.
Create Claire Turpin’s super-cute Super-Dooper Scooter Bag!
Where is it now? It’s in the UK with my brother’s family.
How has the style of your quilts changed since? It was really the start of my quilting journey. I’m a trained spatial designer, but that first quilt really changed the direction of where I took my design skills. I still love to use bright colours, but I have definitely got more technical with the construction of my quilts.
In hindsight, how would you now score it out of 10 (10 being excellent, 0 being poor)? Perhaps 3 for workmanship but 8 for colour – and I still love the design changes I made.
Want to find out more about these designers? Head to Cosy PROJECT for patterns and classes featuring your favourite artisans!
