Hi everyone! Welcome to Day 24 of our Glorious Autumn Block Party. Today we have Victoria Findlay Wolfe as our featured designer.
Visit the Block Party Headquarters for more info and upload your completed blocks to the Flickr group.
Featured Designer: Victoria Findlay Wolfe
How did you get into quilting?
Everyone sews in my family. My Mother was a great seamstress and my father has an upholstery business on the farm in Minnesota where I grew up, but my Grandmother was my most influential person in my quiltmaking. I always enjoyed making things in general; so playing in fabric was a great way to make things useful. Like, clothing for my dolls, or clothes for myself in college when I was broke! I’m not sure if this is my first quilt… It could be, I was probably a teenager when I made this…I just found this quilt last summer on our farm… I had totally forgotten about it, but I remember buying those fabrics probably from Pamida… It’s tied, not quilted… and it’s pillowcased! No binding!
How/when/why did you transition from a quilter to a designer?
I do not see the difference between the two… I have always made up my quilt designs, as that is the way I learned to sew and quilt… Designer sounds so fancy! I much prefer being a quilter or just plain artist. I do think of myself as an artist first, followed by quilter.
Which quilt is your favourite? Did you design it? Why is it your favourite?
My favourite quilt ever is my “Everything but the Kitchen sink” quilt. It sort of designed it self…That quilt took me on a journey of self-discovery, and helped me figure out who I am as an artist. I learned so much about my grandmother and her quilts, about color, and balance and techniques. In addition, I learned a lot about personal things, dealing with nostalgia, love, passion, rebirth, and family. There is 10 years worth of emotion and experiences in this quilt. From life on the farm, to moving to NYC, to my grandmother passing, my marriage, to the adoption of my daughter…I get teary thinking about it. It’s the only quilt I feel that connected to.
How many UFOs do you currently have? Uncountable…I have several bins with projects in progress…
What size of quilt do you prefer to make/design? KING… I’m on a mission to make the perfect quilt for myself, and I’m tall so it must be king size!
What colour do you use most often in your quilts? RED
Favourite one-sentence tip for a new quilter: Don’t sweat the small stuff… just make.
Favourite size and brand of rotary cutter: Olfa 45mm
Favourite quote or mantra: I am enough.
Block Party #24 – Spinning Leaves
Here’s Victoria’s block, Spinning Leaves. It’s a great block to use up scraps and just have some piecing fun with it. Head over to Victoria’s blog to download the tutorial.
See the previous free quilt blocks!
Designer Give-Away
Victoria is giving away something super special … so much so, it’s a mystery! You can probably bet you’ll be the first one to get whatever it ends up being, as she’s buying it just for you at Quilt Market this weekend. Enter the give-away on her blog!
The block looks fun and playful, like the leaves spinning and falling from trees. My favorite cookie is chocolate chip, warmed in the microwave with a cold glass of milk. Need I say more.