Hi everyone! Welcome to Block 36 of our Glorious Autumn Block Party. Today we have Cara Wilson as our featured designer.
Visit the Block Party Headquarters for more info and upload your completed blocks to the Flickr group.
Featured Designer: Cara Wilson
How did you get into quilting?
I wanted a quilt when I first went to university but of course couldn’t afford one so decided to make one instead. That quilt never got finished but it did start my journey of fabric hoarding and quilting. Because I was away from home and I didn’t know anyone who quilted I started looking online for information and from there the rest took off.
How/when/why did you transition from a quilter to a designer?
I started designing when I had a charm pack and wanted to make something from it but any patterns I found needed multiple packs and I only had one. My first design started there and after that it was just a matter of time before I was designing all of my own patterns, and then I started doing some for Moda Bake Shop and selling PDF ones.
I’d found other people’s patterns didn’t suit what I wanted to make, they were either too traditional or too modern, too easy or too hard. I like middle of the road for most things and that includes my quilting so instead of settling for someone else’s idea of what to do I decided to make my own.
Which quilt is your favourite? Did you design it? Why is it your favourite?
My favorite is probably my Twilight quilt. It’s one of my own patterns, I really like it for the design, the ease of making, it uses precuts which I adore and it is very versatile which is something else I love.
How many UFOs do you currently have? I have no idea and I really don’t want to know!
What size of quilt do you prefer to make/design? I like lap or bed size quilts. I want to be able to wrap up in all those yummy fabrics.
What colour do you use most often in your quilts? I don’t think I really have one colour I use that much more than others. They all have their time and place.
Favourite one-sentence tip for a new quilter: There are no quilt police, do what you love because you love it.
Favourite size and brand of rotary cutter: 45mm Olfa ergonomic
Favourite quote or mantra: You can either laugh or cry. Crying gives me a headache so I choose to laugh.
Block Party #36 – Basket of Hexies
Here’s Cara’s block: Basket of Hexies. It’s made up of quarter-square triangles and some English paper-pieced hexagons.. my current obsession! Head over to Cara’s blog to download the tutorial.
See the previous free quilting blocks!