Interview with Jen Kingwell, author of 'Quilt Lovely'

I was lucky enough to be offered the opportunity to interview Jen Kingswell, author of ‘Quilt Lovely’ as part of the book's release and promotion. As regular readers here know, I have been a fan of Jen’s since her Amitié shop block of the month patterns, ‘Green Tea and Sweet Beans’ and ‘Gypsy Wife’, started to pop up on quilting blogs a few years back so you can imagine how quickly I replied to the request and started drafting my interview questions. 

I met Jen at her hand piecing and appliqué master class during last years Fat Quarterly Retreat and she was a generous and inspirational teacher so to review her book is an utter pleasure.  From her previous work I just knew it would be jam packed full of scrappy goodness and inspiring creations and of course, it absolutely is!   There are 15 projects: 9 quilts and 6 pillows, and a huge variety of designs and techniques I cannot wait to try, but first let’s find out a little more about Jen and her quilting style.

Congratulations on your ‘Quilt Lovely’ book Jen!  I love the mix of designs and techniques from repeated block quilts like ‘Flea Market Dash’ to the medallion style ‘Simply Red Centre’ quilt and the hand pieced ‘Daisy Do’ quilt.  Where do you find your ideas and inspiration and how you go about designing a project?

"Most of my quilts are made using traditional block. I love vintage quilts. I'm an "organic" designer. Not sure how else to describe it. I rarely start with a complete or set idea. I quite often change my mind as I progress. Sometimes things I start take a little vacation in the bottom of the wardrobe, then I'll get an idea, dig it out and it will head off in a different direction. A design wall is a great tool. Projects take on a different perspective when you can stand."

It’s hard to pick a favourite out of 15 stunning projects but, in the face of fierce competition, I would pick the Glitter Quilt.  It’s beautifully photographed and I know it would make the perfect long-term project, as although it’s made of 152 blocks I would only ever have to think about cutting out, preparing and sewing one block at a time!  What are your favourite projects in the book?

"Glitter is my favourite as well. I think you have hit the nail right smack on the head Kerry. It's a great way for anyone to start if they are not confident with scrappy quilts and mixing fabric genres or colour. As you said, you only need to think of one block at a time and three fabrics. Easy!  Once you've made all those blocks, and you will be happy with each individually, play with the placement of them. You will find they all play together beautifully.  Daisy do is probably my second fav."

Hand sewing is an integral part of your work from the piecing through to the appliqué and even the quilting.  What are your top tips or gadgets for hand sewing?

"The beaut thing about hand sewing is you don't need a lot, which makes it quite affordable for beginners. It's all about personal preference for me. Most of the girls who work at my store all like slightly different things eg the thread and needles they stitch with etc. My advice is listen to what different people like, try some and see what works for you. I love a fine long needle to stitch with, both piecing and appliqué so I use a straw needle no 11.  I stitch with a 50wt thread which is finer. The best tip is slow down and enjoy the process.  Or at least give it a go!"

Your projects have an amazing sense of colour combined with traditional quilting blocks and an eclectic and unexpected mix of prints that always gel together.  I love the contrast between the vibrant ‘Clam Bake’ pillow and the calm taupe tones of the ‘Home Run’ pillow.  Lots of quilters panic over colours and combining fabric.  What advice would you give to those who want to add more colours and a scrappier look to their projects but don’t know where to start?

"This is a really interesting question as I don't use any formula or templates such as colour wheels. I know what I like and that's what I run with.  Start one block at a time. Use some favourite fabrics then add an unexpected print or colour and stretch the boundaries. I think if you like all the fabrics and colours you should like the blocks and therefore the quilt. Take a risk, be brave and you never know where this may lead you. I guess the only rule I follow is it's my quilt so I make it the way I like it and you should do the same."

After many years in Australia working and developing your Amitié shop and quilt design business, you’ve been living in the United Arab Emirates for the last few years.  Has this experience of living in a different country and culture brought new influences into your work?

"Everywhere feeds my interest and influences my being. I think living in a completely different culture has opened my eyes and mind to many things. The one thing I noticed often was the different light. Colours were different. I found it fascinating."

You travel extensively with your teaching work as well as promoting ‘Quilt Lovely’, your new fabric line ‘Gardendale’ for Moda and your patterns.  How does quilting fit into your life when you are you travelling?  What sort of projects do you pack to sew on the move?

"The beauty of hand piecing! I prep work to travel and on long haul flights I stitch and stitch. I've never been stopped with a needle and 3-4 pins. I just declare them in a zip lock bag. I can get quite a few blocks sewn between Abu Dhabi and Melbourne or Australia to the US. It's also a very welcome distraction when flights are delayed or cancelled. A small portable light is handy in hotel rooms if you can fit it in your luggage - hotel lighting is never quilter friendly!"

Thankyou Jen.  Such helpful  advice and I love the idea of taking a portable light, what a top tip!  I couldn't resist starting a Glitter quilt of my own, just one hand pieced block but this is going to be a long term project.

In the interests of disclosure, I was kindly sent a free copy of the Quilt Lovely for the purposes of this interview.  I only chose to review books that I think I will like and are relevant to my sewing style.  I like this one so much that I don't think anyone can prise it out of my hot little hands, but if you are really lucky and live locally, I might let you have a look inside ;)

Flowers

Are you still there?  You haven't been blown away/drowned by rain/disappeared into 3 foot of snow?  A week of crazy weather here in the UK and elsewhere in the rain.  Some prettiness and fabrics to distract from the rain.  I received month 9 of Amitie Bring Me Flowers BOM recently and despite having at least 3 months worth of packages unmade, I dived straight in to make this block and get the ball rolling again.

This may remind you of the economy block .  A versatile little block that can be rotary cut or foundation pieced. I did the latter and it came together quickly.  I did change a lot of the fabrics.  I have found this block of the month an up and down experience. On the plus side, I receive fabrics that I love that I never see anywhere else and this includes Japanese cottons and Liberty lawn.  I learn techniques that I don't usually go in for and become a better sewer.  The down side is some of the fabric choices leave me a little cold: these are my current rejects, and the hand sewing is hard going at times.

Lisa wrote about this aspect of BOMs recently, although I loved the print that she couldn't bring herself to use: one quilter's trash is another quilter's treasure.  I find a lot of hand sewing brings on a bit of RSI so I can only do it in small bursts which means putting everything away and then not quite knowing where I am when I get it out again.  Each block has the stalks to be sewn on and sometimes there are multiple layers to each flower head and six of them to make (2 blocks worth).  I machine sew when I can but this BOM was designed with hand sewing in mind and machining is not always an option.

 There are twenty five flower blocks in all and each is surrounded by these spacer blocks (above).  These are paced in the BOM so there are 1-3 to finish each month and they are rather tedious.  They come with photos so you can match the fabrics to what has been sent.  I am in round two so sometimes the pics don't match the fabrics and I have made some substitutions which you can see taped to the pic; there was a lot of olive green which is not my favourite and I didn't want it to dominate.  I keep each stage of the BOM in zip locks to help keep tracks.  The preparation for each block does seem to be quite long, especially when I make fabric changes- I am my own worst enemy.

I do like these flowers (month 6) despite the lengthy process that will go into making them.  These are multi-layered so the central diamonds are english paper pieced, then the circle is hand appliquéd to the background (leaving space for the stem) and the diamond then appliquéd on top.  The whole quilt is going to be a labour of love.  I think it might end up as a door curtain but really I am undecided and the finishing it is some time off.  Would I do another Amitie BOM?  I am undecided about that too.  It is expensive.  I could only afford it when I came into some money, but the packages are fun to receive, Jen Kingwell's designs are truly beautiful and unlike anything else so never say never.  I just need to pull my finger out and get more of this done before I think ahead.

Meanwhile colour from my window sill.  I know many folks are looking forward to sun tomorrow in the UK and it is half term too.  A week of sewing, cooking and family activities beckons and that sounds good.

Bring Me Flowers and Needles

I have pined after Amities BOM when i first saw Lynne's blocks from the Circle Game BOM a couple of years ago.  Then Gypsy Wife BOM last year tempted me sooo much but I just couldn't afford it.  This time, Bring Me Flowers tipped me over the edge and I signed up.  I am in round 2 which means the fabrics are slightly different from the first set that has gone out but they are just as good.   

This BOM is a real skills builder.  It is designed to be hand sewn but I am combining hand sewing with machine wherever possible.  Jen Kingswell, (designer of the BOM and Amitie owner) mentioned a specific needle on an Instagram post, Jeana Kimball's Foxglove Cottage Straw Needles, size 11.  I am a total sewing geek and I love good needles and pins- they make such a difference, the unsung heroes of sewing.  I couldn't find a UK supplier so I bought mine from ebay and they were worth it.  Very fine and strong.  There will be a fair amount of needle turn appliqué in this BOM and these needles make life a lot easier. 

I have used Clover straw needles and Black/Gold needles for EPP but they are heavier than this and whilst they are excellent for the catching  the folds of fabric in EPP these are better for piecing and applique.  They have the added bonus that they don't seem to go through the end of my finger like Clover Black/Gold- if you have used those you may well know what I mean!

These are slow and steady block, not to be rushed.   I mixed a few of my own fabrics in to these too- a little red vintage cotton and some Liberty Lifestyle brown.   To reduce bulk at the centre of the pinwheels, I finished all the seams 1/4" before the end to allow the centres to swirl.  So satisfying when it works and the appliqué circles hide the ones that don't go quite so well.

I scan the patterns for these blocks and then I print them onto freezer paper to act as templates.  I hace a lazer printer so I cut a piece of freezer paper slightly smaller than printer paper and I iron the top inch of freezer paper onto the printer paper so there is a double layer.   This allows you to print on without melting the paper!  I then iron the templates onto the fabric and draw round with a Sewline pencil- my absolute favourite marking tool- I cannot recommend this more highly, I use it all the time.    The pencil lines are needed for accurate piecing especially when doing it by hand.  You can see a great demo of the method in this Kumiko Fujita video. 

These are the fabrics for month two and I think I will be cutting these ready for Fat Quarterly Retreat to hand sew whilst I am there.

You can email Lucy at Amitie to join the Bring Me Flowers BOM and I believe there might still a very limited number of places on Gypsy Wife BOM.

Ringo Pie Butterfly

I am almost caught up with my due Ringo Pie blocks.  Marit asked for 'butterflies' to go with her summer blocks from the first round.  I found a beautiful adaptation of a vintage quilt block on Martha's Q is for Quilting blog which I have been following for a while.  You can read her post on it here and the pattern is in her sidebar downloads.  It is a challenging pattern and relatively small so it can be printed out on standard paper.   

 I combined foundation piecing for the fan/wings with hand piecing for curves and short Y seams and the rest was machined.  I used a mix of thin paper for foundation and freezer paper for the other pieces. I draw round the hand and machine pieced sections with a Sewline pencil which has a ceramic lead and is much smoother than a standard pencil so doesn't pull or tug the fabric.  This is my go to mark maker for quilting and clothes.

The background fabric is Sevenberry.  I have used their dotty fabric before and they are a lovely fine cotton and cut and handle very nicely.  The butterfly fabrics are a mix of vintage (many from Chase) and a little modern- Kei and Lakehouse flower text. 

I have sent off for Amities newest Block of the Month club, 'Bring Me Flowers'- you can see inspiration on these blocks here, here and here.  I plan to use a mix of hand and machine piecing and am really looking forward to a year long project.  Only one more block to go in Ringo Pie...I am drawing it out right now.

Stash Clubs

There are a lot of new fabric ranges flying around at the moment and wanting to buy at least some bits whilst also turning around and looking at drawers and boxes already piles up with FQs and half yards and thinking of my bank balance leaves me in a bit of a conundrum.  Stash clubs are one answer.  They provide a regular fix of new fabric designs, a feeling you are up to date, and the pieces are small and easy to store.  Australian store Amitie stock fabrics I never see anywhere else, especially Yuwa prints which makes their stash parcel extra special.

The Amitie stash club sends out 16 new release designs every two months, each is a 25cm square of fabric.  You can cancel at any time and their selection is an utter treat for the eyes.   They send a block pattern with each package as a bonus.  Their fabrics always seem to combine together and you could easily make a few blocks each month, keep adding in the new fabrics and end up with an amazing scrappy quilt.  Cost is $25 AUD for Aussies and $28 international including postage- works out around £18.

There are options closer to home.  In the UK,  the well stocked Tiki Patchwork has a couple of stash clubs.  There is a modern option- typical print range can be seen above, and a 'civil war' style selection if you prefer a more traditional choice.  Fabric pieces are 9 x 11" approx.  Tiina stocks a huge range of fabrics, beyond what can be seen on the website.  Costs vary according to how you pay- yearly or monthly, but start around £17 a month.  If you fear commitment, Tiina does the cutest gift boxes- you can see an example 30s print box here...

Each contains enough fabric to make a mini quilt approx 24 x 32" with a free beginner friendly pattern included.  Each piece of fabric measures 9 x 11"and you can choose an Aneela Hoey print option, shot cottons... the list goes on.  They would make a lovely gift at £12.95 + postage. 

Apologies for the temptation but it is on a budget so I think I can be excused! 

Amities Stash

End of term is always hectic and the summer holidays are always welcome.  Only 1 week to go.  I am also about to hit birthday season with Damian's and Lula's only a week apart.  So I am in the middle of a little birthday prep and a big project with these for Village Haberdashery- Annie says the Bella will be available soon.

In the midst of sewing nearly 200 triangles together I like to distract myself with mini makes.  After seeing Lynne's Amities BOMs and loving every block and every fabric, I joined Amitie's Stash club.

They send 16 fabrics each 25cm square every 2 months.  I usually like to select fabrics for myself but there is something very reassuring about handing over to Jeni and just waiting for it to arrive.  I love the colours and the mix of large and small prints.  As a little bonus, they include a 8" block pattern.  

This month's is Amish Cross.  It comes with easy rotary instructions and was a breeze to stitch together.  

I have particular plans for these.  I just enjoy the journey and the knowledge that one day they will become something.    You can find the details of the Stash Club along with BOM and other regularly mailed out lovelies here.