Guest Designer Jennifer – The Inquiring Quilters

Today we have Jennifer from the Inquiring Quilter join us!

She is the guest designer for the group this month– and I am excited to share her with you!  We haven’t met in the real world, but like all the other designers that join us, I follow them online and love their style, design, patterns and who they are.

Jennifer was a joy to chat with and a designer I can totally relate with. She is down to earth and easy going — her patterns reflect this too.

Enjoy!

A little bit about Jennifer-

I’m a curious person, so I ask a lot of questions. Maybe too many, if you ask my friends <wink>.

I’m also a technical writer, quilter, cooking explorer, blossoming photographer, and the mother of a beautiful girl who is also a budding quilter with a great eye for color and design.

Take a listen to her interview:

Here’s a quick look at what she designed for members

About the project for the quilt group:

I designed Heartbeat as a donation quilt to the Pulse project, led by the Modern Quilt Guild of Orlando in response to the tragedy at the Pulse night club. I got so many compliments on the quilt that I decided to make a pattern for it. Although the rainbow colors are wonderful, it would also make a nice lap quilt done up in soft pastels or bright modern fabrics. It’s really fast and easy to make, and a great quilt for a confident beginner.

Download the Pattern: login for access

Materials List:

Although I give yardage here, you could easily use scraps from your stash or several fat quarters of each color for a scrappy look. I discuss fabric options and include a coloring page in the pattern so you can plan out your quilt before your first cut.

Fabric Requirements
Color Letter Yardage
Yellow A 3/4 yard
Yellow Orange B 2/3 yard
Orange C 1/2 yard
Red Orange D 2/3 yard
Red E 2/3 yard
Red Violet F 2/3 yard
Violet G 1/2 yard
Blue Violet H 1/2 yard
Blue J 2/3 yard
Blue Green K 1/2 yard
Green L 2/3 yard
Yellow Green M 3/4 yard
Backing 3 5/8 yards
Binding 5/8 yard

Enjoy her interview and trunk show:

How did you get your start in sewing?

I learned to sew when I was little, making the usual doll dresses, clothes, and pillows. I blame my quilting hobby on my daughter Katerina. It took us a long time to get pregnant and when I finally did, my overflowing hormones told me to make a baby quilt despite the fact that I had never made one. I went to a quilt store near me and fell in love with a sample quilt. Best of all, they were offering a class! The sample quilt was scrappy, so I decided to go scrappy too. The store had a barrel of quilt scraps for so much a bag. So I went through that whole barrel, digging out fabric that was baby-themed or baby looking, and filled my bag. When I arrived at class with my fabric scraps all pressed, I learned how to cut them into tiny triangles using a plastic template we created in class. Then I learned how to sew all those tiny triangles back together. Not well, mind you, but they were back together.

Lucky for me, I was completely ignorant of strip piecing methods and so was the instructor, who was a hand-piecer who preferred templates and sewing little triangles together. So I happily started out on my first quilting adventure. I was making my baby a quilt! I soon learned however that sewing tiny triangles together (instead of making HSTs en masse) is not how I like to make quilts. So the baby quilt took about 5 years to complete, as I got busy with a new baby and also learning how to really make a quilt. The result is not perfect and most of the points are either cut off or don’t match up, but Katerina loves it and so do I.

What inspires you?

Funny you should ask that. I have a semi-regular feature on my blog where I post photos I’ve taken while out and about. I never know what might inspire a designarchitecture, nature, unique color combinations, wallpaper, artwork in restaurants, patterns in a sweater, or the way shadows fall on a sidewalk. When I see something that strikes my interest, I take a photo. When I need inspiration for a new design, I look through my “inspirational photos” folder on my computer.

Do you have a favorite notion?

Like a lot of quilters, I believe in the right tool for the job so I talk about tools a lot on my blog. One of my current favorites is the Quilt in a Day Triangle Square Up Ruler because it allows me to trim HSTs with a single cut. I make a lot of Half Square Triangles so I love, love, love this ruler!

I’m also in awe of Clover Wonder Clips because I keep finding new uses for them. They are like an extra set of hands when you are sewing on a binding or putting in a zipper. Did you know they have marks for measuring a perfect 3/16″, 1/4″, and 3/8″? They are also perfect when working with vinyl, chalkboard fabric, and other “don’t want to pin” materials. Love ’em!

Quirky Fun little thing about yourself:

I come from a large family of ten. I consider myself the oldest, youngest, and middle child because I’m the oldest of the bottom 5, the youngest girl, and one of two middle kids. We never had much but somehow my Mom made it work. My memories of growing up resemble A Christmas Story. Our house was tiny but filled with kids and love.

What’s coming up that we can look forward to?

I’m designing patterns now for several fabric companies, so you’ll see my designs coming out soon. I also have high hopes that a few of my patterns may appear in magazines soon or be offered through popular quilting catalogs.

Where can you find her?

Blog

Book

Patterns

Heartbeat – Quilt Pattern for members only.  Join here for access to the patterns & everything else!

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