MEET FLOSSIE TEACAKES

Today I am thrilled to be sharing with you the work of Florence from Flossie Teacakes. Florence was another quilter (although she is really proficient in all aspects of sewing) that I found through the #thisquilterinspiresme Instragram hashtag started by Latifah Saafir (of The Quilt Engineer).

I think I spent maybe 5 seconds looking at Florence’s Instagram feed before I hit the follow button (I kind of wished there was a “meld minds” button instead because I want some of this insane brilliance!).

I devoured her blog and was blown away by her tutorial on How to Fussy Cut for English Paper Piecing. (If you only click on one link in this whole post make it this one – it will change the way you look at fussy cutting! The other great thing is you can use the same principle in other quilting applications like fussy cutting for blocks.)

I could go on all day about her use of colour, pattern and how gosh darn quick she is at completing a project, but I won’t – I’ll let you get to know the awesome that is Flossie Teacakes.

How did you come to be a quilter/sewer?

I started to sew when I was much younger, but I think it was only when I had children that I began to hone my skills – I really wanted to make things for them.

What is it that you love about being a quilter/sewer?

For me, sewing fulfills so many things: the actual act of sewing I find incredibly meditative and balancing; making things for people feels like a tangible act of care; to be constantly learning and creative feels like an energising thing; keeping a blog and documenting the things I’ve made fulfills my love of writing and photography; through my blog, Twitter and most especially Instagram, I’ve also gained a huge amount from feeling part of a very warm and generous-spirited community who offer inspiration and encouragement in equal measure.

What do you look for when buying fabric to use for fussy cutting?

I think of there as being two types of fussy cutting: the first where you centre some feature of the print, such as a flower or a creature – this gives a huge amount of freedom to choose fabrics that just have really gorgeous elements to them that you want to put centre stage; the second where you cut exactly the same part of the print out repeatedly and then place them together to form a kaleidoscope effect. If I’m focusing on the latter, I look for perfectly symmetrical shapes that repeat at regular intervals – it can be a real struggle to find just the right fabric sometimes. Tula Pink and Amy Butler often design fabrics with well-defined repeating shapes that work well for this, but anything that has a more fluid or impressionistic feel to it often just won’t work.

What’s your favourite fussy cutting tool?

I think probably clear plastic sheeting for making my own templates with.

What are your favourite 3 fussy cutting projects that you’ve either completed or are works in progress?

I’m currently working on the Passacaglia quilt pattern by Willyne Hammerstein. The quilt is made up of interlocking rosettes and each completed rosette takes me about three weeks to make and feels like an individual project in its own right – so probably a few of those would count as favourites!

I also really enjoyed sewing Brigitte Giblin’s Tessellations quilt pattern – I reduced the sizes down to be far smaller than the pattern dictated, so that it could become the fussy cut centrepiece of a quilt, rather than a fully-formed quilt in its own right – I used lots of Liberty Tana lawn, which I adore. It was a gift for my daughter and was quilted entirely by hand. It now sits on the end of her bed and it’s her tabby cat’s favourite place to rest, so it’s a bit hairy!

Which fussy cutter(s) inspire you?

Willyne Hammerstein is a very traditional but maverick quilter who often uses fussy cuts in her work – I find her work utterly inspiring and can often lose hours studying it.

The late Lucy Boston was also a keen fussy cutter and her work is incredible and done completely by hand – I love that she worked feverishly on such precision sewing projects right up to the end of her life, even when her eyesight was failing.

In terms of modern quilters, Lorena Uriarte is the person whose work I find myself most directly inspired by – she uses colour and fussy cutting in a way that I find completely invigorating to look at and she’s always been incredibly generous in sharing techniques and recommending tools – I wish she didn’t live on the other side of the world!

I also love Tula Pink’s work – we’re currently working from the same quilt pattern and yet our quilts look completely different. She has a much more fearless way of mixing colour than I do, which I find inspiring.

What are you most proud of from your quilting/sewing journey?

I don’t come from a family of quilters, so I feel proud to have a skill that I’ve taught myself. Sewing has taught me a lot about perseverance, not giving up and never looking at a project and thinking it’s beyond me – the times where I’ve thrown myself in and done something beyond my current skill level are the times when I’ve progressed most as a sewer. Making my own mistakes and then finding a way to put them right is a brilliant process to go through in order to understand why, rather than just how.

What’s the one piece of advice about fussy cutting that all new fussy cutters should know?

That you should dive in and begin. It’s such incredibly good fun. I see how my children enjoy playing with shape, pattern and colour and think fussy cutting is essentially a legitimate version of this kind of play for grown-ups.

What quilting/sewing challenges would you like to conquer in the next 12 months.

Even though I love the finished effect, I have a very low boredom threshold for chain-piecing quilt blocks, so I think I’d like to try a sampler quilt, which offers the interest of constantly making different blocks. I love Jen Kingwell’s work, so maybe a pattern by her. Generally though, I think I’d like to become better at working more instinctively with colour – it’s the area in which I feel I have most to learn and although I feel I get there in the end, I will often agonise over my fabric choices for days before coming up with something that I feel works in the way that I’d hoped it might! It kills the fun a little when you’re that paralysed by indecision!

If you weren’t a fussy cutter, what other creative endeavour would you like to master?

I don’t actually think of myself a fussy cutter, more as a quilter, dressmaker and general seamstress – with that array of interests I’m not sure I’ll ever run out of things to be mastered!

A Bit of Fun

If you could only have one or the other for the rest of eternity what would you choose?

You can just choose a word, or choose to elaborate on your choice, it’s just a little bit of fun.

1. Fabric: Solid or Pattern?

Pattern

2. Quilt Styles: Pattern or Improv?

Pattern

3. Seams: Open or to the Side?

Open previously, more recently to the side.

4. Stitching: Hand or Machine?

Hand

5. Binding: Hand or Machine?

Hand

6. Food: Sweet or Savoury?

Sweet

7. Entertainment: Books or Music?

Books

8. Entertainment: Television or Movies?

Podcasts (sorry!)

9. Computer: Mac or Windows?

Mac

10. Drink: Coke or Pepsi?

Water

You can find Florence in the following places Blog | Instagram | Flickr | Pinterest | Twitter

If you’ve been inspired by Florence’s amazing work to do some fussy cutting of your own don’t forget that The Fussy Cutters Club Link Party will be happening this Friday. If you’d like to read more about what a link party is and how to be party of it, read this post.