MEET MAKE MODERN

I’m so excited today to share with you the fabulous Jane (of Where Jane Creates) who also happens to be the Editor of the hippest new online quilting magazine; Make Modern.

I’ve only just found Jane and I’m really enjoying getting to know her a bit more through the work she shares on Instagram, so I’ve been geeking out a bit reading her answers and learning some more about her quilting journey and about starting off Make Modern.

There’s an added bonus too, the ladies at Make Modern are offering 3 readers the chance to win the latest issue – just keep reading to find out how!

1. How did you come to be a quilter?

I started quilting nearly 20 years ago, inspired by the mother of my high school BFF, who made the most amazing quilts. I quilted on and off through my 20s, making quilts for my babies, editing a craft magazine for a while, starting more projects than I finished. My interest waned for a while when I discovered other crafts but in 2011 I came across the modern quilt movement and the online quilting community and I was back with a vengeance.

2. What is it that you love about being a quilter?

Everything. It fills my creative well, feeds my soul. The fabric, colour, pattern, design… I never tire of looking at fabric, coming up with new designs, that feeling of a finished quilt. It’s addictive, but I’m sure everyone reading knows that.

3. What made you want to start Make Modern?

Kristy and I were talking one day at our IRL quilt group and somehow the idea came up, and it just snowballed. We spent an hour in the car park after that meeting discussing it because we realised this was something we could actually do and would be good at. We both wanted to find some way to make a bit of money from our quilting experience, and we quickly realised we wanted to create a magazine that would fill a gap in the market and speak to – and be the voice of – the modern quilting community.

 

4. What gives you the most joy from sharing your quilting journey with others?

Sharing with kindred spirits who GET what I’m passionate about. As much as friends and families support, appreciate and are curious about this hobby, only other quilters really get it. You can’t talk to a non-quilter about quilting for more than a few minutes without their eyes glazing over, but have you noticed that you’re when you’re with a group of quilters you can talk quilts for hours and it almost sounds like a different language as we discuss techniques, designers, bloggers, block designs etc? It’s good to talk the finer points of quilting with people who speak your language.

5. What are you most proud of from your quilting experience?

That’s a toss up – between starting Make Modern and carving us out a space in the modern quilting world, and every time I finish a quilt for one of my children (who each have many). As much as I quilt for myself, I love watching them snuggled up in their quilts that have my love stitched into them. Our children really appreciate what we do. The Purple Diamond Stars quilt I have a project for in Issue Two of Make Modern has my daughter’s name quilted into it, and I was surprised how excited she was to see I’d done that for her.

6. What’s the one piece of advice about quilting that all new quilters should know?

The only rule you need to follow is the quarter-inch seam (unless you’re doing improv, and even that goes out the window). Be brave, make mistakes, explore and enjoy the journey!

 7. Who’s the quilter(s) that inspire you at the moment?

Only one? It’s hard to pinpoint with all the inspiration I get every day via social media. There are so many amazing artists out there so I prefer not to follow any one person too much or put individuals on a pedestal. That is one of the great things about Make Modern – when you look at our projects you might not recognise some of the quilters behind them, because you don’t have to be a big name quilter to be in the magazine, if you have a great project we will certainly consider your submission. [You can read the submission guidelines for Make Modern here]

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

It’d be good if I could work on finishing a few things… Seriously, I’d like to get my out-of-control WIP list down to a manageable size. I’d like to do some more curved piecing, learn how do design paper-pieced patterns, work on my understand of value a bit more. I’m sure more things will come up as I go along – I think it’s important to always be open to learning new things and to try things you’ve never done before with confidence. We can all grow as quilters no matter how long we’ve been quilting for.

9. What’s your 3 favourite quilts that you’ve made that reflect who you are as a quilter?

This is a tricky one! It is hard to pinpoint favourites. The Bright Side of the Moon from Issue One of Make Modern reflects my ongoing obsession with selvedges. My daughter’s faux-Drunkard’s Path quilt reflects my obsession with having a big stash (it features 100 blue/aqua/green prints and I didn’t shop outside my stash for it), and my eternally ongoing EPP Diamond Stars reflects my love of rainbows and colour, as well as hand piecing.

10. If you weren’t a quilter, what other creative endeavour would you like to master?

I also scrapbook, so I’ve got the paper angle covered. But I would love to learn more about fabric creation – dyeing, screen printing etc. That’s on my to-do list.

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.

Fabric: Solid or Pattern? Pattern

Quilt Styles: Pattern or Improv? Pattern

Seams: Open or to the Side? To the side

Stitching: Hand or Machine? Machine

Binding: Hand or Machine? Machine

Food: Sweet or Savoury? Sweet

Entertainment: Books or Music? Gah! Can I please have both of these and then neither from question 8?

Entertainment: Television or Movies? See above, but I’ll say TV so I can watch my favourite music channel (loophole for question 7).

Computer: Mac or Windows? Windows

Drink: Coke or Pepsi? Coke, the real red can stuff, no substitutes.

You can find Make Modern in the following places: Website | Facebook | Instagram

The lovely ladies at Make Modern are offering three readers a chance to win a copy of the current issue of Make Modern. (How awesome is that!) To be in the running to win you just need to leave a comment on this post letting me know what you’d like to see in an upcoming issue of Make Modern. (Too simple!) The three winners will be chosen by me and the results will be published on my Facebook page (be sure to like it so you don’t miss the announcement) this Friday! Entries close midnight AEST Thursday 6 November. Open internationally.