MEET NIGHTINGALE QUILTS

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

Making deceptively hard patterns easy. Generally my patterns break the blocks down to the basics and easily manageable steps. I have had beginners tell me that they had never done flying geese, yet after using one of my patterns, they are their favourite blocks.

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

Don’t get discouraged. The projects you see in magazines, online and in competitions are generally made by very experienced sewers or they’re the best that person can make. Don’t compare your first or second project to their 30th. If you see an amazingly quilted project in a show, keep in mind that person may have unpicked a million times, had crazy fancy equipment, years of experience, more available time (not just that one hour after putting one kid to bed and making dinner for everyone else) and access to different materials. Never feel like your first steps are pitiful when that person is running.

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

I don’t know to be honest. I have so many different tastes. I follow a few people for their hand piecing skills, others for their skills with solids, others because they are good at fussy cutting. I’m one of those people that doesn’t have a favourite of anything because there’s too many great things out there to choose from. There’s just too many very talented people out there for me to choose one or two.