Today’s stop on the Sea Breeze Mini Quilt-a-Long belongs to Sel Dear from Mad Quilter’s Disease.

I was lucky enough to meet (ever so briefly) Sel while I was in Sydney for the Sydney Craft & Quilt Fair. She’s as fabulous and wonderful in real life as her quilts lead you to believe she’ll be. She has a completely infectious laugh and I just love what she does with fabrics.

Sel is blogging today about her version of the Sea Breeze Mini.

Sel Dear is Mad Quilter’s Disease

1. How did you come to be a quilter?

One Christmas, my aunt showed me a picture of a quilt she’d made – a lovely Bargello quilt – and I was intrigued enough to ask how she’d made it. When she explained how she sliced the fabric into strips, sewed it into tubes, and cut them into strips, I thought: ‘Hey, that’s pretty easy – I could do that!’ And then it took me seven years to actually finish the quilts I started for my sisters’ 21st birthday. But I got a little faster at it after that!

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

I love the colour and the tactility of the fabric, the hands-on work, and the process of putting it all together – working out what colours go together, and what effect I want from the quilt, looking at the final product and knowing I’ve made something that’s both beautiful to look at, and functionally useful.

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

Probably ‘The Eternity Quilt’ because it’s bright and bold colour and unusual, ‘Floating Wildflowers’ because it’s traditional fabrics in a modern pattern, and ‘Millefiori Madness’ because it’s one of those projects that people look at and go, ‘you’re crazy, Sel’ and the thing is, I suspect they’re kind of right!

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, because there’s “reads as solids” patterns, too!

2. Quilt Styles: Pattern or Improv? Pattern, because I love the mathematical precision and the repetition.

3. Seams: Open or to the Side? If I only get one or the other, it’s going to be open seams.

4. Stitching: Hand or Machine? Machine. Definitely machine.

5. Binding: Hand or Machine? Ugh. Can I just never do binding again? Okay, okay, I’ll go with Machine. Maybe someday I’ll get good at it…

6. Food: Sweet or Savoury? This questionnaire is evil. EVIL.

7. Entertainment: Books or Music? Books.

8. Entertainment: Television or Movies? Can I pass on both of these and have Music back?

9. Computer: Mac or Windows? I’m a Windows hardcase, never got the hang of Mac. Besides, I distrust the Apple iMpire…

10. Drink: Coke or Pepsi? Cider, thanks. 😉

You can find Sel at her blog, Instagram, Pinterest and Flickr.