Is it odd I am posting about myself lol! You all know me as the website/Facebook/emailing/online mod part of our group, plus our guild’s co-founder with our fabulous Lysa!
Here goes!
Photo by Cathy Empey Portrait
Find me here!
Blog: Cynthiaf.ca
(you can find links to all the other places to find me online linked thru my blog)
Work: Green Couch Designs
Tell us 5 things about you that we may or may not know, quilting-related or any other fun things you’d like to share…
1. I grew up in White Rock, BC. As much as I love living in the valley now for so many reasons, I miss being nearer to the ocean. My dream home would be somewhere near a west coast beach, with a view of the ocean, if not right across the street, where I could see and hear the waves and smell the lovely oceany breeze. I always notice the ocean smell when I go into Vancouver for the day.
2. I am a magazine addict. I love magazines. I LOVE MAGAZINES! Any kind, I buy all varieties, old or new, crafty and beyond. Lately I’ve been loving Town & Country, Mollie Makes, West Coast Gardens, and Country Living. Some all time favorites are Marie Claire Idées, HOW, Quilting Arts, Cloth Paper Scissors, and the ones mentioned above. I’m an avid thrifter so am always looking for old crafty or home/women’s magazines, got any you want to pass along? I’ll take ‘em! Which leads me to….
3. I’m starting a magazine! In light of my addiction I figured why not start my own and do it my way?! I named it “Made In” and it will feature makers of all sorts, showing things they have “made in” their own spaces, their own way, their own country, and on and on. Still working on details but coming asap!
www.madeinmag.ca
4. At 6 foot tall, I am a member of the “Talls”- (I admit to loving the Real Housewives shows and Atlanta’s Nene’s designations of “The Talls” and “The Smalls” cracks me up) which you probably already know, but along with tall body comes tall feet. I love and obsess over cute shoes, but they are hard to find in size 12. Which is probably good or my bank account might be in trouble! For now, my go-to brand of choice are Clarks, always comfy and stylish. However! My dream shoes might happen to be Manolo mary janes, size 12 please.
5. I almost became a fashion designer. I took sewing all thru highschool with the idea that I’d go into a fashion design program in college. I studied fashion magazines like nobody’s business, and even took a college fashion illustration course while still in highschool. Last minute, I changed my mind and went for graphic design instead, and am very glad I did!
6. Can I add a number 6? I do.not. like. having. my. picture. taken. Do. Not. Like. So I challenged myself to have it done and the results are at the beginning of this post and I love it. So SO glad I did it. Such a great and positive and fun experience! I’d highly recommend it! You can check out the studio where I went here, Cathy is lovely and so awesome at what she does! Amazing!
Show us your stash!
I decided I’d be real world with this- mostly because I really don’t feel like tidying up right now- and also because this is how my stash always looks despite my best efforts to make it all pretty and Pinterest-worthy. Who lives like that for real? Not me! I don’t have the time. Weekend comes and bing! I’m a bit of a tornado, pulling stuff as I need it. I know where everything is and that’s what I think is most important, I hate spending time looking for stuff I know I have but tidied away and can’t find it anymore. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!
My shelf is an Ikea shoe rack- but I turned it into my stash chest. Complete with a massive scrap bin built in, my Tickle Trunk!
In my craft closet I store my vintage sheets, plus randomn odds and sods- knitting needles, sewing patterns, batting, whatever I can shove in there. I always leave the doors open, a little superstition I have.
Show us your sewing room or space, we wanna see where you do that thing you do so well…
It’s a mess. I know. But, a creative mind is never tidy right? I can however justify it’s current state in that I just got back from doing a presentation to the Sunshine Coast Quilter’s Guild- such a warm and friendly group, so I have stuff unpacked and piled everywhere that still needs to be put away (read as in the same piles just in a different room).
I keep some of my fave collections around me, my sadly kind of neglected Blythe dolls, vintage sewing supplies, inspiration board, and a plant or two for good measure. I also have a record player buried in there, and a collection of fabulous sewing tunes like Harry Belafonte’s greatest hits, various Hed Kandi compilations, Buena Vista Social Club, and oldie lounge compilations.
What makes your quilts modern and how would you describe the modern aesthetic to say, a very traditional quilter who was interested in finding out more?
This is a question we all hear a lot, what is the difference between modern quilting and traditional? I think it’s hard because everyone has their own interpretation and I think that is what makes modern quilting “modern”.
I respect traditional quilting and all of the techniques and designs are beautiful and inspiring, and it’s good to know the basics or “the rules” as a starting point, as it is with any art or craft you might try. But for me, I see my own quilts more as art and an expression of my artistic aesthetic. Kind of like painting with fabric or playing with a blank canvas, assembling pieces until they “work” for how I want my quilt to work.
I don’t follow patterns, I make them up. I might be inspired by an existing pattern, but I’ll always change it up somehow to be my own.
I don’t measure anything if I can get away with it, and love to cut with scissors, or a rotary cutter without a ruler- freestyle!
I don’t buy fabric by designer (faux pas to say that since I’m also a designer?) but by colour, and by colour that will work for a project I am working on or thinking about.
I love the solids that are used heavily in modern quilting but I also love subtle- or not so subtle, prints, semi-solids, and textures, and can find a use for most fabrics, even if they are deemed “traditional” in theme. I have been known to put chunks of batiks or “old” prints in my quilts, and I think it adds another artistic level to them! In fact I think if used in a specific and thoughtful modern way, any fabric can be modern, even batiks or reproduction prints. Did I just say that outloud? Hmm maybe I’ll challenge myself to do a modern batik quilt, anybody up for that? wink wink!
I believe in doing things my way, not following the crowd, trying new techniques, being fearless and bold, and playing with fabric as if it were paint. There are no mistakes, just happy accidents. There is no particular right or wrong way to do modern, it’s more an expression of you as a quilter and what you love, rather than an expression of a love of tradition.
I will always cut into fabric, nothing is too precious to use. I will always quilt my own quilts, and never be afraid to maybe “ruin” something (and nothing is ever ruined anyways!) how better to learn than to just do it?
So long story short, doing what you love in your own way, is what I think is what is modern!
