Please welcome Christina Lee of Sweet Potato Quilts. Christina is our featured designer of color beginning March 1, 2023. Her pattern, the Rise and Shine Quilt will be available for you to download until September 30, 2023. The quilt comes in two sizes and it’s perfect for a wall hanging.
Bio:
I am Christina Lee at Sweet Potato Quilts, where my mission is to:
1. Give quilters more choices when it comes to the designs of their own quilts,
2. Highlight elements of the quilting process that can bring joy, fulfillment, and reflection,
3. Cultivate a community where quilters are empowered to experiment and try new things without fear of failure and/or judgment,
4. Design unique and contemporary patterns that are fresh and fun to make, and
5. Ultimately to help communities and populations in need
I feel the most at home when I venture outside of cultural norms and expectations by exploring, experimenting, and playing with new ideas. My goal as a pattern designer is to find ways to give quilters the space and tools needed to design their own quilts. To start, I am currently curating a quilt block library called the Sweet Potato Quilt Club where quilters can access a growing database of mix-and-match block patterns that can be used to design quilts.
I turned to quilting in 2019 as a means to decompress from the social demands of working as a professional clarinetist and elementary school music teacher. The pace of the world around me did not seem to be built for introverts, so I took the initiative in cultivating some quilting time for personal thought and reflection. At the time I did not know why I chose quilting, but I can now see that the idea of cutting up fabric and reconstructing it into something new reflected my desire to explore a new avenue in life.
Quilting, in turn, has inspired me to be present and provide more to my students at school. I’ve incorporated more improvisational activities, and can see how the act of improvisation empowers children to express themselves musically, no matter their background or ability.
Even though I turned to quilting as a solitary activity, I somehow managed to make many friends in this community and am so humbled and grateful to get to know other people’s stories and their reasons behind cutting up and sewing fabric together. Thank you so much for being here and reading this and please do not hesitate to say hello on social media or in an e-mail!
(my dog’s name is Goguma, which means sweet potato in Korean.)
Instagram: @Sweetpotatoquilts
Website: www.sweetpotatoquilts.com
Watch the recorded interview with Christina – click HERE
