Where do you live:
I am originally from Maine, but in 2015 I moved abroad to Stockholm, Sweden.
How long have you been quilting? How did you get started quilting?
I made my first quilt in 2014 as a de-stress hobby during my senior year of college. Although, I wouldn’t say I truly got into quilting until after I moved to Sweden. I was struggling to find a job, so I bought some second hand bed sheets to sew items to sell at a local craft market. Miraculously I sold one small crib quilt at that very first market and was absolutely hooked!
What is your favorite part of quilting?
I absolutely love going to the local charity secondhand and finding cotton bedsheets and curtains to turn into quilts. Mixing and matching the colors and patterns with my ever growing recycled stash keeps me happy for hours. I rarely purchase new fabric because of its negative environmental and social footprints. Cotton produced in areas like India and Bangladesh is mainly picked, processed, and produced by women and girls in unsafe and unjust working conditions. I feel passionately that the least I can do is keep their cotton moving circularly in society and prevent exacerbating the problem by buying new.
What is your least favorite part of quilting?
Basting and quilting are total chores to me. I would much rather plan, cut, and piece hundreds of quilt tops rather than actually turn them into quilts.
Do you have a day job? If so, what do you do?
Great question, I am a person who wears several hats. First, I sell my sewing at Christmas markets and have a growing Etsy shop that makes quilts and baby clothes from upcycled, recycled, and/or organic textiles. Second, I am a life-long student. With two degrees in environmental science, I’m now back to school full time again at Stockholm University to study hydrology. And third, during the summers I work part-time at a farm weddings and event venue – an absolute Swedish countryside dream!
What inspires you when designing your quilt patterns?
How can I use my skills and talents to do good for others? This question is a constant source of sewing inspiration through creating items to donate, but recently I have begun using this concept to design quilt patterns. In March I released my first quilt block pattern for sale on Etsy as a charity fundraiser. It is called “Water Crown” and is aesthetically inspired by the classic “African Queen Block” and symbolically represents the women and girls of water-scarce regions who have to fetch water.
Favorite quilt designer?
I don’t actually have one yet. I have been predominantly a traditional block person, but with the help of this membership I am rapidly increasing my range!
If you could have one superpower, what would you choose and why?
Superspeed! When making quilts to sell, the time it takes is really a limiting factor on the design.
Instagram name: @theflannelforest
Website name: On Etsy I am called “Flannel Forest Quilts”
