Thursday 31 July 2014

Thursday Inspiration: Cille from Live, love, quilt...

This week Cille from Live, love, quilt... is joining me for Thursday Inspiration.  Cille is a lovely modern quilter who lives in Denmark.  I really enjoy the time Cille takes to explain her process and show photos of her quilts in progress.

Here is Cille with her husband and one of her boys.

I also enjoy the way Cille's love for her family manages to sneak its way into many of her blog posts. Her sons are clearly big fans of quilts and are often roped in for quilt holding duties (fair enough, I think!).

Does your family have a quilting or sewing history, or are you a first generation quilter?
I'm the first one to quilt in my family but I guess we have a strong craft gene running in our DNA. My mother and grandmother were weavers, my grandmother and great grandmother made amazing embroidery too, and my mum and sister also knit amazingly. I thought I skipped the gene until I was twenty-something and suddenly started embroidering. I was the one who got my mother to quilt too by proposing to make an EPP quilt together (we live quite far apart - she's in Sweden). Now she loves quilting too.

How did you start quilting, and how long have you been quilting for?
I'm not sure why I started honestly. I remember I saw a quilt in a magazine about 15 years ago and thought that I should be able to make that myself (never having made a stitch in my life before, mind you. Craziness is also a strong gene in my family). I did make the quilt but then I had my children and stopped quilting while they were little. It picked up again about 4 years ago. Now I can't live without it. I'd rather miss sleep than quilting.

This Peekaboo Street quilt is so cute!

How would you describe your quilting style?
Tough question... I'm not sure I have a specific style. I like classical elements but sometimes best in a modern setting. I'm not a true modern quilter by any means though. Being an online addict also means my style is very different from the common Danish style, which tends to be very inspired by Kaffe Fasset fabrics and quite traditional. Getting fabric sent to Denmark is a very costly affair (on top of the shipping cost, we have to add 25% and a handling fee at close to $40). I tend to take home large bulks a few times a year because the selection locally is very limited. Hence my style and fabric selections automatically become more international.

Where do you find inspiration for your quilts?
Online reading blogs and in books mostly. I buy a lot of books and patterns. I rarely follow the patterns, but if I feel inspired by them and decide to do something similar, I know there's someone at the other end who has worked hard to make the pattern, so I acknowledge it by buying it.

Do you like to follow patterns or create your own designs (or a bit of both)?
I'm horrible at following patterns. I see something that I like, and then I do something different. I have promised myself that one day I will buy a pattern, buy fabric in measurement and make a quilt following the instructions. But chances that that will ever happen are limited though... I think what I love most about quilting is when your quilt suddenly takes you in another direction than what you had planned. Those kind of quilts always turn out best.

Lovely Longjohn quilt.

Are you a member of a local guild?
Not really a quilt, but I do follow a course (that you have to be invited into basically). The same group of people have been following the course since 1986 and they are still in the class. There's rarely an open seat because the places are reserved. Most in the group are (needless to say) fantastic quilters and I learn a lot from them. My style is very different though so they tend to look at me as 'the young and crazy one'. Luckily they have a lot of patience with me.

Have you ever met any of your online sewing friends in real life?
No, but I'd love to. If I'm anytime in Ohio, I know just where I would invite myself for a cup of tea. I can't imagine I'd be bored in Australia either...

How did you decide to start your blog?
It was basically a log of my quilts - just to remember them. Still is mostly. I think I have the smallest blog in the blogging universe, but I still enjoy it.

This is such an effective quilt - can you believe its all made of scraps?!

Do people in your personal and professional life know about your quilting and blogging or do you keep it under wraps?
Professionally I keep it under wraps but in my personal life everybody knows... Heck, most of them have one of my quilts. Not very many people know about my blog though.

Is quilting popular in Denmark?
It is becoming more and more popular, but not to the same extent as in the US for example. We don't have a strong quilting tradition in Denmark, but crafting is becoming more popular in general.

What is your favourite thing about the online quilting community? And what is one thing that you would change, if you could?
Oh where to begin... Basically I wouldn't have been quilting if it wasn't for the online community. I used so many tutorials in the beginning. If someone hadn't taken the time to show how to make a Dresden or a bind a quilt, quilting for example, quilting would have been an up-hill experience for me. So basically I owe all to the online community. I like how people are generally positive - it's like there is a common consensus that if we don't have anything nice to say, we just don't say anything.

Change it? I'm not sure I would even if I could. We move along the new media, but essentially the atmosphere is the same. I like that. I'm an very honest person and I sometimes show very bad projects online because it doesn't have to be perfect every time. My quilts certainly are not all pretty and perfect. It takes quite a safe environment to do so.

Cille's gorgeous take on the Roundhouse quilt

Confession time - how many quilts do you have in your house right now?
9 and counting. Basically my sons refuse to use duvets anymore - it takes quite a few quilts to keep that show going. A lot of quilts are also great for when we make a bonfires etc - our guests love to pick a quilt from the big basket I keep in the living room. But that being said, I've given most of my quilts away.

Do you do any crafts other than quilting?
Nope, but I used to do embroidery and also had a brief fling with wicker work making baskets. I'd love to take that on again sometime in the future but it takes time and planning. Not something I have a lot of these days.

Where do you see your quilting going - is it a career or a hobby for you and would you like to change that?
Definitely a hobby :) My full time job is quite demanding and I make way more money doing that that I ever would quilting. However, even all the money in the world can't beat a homemade gift. I make quilts for the people I love and treasure. The rest I buy a present for ;)

Love this quilt, especially because Cille designed it herself.

Do you have any tips or tricks or things that have changed your quilting life that you'd like to share?
I'm not an expert by any mean, but I do sort my fabrics very neatly in IKEA CD shelves - not only by main color groups but also in shades of a specific color. It makes it easy to pull a project directly from the shelf and to match up different fabric lines.

What is your favourite part of the quilting process (and what's your least favourite part)?
The actual quilting is the worst. I stink at it I think and fear it every single time. I love doing bindings though - always have. Are there any quilting techniques you haven't tried yet but that you'd like to? I'd love to be able to make FMQ – I’ve practiced a few times but haven't dared to take on a quilt yet. Also I need to make a Lone Star some day...

Thank you so much to Cille for answering all my questions.  Hop over to Live, love, quilt... to check out Cille's other quilt and her most recent make which is just stunning.

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2 comments:

Karyn said...

Oooh, a new blog to check out!

Megan said...

Nice to read about you Cille. Love your Roundhouse quilt.