It was the time our daughter was getting her own room and I wanted to decorate it. I didn’t know anything about quilts: how to make them, what materials to use or where to shop. I just cut up materials from around the house and stitched those squares together. Nothing was done properly and it didn’t last. But that was my beginning of quilt making.
One day, I found a book about patchwork quilting and started making them in a proper way. I found all the challenges of quilt-making fascinating, maths, geometry, colour, sewing, quilting. There is so much to explore. My curiosity led me to hop around all the different styles of quilts and to try different methods. It gradually grew as a profession and became my chosen career.
It was a simple accident. Somebody in my local area asked me to teach back in around 2010. It was a small group and I wanted to help them. So, I gave it a go. Since then, I teach various local groups as well as travelling around Ireland giving workshops and talks.
Slaney Quilting Studio is where I create quilts and teach quilt making. I’ve been running this space for about 12 years now. Every day, I go there to do some sewing and quilting for my own work as well as for clients. It supports me by providing a secure space to create and pushes me to be a creative individual by overcoming various challenges.
It is also a very important learning space for those curious enough to start making quilts. I am there to guide them, but they also learn and inspire each other in what has become a lovely community.
I spend the majority of my time working on my own which doesn’t bother me at all. But it is nice to be in a same room with people who are interested in quilt making. It is very satisfying to see people learning new skills and progressing.
I also love watching a group working on the same project in different ways, each one having a unique look. By choosing different fabrics, adding a twist, alternating the pattern, they make the same project uniquely personal. Irish people are very good at encouraging and sharing praise. They make each other so happy during the class and everyone is smiling.
I break down each step to achievable small steps. Starting from setting up their sewing machines, choosing fabric, using a rotary cutter, piecing all the bits together, quilting and binding. English is not my first language and it was hard at the start. But over the years, I learnt from watching how people react to my instructions and what they actually do. Using that input, I can explain how each process is done properly and easily and where someone might be going wrong. I use simple words and try to describe each step in different ways if needed. Sometimes the best way is physically showing what and how I do something.
I teach basic quilt making over a period of time as well as one day workshops. Some classes have mixed skill levels, and people often work on different projects. They always want to learn what others are doing or similar.
Popular subjects for my one-day workshops are free motion quilting and stained-glass appliqué at the moment.
How to stop worrying about small mistakes and enjoy the process and the result. Mistakes happen, so I help them to understand why and teach them how to avoid that mistake again. However, small setbacks shouldn’t stop them creating and having fun. We are all humans and no one is perfect.
I like working with scraps. I often put together tiny scraps to make larger surfaces in order to create something abstract. Sometime these are geometric and sometime not. They hopefully represent what I have in my mind and I quilt to express my thoughts and feelings.
You can find me at slaneyquiltingstudio.com. I am on Facebook and Instagram (Slaneyquiltingstudio) and post very regularly. If you sign up to my newsletter, I will make sure you hear news and useful tips from me.
https://slaneyquiltingstudio.com/
