In this new showcase I’m featuring four Modern Quilters that you will love!
Ana Buzzalino
was introduced to sewing early in life by my grand-mother and mother, who were both avid sewers. My grandfather was a partner in a company who sold cashmere, wool and high-quality cloth for suits and coats, etc. I remember going to visit him at the “office”. He would take us into the warehouse area and let my mother choose cuts of fabric to make my sister and I coats and dresses and skirts. I used to leave with the odds and ends that nobody wanted. Thus, I believe, began my love for scraps!
My earliest recollection of life in a small town in Buenos Aires province, where I was born, was of sitting in the family room, beside my mother’s sewing machine, while she sewed the afternoon away. She used to cut the pattern for a skirt after lunch, and would wear it a few nights later for dinner. I, in the meantime, would gather the scraps, and make clothes for my teddy bears. This usually consisted in carefully cutting a slit in the center of a rectangle or square of fabric and, voilà, my teddy bear had a new poncho!
When I moved to Calgary, my first purchase was a sewing machine. One day, a few years later, I was walking down in the Kensington area of Calgary at lunch time and went by a store that had a “Blanket” in the window. I went in and enquired about purchasing it; they told me it was not for sale, but that they would gladly teach me how to make my own quilt. I signed up that same day, and the rest, as they say, is history! What started as a curious interest in quilting in 1985 quickly evolved into a passion.
I am a creator, explorer, maker, fiber and mixed media artist, surface designer, teacher, writer and lecturer. My love of layers and texture combine to create my original work. I achieve results using a combination of different surface design techniques such as monoprinting, hand-painting, collaging, free-motion stitching and hand-stitching, amongst others to achieve the effects I am searching for. My work has won numerous awards at national and international shows. The techniques I use in my work can often be found in articles published by Quilting Arts Magazine, A Needle Pulling Thread and others. I have also appeared several times in Quilting Arts TV. I am currently teaching online from my studio in Calgary, Alberta.
Laura Hartrich
My name is Laura Hartrich. I’ve been a quilter for 12 years now. I started making quilts when my friends started having babies; I taught myself from a book. Some of my quilts are heartfelt gifts made especially for a beloved recipient. I hope these quilts are used and washed and squished and picnicked on. Some of my quilts are art works with themes of reflection, acceptance, time, and memory. These quilts will probably never be used on a bed and that’s okay.
I enjoy working in many styles and prefer to dabble in a variety of techniques instead of focusing on one. I love traditional blocks and I love improv. I tend to gravitate toward bright, bold colors. Piecing is probably my favorite part of the process, but I enjoy handwork too, in the forms of hand quilting or hand binding. My designs are inspired by traditional patchwork, simple shapes, words and phrases, and my own life.
I live just outside of Chicago with my family and cats. I’m currently going back to school for occupational therapy. It’s getting harder to find time to sew as I go make my way through this graduate program but I’m determined to keep making quilts, no matter how slowly.
Teresa Duryea
My first love is writing and for the past 9 years I’ve been able to marry that love to my other love, quilting. I am the author of 5 nonfiction books on quilt history, textiles, cotton, indigo, and social justice art. I also write for Quiltfolk and Curated Quilts. In between writing assignments, I quilt, sew, and walk the dog. I make all kinds of quilts and I don’t limit myself to any one style or technique. My quilts are made for the couch, the walls, for gifts, for art, and mostly for my closet shelves. I love the modern aesthetic, but I also sometimes fall back on traditional styles with modern colors. I have a super awesome studio space with several machines and a longarm. But I also do a fair amount of hand embroidery and hand applique. I also sew clothes and leather handbags and totes. Those who know me know I am well versed in Japanese quilts and quilt history, (two of my books are about Japan), so of course I make a lot of my quilts with Japanese fabric. I have a large collection of antique, vintage, and even contemporary Japanese fabric. I also collect antique quilts, which are rapidly filling up what little storage space is left in my house.
I learned to quilt in the late 1990s and was taught by my dear friend. Once I saw the quilts she made, I quickly realized that quilting is an art form and I was hooked. All these years later, that same friend and I are still hanging out, still shopping for fabric, and still loving our life with quilts.
Will Grimm
I’ve been a maker for as long as I can remember. I have early memories of sitting fixated on my grandmother’s hands, watching her perform magic as she hemmed my pants. I immediately asked for lessons and shortly after began sewing paper towels together to make pillows. This knowledge stayed with me through my schooling. I graduated in 2019 from the Maryland Institute College of Art with a degree in fiber. Overall my work is loud and often uses primary colors mixed with black/white. I started playing with quilting in 2016 but didn’t fully consider myself a quilter until 2020.
I treat my quilts like a diary, dumping bits and pieces of my life into each stitch. They are often improvisational and random, echoing how fluid life can be. I pull inspiration from the everyday, past and present, and strive to find beauty in the ordinary. My work is about making for the sake of making, and making what will make me happy.
