In this new showcase I’m featuring four Modern Quilters that you will love!
Lou Orth
Hi, I’m Lou, of Lou Orth Designs and I’m a quilt and sewing pattern designer working from Oxfordshire, UK.I have tried my hand at many (many) different crafts over the years, but nothing clicks with me like stitching with fabric does.
Guided by my mother in law on her old Husquvarna machine, I started sewing not long after my first daughter was born. Having hated sewing in school (I could never remember to put that presser foot down!) I didn’t hold out much hope for this new hobby sticking, but it did!
I was instantly hooked on the amazing feeling that comes from creating something with your own hands. I started off with cushion covers, and little lavender bags and then I soon discovered the world of modern quilting and beautiful designer fabrics and I never looked back.
Over the years I have worked with many British sewing and quilting magazines (such as Love Patchwork and Quilting and Mollie Makes) creating patterns and projects for them. You can also find me teaching and running live sewing demonstrations on Sewing Street TV channel and for Vlieseline interfacing brand.
In 2018 launched my own collection of Paper and PDF patterns, which you can find on my website. I love the world of modern patchwork and creating patterns and classes that are fun to sew and easy to follow.
I am naturally drawn to bright colours and simple designs and my patterns mainly use geometric shapes organised in a thoughtful way to create unique but simple to repeat designs.
Lanni Loucks
Art has always felt like a necessity for me. I have dabbled in many different forms since I was young but textile art has grasped me in a new way. It immediately felt connective and healing. I have a background in farming and beekeeping and I draw heavily on the seasons for inspiration in my work. This spring, the sunny, golden tones mirror the warm fragrance of hive.
I am a self-taught quilter and I feel my roots settling in. Much of my inspiration comes from the scrap bundles I acquire and I like to let the fabric lead in terms of composition. I enjoy subtly and how it adds to the calming nature of a quilt.
Something that drew me into textiles, was the ability to reuse and reform materials and create lasting pieces that won’t need to be replaced next season. There is a drive to create and an urgency often behind it but waste is a big pressure for me. I love that textile art can be functional, I love that my pieces will be used and lived with and repaired one day and passed down. That has a huge influence on how a piece comes to life.
Fabric has always been a love for me, in all its forms; from the feeling of clothing and the way favorite pieces mold to one’s own shape, to the look of a perfectly folded bundle of blankets on the shelf. There is something so nurturing about a piece of fabric, all it provides and represents- warmth, history, creative expression and all the unseen hands that played a role in it, from the farms to the sewing machines, I just love how wide it spans. It truly feels like it has connected me into the greater web somehow.
I am currently enjoying the exploration of simplistic patterns in earthy colours and the scrappy utility of patchwork. I use mostly linen and cotton, upcycled as much as possible and try to make even the tiniest scraps work. I love wool batting for how fluffy and luxurious it feels to be wrapped in. I use linen for its durability and the way it relaxes over time.
Jessica Wheelahan
Jess Wheelahan is an artist, teacher and designer working in the medium of textiles. She has exhibited worldwide and her pieces are held in important Australian collections. A book about her approach to improvisational quiltmaking has recently been published by Quiltmania. Jess lists her inspiration sources as from the world of art and design, fashion and pop culture.
Since 2018 Jess has proudly worked alongside Australian Fashion Designers ‘Romance Was born’ to honour the roots of the craft of quilting by taking offcuts and scraps from the fashion production process and using patchwork to create unique garments. Over this time Jess’ inimitable work has been featured on catwalks and magazine covers.
As I only work with what I have available of thrifted fabrics, I feel free to be inspired by the options I have at the moment. The creative process is quite intuitive and experimental. The choice of color palette is a lot of my own taste and others art pieces that inspire me. I hardly plan the design of the piece I’m going to create. I tend to go little by little sewing pieces of fabrics and understanding the patterns I would like to form – usually quite geometric – until I understand the moment of having finished a piece.
Tina Jensen
Tina, age 60, born and raised in Denmark is a selftaugh creator of many years.
She has always been facinated by the old, worn and forgotten stuff, and during the years she gained an interest in Flea markets and started collecting old stuff to create with. When she doesn’t work in the studio, she enjoys travelling, longs walks in nature and a good hunt at a flea market.
She now divides her time between her two studios – her summer studio in a little house in the outskirts of Copenhagen, and her winter studio a little bit further up north by the woods.
Gathered inspiration from travels, nature and old found stuff, transforms into collages and art journals in her two studios. Especially during lockdown, when travel was a no go, nature became a huge inspiration – the colors and texture shows in her work.
she believes in repurpose and recycling instead of the use and throw away culture, and finds an honor in reusing the old and forgotten treasures.
Tina sells her collages and art journals through her Etsy shop and teaches workshops too, when plans and opportunity allows.