Friday Feature: Leanne Parsons

Hi, everyone! My name is Leanne and I blog at Devoted Quilter (devotedquilter.blogspot.com). 

I grew up in Nova Scotia, but I now live in Newfoundland with my husband and our three sons. We also lived in Igloolik, Nunavut for 6 years after we got married.

I started quilting in university (at Acadia)  almost 20 years ago, when I decided to make a quilt for a friend as a wedding gift. I started small...or maybe not...the quilt I gave her was almost double bed size, had tons of hand applique and hand embroidery and was hand quilted! Crazy, I know, but it got me completely hooked on quilting.

For years I hand quilted everything, which took f.o.r.e.v.e.r. I have one quilt I made my oldest son that took me 6 years to finish, and most of that was because of the quilting. Well, actually, it was because I kept abandoning it for months at a time to work on other things that weren’t taking so long. 

Once I tried machine quilting, there was no turning back! Now free motion quilting is my absolute favourite part of the whole quilt-making process.

Being a part of the online quilting community has been amazing. I love having so many friends around the world who are as obsessed with fabric and making things as I am. It has been especially fun to exchange mini quilts and mini mini quilts with some of those friends.

It took almost 20 years, but I finally made a quilt for our bed last spring, and the pattern, Love Birds, was published in Make Modern magazine. I have had a few patterns published in magazines over the past couple of years, and I also sell PDFs of my patterns, none of which would have been possible without the online quilting community. I also challenged myself to host a mystery quilt-a-long, called Just the Basics, in 2016 and that was a lot of fun. All of the instructions are still available on my blog, so you can check that out if you’d like to make it too.

I have so many plans for things I want to make and share, it’s hard to keep myself from starting something new every week!

WIP Wednesday #281 @ TN&TN

Welcome back to work in progress Wednesday! 

My kids have gone back to school this week but there is no selfish sewing for me just yet. We've got a birthday here which means home-made cake and a hand-made outfit! This is the tenth birthday outfit I've made for this kid. Once I get these done I can get back to the quilting I love so much. (Who am I? I'm Nicole, the new host of this awesome linkup.)

Thanks for joining us this week; please share what YOU are working on right now. Finished or not, selfish sewing or not, please share! The linkup is open from noon Tuesday (Pacific time) until noon Thursday (Pacific time).

Also come back on Friday to read all about Leanne. 

Please include our button or the URL (http://needleandthreadnetwork.blogspot.ca/) into YOUR post so we can continue spreading the word about our artists' collective. 

Thanks for linking up, and see you on Friday!

An InLinkz Link-up

WIP Wednesday #280 @ TN&TN

Hello everyone, and welcome back to this week's work in progress linkup party! I'm still new here but I'm hoping this week will go smoother for me on the technical side.

NEW THIS WEEK: the link up now runs on Pacific time (UTC-7)

On the sewing side, I didn't do much this past week but I hope you did! I would love to see what you're working on right now. Doesn't have to be finished or fancy but please share so we can support each other. 

And if you are joining us now for the first time or for the first time in a long time, I'm Nicole, I'm the new host of the Needle and Thread Network and I'm glad you're here. 

Please include our button or the URL (http://needleandthreadnetwork.blogspot.ca/) into YOUR post so we can continue spreading the word about our artists' collective. 

Thanks for linking up, and see you next week. Happy stitching!

An InLinkz Link-up

WIP Wednesday #279 @ TN&TN

Hello everyone, and welcome to this week's work in progress linkup party! You've all been here before but this is my first time hosting it. I'm Nicole, I live in Victoria BC and I'm taking over from Laurel in Winnipeg.  

It's the first week of spring break for kids here in BC; some schools elsewhere have had their break. Regardless of who's looking after the kids we hope you have been able to get your stitch on! Share what you're working on so that we can support and encourage each other. 

Also include our button or the URL (http://needleandthreadnetwork.blogspot.ca/) into YOUR post so we can continue spreading the word about our artists' collective. 

Thanks for linking up, and see you next week. Happy stitching!

Feature Friday: Nicole

To all dedicated The Needle and Thread Network contributors and readers. I have thoroughly enjoyed being your host for last hundred or so "WIP Wednesdays" and dozen or so "Feature Fridays". Your ideas, writing, photos, and mostly, your stories have inspired, excited, and saddened me. Thank you for sharing them. I believe that it is important for everyone to tell their stories. Please don't stop what you are doing.

I hope you welcome Nicole, your new TN&TN host, with the same kindness that you gave me when took the reins from Monika. 

Nicole is incredibly creative (just look at her photos!) and is passionate about quilting.

Please about your new host below. And please, keep on stitchin' !

Laurel
Winnipeg

Hi everyone, I'm Nicole and I like quilts very much. 

I started blogging in fall 2015 under the name "Handwrought Quilts," I chose that name because handwrought is an old word meaning fashioned by hand or chiefly by hand processes. I think it fits perfectly for a quilter.

I live in Victoria, BC but I have also lived in Tsawwassen, Vancouver, Kelowna, Banff, Toronto, and Windsor, NS! I've been to every province except NL and none of the territories, and I love being Canadian. I have a husband, two daughters, and a part time job in a bakery.

I made my first quilt in 2003 for a niece and not knowing what I was doing, I learned by making mistakes and reading library books. I did nothing more until 2007 when I took a 'learn to quilt sampler class' at a quilt shop. Since that class I've made 63 more quilts and one day I'll finish that sampler quilt! I can also sew garments, do basic pattern drafting, rudimentary embroidery, and I'm a whiz at Hallowe'en costumes. But mostly I make quilts. I define my style as “modern scrap quilter” as I prefer to use many fabrics instead of just a few. I love colour, especially the bright ones.

19"x19" MQG mini swap

Other than my craftiness, I have a BFA (Hons) in Theatre Production and Design from York University. I retired in 2007 from a twenty year career as a Stage Manager to be a stay at home parent. I started quilting because I was bored on maternity leave and was finally ready to admit that I liked quilts! I didn’t know any quilters and only knew about quilts from reading books like “Anne of Green Gables” and “Little House on the Prairie.”

24"x24" made for the CrossCut quilt along on Instagram

Some recent quilting accomplishments include: having a piece juried into a show (and selling the piece!), teaching beginning quilting at a local shop, and I’ve just stepped down after 3.5 years of being President for the Victoria Modern Quilt Guild (which I co-founded in 2013). 

What lies ahead…submitting more quilts to shows. Writing quilt patterns. Having a quilt or pattern published. Hosting The Needle & Thread Network.

31"x32" Baby quilt for new niece.

It's nice to meet you everyone! I'll see you here next week or you can visit me at Handwrought Quilts or on Instagram.

WIP Wednesday #278 @ TN&TN

WIP Wednesday #277 @ TN&TN