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| Rebecca Grace in 2025 |
I made my first quilt in 2002, after a quilting magazine piqued my interest in a grocery store checkout line. I didn’t know anyone else who made quilts back then, so I headed to Barnes & Noble the next day and bought a copy of Quilts! Quilts! Quilts! The Complete Guide to Quiltmaking by Diana McClun and Laura Nownes. I initially learned to quilt by reading lots of books and magazines while working as an interior designer and raising two sons. Then I discovered that quilters from all over the world were posting projects, tutorials and the wisdom of experience on internet blogs, many of them unbelievably generous in their willingness to answer questions and give advice to those less experienced, and I learned a lot more. In more recent years, I had an original quilt juried into virtual QuiltCon during COVID-19, have enjoyed traveling to national quilt shows and taking workshops from internationally renowned teachers to expand my skills, and have served as Community Education Chair and then as President of the Charlotte, NC Quilters Guild. I began longarm quilting in 2017, and I will probably keep on making quilts until I run out of ideas or new things to learn. Because there is no chance I will ever run out of fabric (snort!).
Are You a Traditional Quilter or a Modern Quilter?
I know there's supposed to be a huge gulf between so-called Modern Quilting and Traditional Quilting, but I admire and appreciate just about any style as long as the quilt is well made and has a pleasing visual design. I've tried to learn as many techniques as I can so that I have options in my "skills toolbox" when an idea doesn't work out on the first try (or when I'm not a fan of my pattern's instructions). I’m definitely a gadget girl -- my Bernina Q24 longarm machine is computerized, I design my quilts in EQ8 software and I machine embroider my quilt labels (and occasionally add monograms) with my Bernina B 990. But I also enjoy hand stitched appliqué, little hand embroidered details and bead embellishments, and I love piecing challenging vintage blocks involving curves, Y-seams, and old-fashioned templates. What motivates me is the challenge to learn something new, master a skill that used to be out of my reach, or extrapolate an historic quilt pattern or technique into the 21st century in a way that feels fresh and relevant to me. It is such an exciting time to be a quilt maker, with access to so many amazing tools, techniques, educational resources, and gorgeous fabrics!
