Australia based quilter Lesley decided to enroll herself in a virtual beginning quilting course based on Harriet Hargrave‘s & Carrie Hargrave’s Quilter’s Academy books. She is starting with Vol. 1–Freshman Year and plans to continue through all 6 volumes.
She built her virtual quilting course around a blog called “Block Head” that she created to show her progress, turn in her assignments, etc.
When I came across her blog, I was (of course, completely & totally) fascinated. I had to know who she was, why she chose Quilter’s Academy and how her progress was going. I asked Lesley if I could interview her, and she said YES!
1. Tell us a little more about yourself.
I’m almost 54, retired from owning and operating a small business, and I live in Tasmania. Tasmania is a large island to the south of Australia, with a population of a half million and the cleanest air in the world. I moved to Tassie from the mainland about 3 years ago, leaving behind 4 children & 4.2 grandchildren. Not knowing anyone here except for my fiancé (now husband), my sewing interests have enabled me to make many new friends and settle in nicely. I also garment sew, and collect and attempt to restore vintage sewing machines.
2. How did you get turned on to quilting?
Discounting the knitwit tracksuits I used to make for my kids 25 years ago, I began garment sewing about 15 months ago. Armed with a sewing machine that was a wedding present from my husband, I had a few formal lessons, joined the local sewing guild and used books and the internet to learn. I enjoyed sewing, and especially the company of other sew-ists, but had no desire to do patchwork. In fact, my new sewing machine came complete with a Quilter’s Toolbox, which I promptly put in the cupboard unopened. It wasn’t until a visit with my mostly bedridden mother-in-law last October, who was having an unexpected treat sitting up in an armchair and complained of being cold, that I thought to make a quilt. Lots of people quilt, how hard can it be? I thought.
3. What was it about Quilter’s Academy Vol. 1—Freshman Year that inspired you?
Obsessed with wanting to learn more about quilting, I scoured the internet for information and visited my local library, where I found Harriet Hargrave’s Heirloom Machine Quilting. It literally took my breath away—I had no idea quilts could be so beautiful. I found it incredibly inspiring, particularly that all those stunning quilts had been made on machines similar to my own. I purchased a copy of that book and started practicing FMQ on calico (muslin) scraps. To get anywhere with this, I needed quilt tops to practice on.
4. What have been your favorite achievements from the book so far?
I know this is very unexciting for readers, but my most treasured achievement so far is being able to truly cut fabric correctly. Honestly, if you can’t get this first stage right, nothing else is going to work. This is as far as I got in my last two projects—after the cutting nothing worked, nothing fitted and all I ended up with was a full scrap bag and a lot of frustration. Harriet’s book taught me how to cut fabric correctly and it worked for me from the very first project.
5. Has blogging influenced your quilting?
Absolutely, yes. As I am treating this book as I would a hands-on course, the blog has become my discipline. It’s where I file my report at the end of each assignment. It’s where I ‘hand in my work’. It keeps me working and it keeps me inspired. I love that I can ask an opinion, or a question on my blog, and invariably will get an answer in the form of a comment. The book, the blog, the guild, and various internet forums all work together in teaching me this intricate craft.
6. What advice would you give others starting out and thinking about buying the book?
Do it. Whether a raw beginner, or an experienced quilter not happy with the results you are getting, buy this book and use it as it was intended to be used. Don’t be tempted to skip parts you think you already know. You may be missing something so basic, yet so important, that without that information you will never improve to your full potential. When I started the blog, I invited others who were working through the book to join me. I would love to see what others are doing, what their results are and where their bumps in the road are. Please, anyone who is working through the course, comment on my blog and let me know. I would love some company!
This week I received what I felt to be ultimate praise. I took my first project from the book, Carrie’s Cowboy Corral, into a quilter’s guild meeting, to ask advice on borders. This guild is chock to the brim of very experienced quilters with extraordinary talent. The comments on my quilt top were all positive, the best being “you do very nice work” - without the inevitable following comment “for a beginner”. Thank you Harriet, you’re teaching me well.
Thank you for sharing Lesley!
Visit Lesley’s blog at Patchnblock.blogspot.com
Visit Harriet Hargrave’s and Carrie Hargrave’s Quilter’s Academy Journal blog at Quiltersacademy.blogspot.com
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3 Comments
Sure would love to know more about the quilting academy. I purchased CT publishing books from Alex Anderson. I also signed up for 2 beginning classes in my area, but both were canceled due to all of the snow here! Thanks for your blog.
Quilters Academy is a series of 6 books that my daughter and I are writing to clean up the skills of quilters – especially any level of beginner – from the ground up. So many books, Alex’s included, are essentially pattern books that assume you know quite a bit before you start. We started with the bare bone basics and have build a self directed course – much like going to college, where every class builds on the previous one. We think this book if used in a classroom setting would be the very best way for anyone to become a great piecer very quickly. If you can’t take a class, you can work through the book on you own like Lesley did and you will learn an incredible amount of information that will have you piecing quilts you could only dream of before. I urge you to get a copy and start out with us. The 2nd in the series will be available in May, and it builds on the first volume. Hope you take a look and get started!
Good luck
Harriet Hargrave
I just started working through the first volume and have to say THANK YOU Mrs.Hargrave!!! For the stay at home moms who don’t have quilter’s in the family nor time to take a class, this has been a life saver for me!!! I wanted to start quilting after my second pregnancy and thougth how hard could it be, but now I’m looking for more accuracy and trying more complex patchwork. I can’t wait to go through all the volumes!!