Q & A with Trish Stuart

TEXAS-BASED QUILTER, AUTHOR, & INTERNATIONAL TEACHER

Raised in Alaska and currently residing in Texas, Trish’s art is heavily influenced by nature and color. She has a broad range of techniques and styles, ranging from traditional piecing, her own method of easy curved piecing, small and large scale appliqué, painting on fabric and mixed media. She currently can be found working in wool and embroidery. A former “Sewing Star” for both Pfaff and Viking, Trish has been a repeat guest on nationally broadcast television programs, is featured on Craft Daily as one of their online teachers, has been published in national quilting magazines, traveled and taught both nationally and internationally. She has published 12 books and over 200 patterns. Her passion is inspiring others to succeed in their own creativity, encouraging them to work out of the box by showing how to get from A to B. The point is to have fun doing it!

Trish has been with the WonderFil Teacher Program since 2009.

Q: How did you start makingquilts?
A: Originally I didn't even like quilts. I thought they all had to be made out of calico and I didn't care for calico. But one day I was walking with a girlfriend and she asked if it would be ok if we stopped at a quilt shop because she needed some fabrics to complete a quilt she was working on. They had such beautiful fabrics! I went right home and designed my first quilt. My great Grandmother had quilted so I new a little bit about the designs, but I actually designed my first quilt before I had ever made one.

Q: Tell me a bit about your quilting journey
A: I lived in Alaska for years. At the time I started quilting all quilts were fairly 'girlie'  and no one was really making masculine quilts. But I had two sons, so I started making quilts for them, with scenes like bears and fishing, from my Alaska influence. I was also painting and selling watercolors, so my local shop owner convinced me to start teaching color classes, which no one was really doing then.

Q: So that is how you started teaching?
A: At first I couldn't imagine myself teaching, but when I discovered all the tools that were available, like rotary cutters and special rulers, it opened up a new world to me. I was an accountant, but I had decided to stay home with my kids when they were smaller, so I had the time to quilt and start into some teaching. Then I started writing books, and doing training videos for Viking and Pfaff. We eventually moved to Texas, and then I could teach all over the country, which had been difficult when I was in Alaska. I became heavily booked up. Then 6 years ago I suffered a personal tragedy, but I was so booked, I just kept going to fulfill all my bookings. When I finally stopped, it all hit me and I found myself unable to teach or create at all for years. Certain companies like Hoffman Fabrics and WonderFil Threads continued to support me and didn't forget about me. That meant the world to me. I eventually spent six months struggling to work out a specific pattern for Hoffman, and once I got through it, I was able to start teaching and creating again.

Q. What are your favorite WonderFil threads?
A. I have been working a lot with wool lately, so I absolutely love Razzle, Dazzle and Sizzle (8 weight rayon with percentages of metallic). The shine of the rayon and metallic look so great with the wool. I have also just started digitizing for machine embroidery, so I am looking forward to trying more of your embroidery threads, like Splendor.

Find out more about Trish Stuart and her incredible work on her website: trishstuart.com

With Love and Threads,
WonderFil