Love Patchwork & Quilting - UK (2020-02)

Quiltpattern designerNicole Daksiewicz(AKAModernHandcraft)

makesminimalistquiltsthatletbothsolidsandprintfabricsshine.

We had a chat about hexies, sewalongs and the longevity of blogs

decorbutit wasquiteexpensive.

I wasalreadyfollowingseveral

craftingwebsitesandI stumbledinto

theworldof modernquiltingblogs

andinstantlyfellin love!Byfollowing

tutorialsI taughtmyselfhowtoquilt

and haven’t looked back since.

Whatwasyourfirst quilt? Do you

stillhaveit?

ThefirstquiltI evermadewasa baby

quiltformyhalfsister’snewbaby.It

wasa charmpackquiltthatI quilted

bytyingyarnin knotseveryfew

inches.I rememberbuyingsome

pre-madebindingandmakingan

absolutemessof thequilt,butI was

soexcitedandcouldn’tbelieveI’d

created something so special.

YourModernHexiesareinstantly

recognisable.How did this design

comeabout?

I wasa flightattendantforabout

12 years and one of my favourite

Tellusa littleaboutyourcreative

background– howdid you first

getintoquilting?

I wasalwaysa verycreativechild,

takingartclasses,drawingand

painting,butI didn’tinitiallyhavean

interestin sewinguntilI wasolder.

Mymomwasalwayssewingmy

clothingsoshetaughtmesome

basics,butquiltingformebegan

whenI wasexpectingmyson,Grey.

In 2010,therewerea fewplacesto

find interesting and modern nursery

projectstotakeontheroadwas

EnglishPaperPiecing.I couldsewon

longsitsin theairportandin my

hotel,soit wasa nicedistractionfrom

theendlesshoursawayfromhome.

I hadhundredsandhundredsof

hexagonsin a bigtoteandneeded

tomakea miniquiltfora quiltswap

I wasparticipatingin.I usedtocraft

withwoolfeltbeforeI gotinto

quiltingsoI hadseveralsuppliesthat

wouldn’tnormallybeusedin quilting,

onebeingpermanentfabricglue.

I wasfamiliarwithhowwellit worked

withfeltsoI figuredmaybeI could

makesomethingfunusingthatand

thehexagonssincetheyhadallof

theedgesfoldedover.Thelayout

wasbasedona hexagonfloortilewe

hadin ourbathroomin Chicago,and

thequiltingmethodjustkindof

happenedbyaccident,asI needed

a waytosecurethecornersand

actuallymakeit a quilt.I fellin love

withthetextureof theprojectand

continuedtoplayaroundandevolve

the method it has turned into today.

DoyouenjoyEnglishPaper Piecing

thetraditionalwaytoo?

Definitely!I loveworkingonhexagon

flowers,andtherearesomanyfun

EPPpatternsavailablenow.It’ssuch

a nicewaytoworkwithyourhands

whenyouneeda breakfrom sitting

at your sewing machine.

Howdoyoutendtoapproach

colourwhenmakingquilts?

UsuallyI aminspiredbywhatcolours

are trending in home and fashion

DESIGNER PROFILE

Nicole Daksiewicz

DESIGNER PROFILE