Love Patchwork & Quilting - UK (2020-03)

Quilter,teacher, bloggerandstoreownerJoAveryof myBearpaw

bringsa littlecolourtotheUKquiltingscenethroughherdesigns

and retreats. We chatted teaching, techniques and her new book

Wheredidthenameof yourblog

andstore,myBearpaw,comefrom?

ThefirstquiltI actuallyfinished,for

mybestfriend’swedding,wasa Bear

Pawpattern.I starteda littlebusiness

sellingquiltingsupplieslikebatting

andfabric.I usedtovisitlocalquilting

groupstoteachandbringmylittle

popupshopalongwithme.I called

thebusinessBearPawafterthatfirst

quiltandbecauseI justlovedthe

evocativename.Manyyearslater

I askedmyteenageboystohelpme

starta blog,whentheyaskedme

whatit shouldbecalledBearPawwas

theonlythingI couldthinkof!It

morphedintomyBearpawasBear

Pawis a USoutdoorclothing

companyandtheyhadtakenallthe

domainnames.Outof thechoices

leftI likedmyBearpawbestasit

soundsa bitmysteriousanda bit like

an odd Japanese translation!

Youruna fabric,yarnand

haberdasherystore,teach

workshops,organiseandrun

quiltingretreats,designquilt

patterns,blogregularlyAND

you’vegota bookoutnextyear...

Howdoyoufiteverythingin?

Withgreatdifficulty!It is a real

jugglingactandI amprobablyat my

absolutelimitat themomentwhich

meanslearningtosay‘no’tothings

thatpreviouslyI wouldhaveleaptat.

I havea wonderfulmanagerat my

shop,Jane,whobasicallyrunsthe

wholethingandI justswanin to

teachat theweekend.Plusmykids

are all grown up and have long flown

Howdidyoufirstgetintoquilting?

I spenta lotof mychildhoodsewing

withmybigsisterJane,especiallysoft

toys.WhenI wastenyearsoldJane

showedmehowtosewhexagons

together(whatwewouldnowcall

EPP).MuchlaterwhenI startedliving

withmyhusband,I rememberedhow

muchI hadenjoyedstitchingthose

hexagonsandsoI boughtsome

templatesandfabricandstarted

makingmyfirstquilt.Lookingback

nowI canrecognisethisasa strong

nestinginstinct! 30 yearsago,when

wemovedfromLondontoScotland,

I joineda localquiltgroup,theAbbey

Quilters.Theytaughtmewhattodo

onceI’dfinishedmyquilttopand

introducedmetorotarycuttersand

cuttingmats.Thiswasthe start of

a lifelong obsession.

thenestwhichmakesa huge

differencetotheamountof time

availabletome.If I wasn’tsewingfor

workI wouldbesewingforfunsoit

takes up a lot of my downtime too.

You’vebeenrunningyourblogfor

over 10 years.Howhavebothyour

personalstyleandthequilt

industrychangedsincethen?

Thequiltindustryitselfprobably

hasn’tchangedthatmuch,I thinkit

reallyembracedthemodernstyle

overthelastdecadebutthemajority

of quiltersarestillverymuch

traditional.Thethingthathas

changedthemostarethenewsocial

mediaplatformsandallthe

technologythatyouneedtokeepup

with.I amquiteIT challengedsoI find

it hardwheneveryonestartsusing

thingslikestoriesandI can’tworkout

howtodoit. ThenbythetimeI have

becomeusedtothemeveryonehas

movedontothenextthing!Asfaras

mypersonalstyleI thinkthisis slowly

changingandevolvingallthetime

and will hopefully never stop.

Tellusa littleaboutyourThread

HouseandStitchGathering

retreats.Whatfirstinspired you to

startrunningthem?

I wasinspiredtostarttheStitch

GatheringbyattendingthefirstFat

QuarterlyRetreatin Londonwayback

in 2012.Thiswasa wonderfulwayto

bringtheburgeoningUKonlinequilt

communitytogether.Meetingallmy

bloggingfriendsin reallifeforthe

first time was so exciting I could

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Áo ́ver

y

Below:Joenjoys

experimenting

withhermachine

quilting designs

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