Love Patchwork & Quilting - UK (2019-10)

on time spent cutting and piecing,

which it turn keeps the price of the

finished quilt lower. That, and I don’t

have the patience for super intricate,

tiny piecing – I love a quilt top that

you can put together in a few hours.

I do love the look of some maximalist

modern quilts and it’s tempting to

try designing one, but my brain just

doesn’t work that way and I think I’d

run out of patience!

Many quilters struggle with an

overgrowing stash... how do you

cope with limited space?

I started quilting in my Airstream,

so the only thing I’ve ever known is

quilting in a small space. Not having

the luxury of space has forced me to

be very essentialist in terms of what

I bring into the studio. Which, as a

minimalist who’s been living in less

than 200 square feet for the past six

years (and in small NYC apartments

for seven years before that), isn’t as

hard for me as it may be for others.

I really only buy what I absolutely

need and will use often and for the

most part, I only buy fabric if it’s for

You refer to yourself as a practical

minimalist. How do you think this

translates into your designs?

Being a practical minimalist

permeates all aspects of my work,

for better or for worse. It’s also kind

of how I got into quilting – I was an

oil painter, but that medium wasn’t

conducive to travelling in an

Airstream. It felt silly to make

something that would just hang on

a wall, not serving any purpose except

to look pretty. So in my search to

find a creative outlet that was

practical and useful, I found quilting.

In terms of design, I always want to

convey the most with the least.

Really get to the essence of

something. Distilling an idea down

into something simple is more

impactful than over complicating it

with all the details. In my work, this

usually takes the form of large-scale

geometric shapes, solid colours and

utilising negative space. When it

comes to construction, I want to

minimise the piecing and have as few

seams as possible. This cuts down

Being a practical mini mali st permeates all aspects of

my work, for bet ter or for worse. Àn mysearch to find a

À

Right:TheSunfairquilt,comprised of simple

geometricshapesandnegative space.

Top:Laurahandsewing a mini

quiltin herAirstream studio.

Above:Laura'sGolden Hour quilt.

DESIGNER PROFILE

56 WWW.LOVEPATCHWORKANDQUILTING.COM