I have a special bonus post for you to finish our Meet the Quilter series! This week we welcome Jessie Carrodus-Hill, also known as @messyjesse1 on Instagram, or perhaps you know her better as one-half of Sew & Quilt, which Jessie runs alongside her husband Robin.
Jessie started her business back in 2012 as an online ecommerce shop, had a short stint as a bricks and mortar shop back in 2017 and then returned fully to ecom the following year. Sew & Quilt specialises in producing English Paper Pieces and has a huge range of shapes and sizes, along with a great selection of Liberty and quilting fabrics and unique kits and patterns to keep us busy. They are known for their Block of the Month Clubs and have been running their Lucy Boston, Patchwork of the Crosses club since 2016!
Sew & Quilt's distinctive pink Block of the Month Club boxes
Outside of the quilting sphere, Jessie tells us "I'm 100% interiors obsessed and love doing projects around our home. Every weekend we seem to be making or updating something! And in the last couple of months I’ve started roller-skating, it’s great fun! Never too old to learn something new!"
How long have you been quilting and do you still have your first quilt?
My first quilt was a little wall-hanging sized quilt with simple sawtooth stars and 1930s fabrics, I remember it well! Although I definitely ruined it with the puffier style polyester wadding, yikes! I was not knowledgeable in the different wadding styles back then, and just used what my local haberdashery shop had in stock. From memory I think that was 2012, but I had been sewing and making other quilted and patchwork projects since 2009, somehow getting over the hurdle of turning it into an actual quilt vs. a smaller cushion or bag or something, was a real jump for me!
Do you have a favourite fabric style or colour?
I can’t tire of florals, ever. I am floral fabric loving hoarder and I can’t get enough of them in differing size, colour or design, in my quilts and in my soft-furnishings at home. I’m a sucker for Liberty ditsy florals in particular and really pleased they are coming back into popularity so much now; in the quilting world and the fashion and interiors world! Ginghams are always a go-to for me as well, I love the Carolina ginghams by Robert Kaufman, as they are yarn dyed, so it gives them that country feel (which I’m always drawn to) as opposed to a printed check on a plain base cloth. I’m quite fussy when it comes to colours, I tend to opt for more muted tones. I love brights and strong colours but they have to be the right shade, pink is often a colour that I find hard to get the perfect shade, not sickly or candy pink but that soft dusky shade that blends in without shouting “Pink!”.
Jessie shared a tutorial for these beautiful fabric boxes on her blog
What's your essential notion or tool?
Would a stitch-ripper be too much of an obvious answer!? Second to that would be a sharp rotary cutter (must remember to replace those blades!). Aurifil thread, I reeeeeeally couldn’t imagine using another brand now, my machine loves it and it’s perfect for hand-sewing projects too. Oh and my Martelli RoundAbout Cutting Mat, is such a luxury but oh so worth it! I have an endless list to be honest. I do enjoy a hard-working quilting tool!
And your favourite snack (or tipple)?
Definitely cups of tea on tap. Hmm… I tend to like a little snack of apple, cheese and biscuits. Haha, my mum used to make it for me as my after school snack when I was a kid, and I haven’t changed!
Can you share a top tip/online resource?
I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for the Quilter's Paradise website, I use their calculators for binding and backing calculations and rely on them so much! I recommend every quilter add it to their bookmarks.
Do you listen to anything while you quilt?
When I’m in full concentration mode of figuring out a new pattern or drafting something that takes a lot of brainpower (for me at least!) I have total silence, haha, but for regular sewing I need background TV to keep me company. I usually have my ipad setup with a comedy series I’ve watched a thousand times before, such as Modern Family, Silicon Valley or Veep, so I don’t have to give it my full attention, just have some funny chat in the background.
The Elementary Sewing Set Kit: just one of the covetable kits in the Sew & Quilt online shop
Have you had any quilting disasters?
Oh gosh, certainly the time I recreated a sampler quilt, using a lovely range of Kona solids in tan, brown, and burgundy on a cream background – very Little House on the Prairie feel, (I recreated a quilt I’d seen on Pinterest hung above a fireplace of a ranch house in the USA for a interior shoot, it was gorgeous!). Finished the top, got to the quilting section and used a permanent embroidery marker pen, and not a water-erasable pen. Agh! The writing had rubbed off the pen and was not noticeable. Silly me! I have not made that mistake again thankfully!
Do you have a favourite quilt block?
Classic quilt blocks are the best and never date. I think I tend to be drawn to designs with half-square triangles. Neat rows and sections of them are very pleasing to my symmetrical-loving brain!
Jessie's Starburst quilt from issue 50 of Today's Quilter
I’m also a big fan of Irish Chain designs, I’ve made a triple Irish chain one before, but a smaller postage stamp style would be next on my make list!
Jessie's scrappy Irish Chain quilt: find the free pattern here
Where can we find you online?
Website: Sew & Quilt
Instagram: @messyjesse1
Thank you Jessie, its been so lovely to get to know you!
Comments