Cheryl is one of Handi Quilter’s new National Educators. I have not had the chance to meet Cheryl yet. . . I can’t wait!
Artist’s Statement
Follow your Creative Compass!
Designed, pieced, and quilted by Cheryl Laine
When given the Black and White quilt challenge I thought Black and white and a hint of colour was a nice option, but black isn’t a colour I use very often. So, to make the fabric choice easy I decided to work with Northcott solids, which are available at my local Quilt Shop. I chose yellow, to add a splash of sunshine to the rainy-day pallet! In EQ8 I came up with a design, using compass blocks for parts of the design. I’ve had the Skinny Robin Ruler by Robin Ruth Designs for quite a while, and this was an opportunity to have fun. It was quilted on my Handi Quilter Amara with Pro-Stitcher designs, rulers, and a bit of free motion. It has two layers of batting, wool over Hobbs Heirloom 80/20 and is stitched with So Fine 410 and 451 by Superior Threads.
The Whole Story
I could have named the quilt, “My many firsts” but I followed by creativity process to get the compasses done, hence “Follow your Creative Compass.” When given the challenge I thought Black and white was simple, looking back as I made each design choose, I also made the quilt more challenging. It’s hard to hide any errors in solids when quilting. But it turned out great, so it was definitely worth pushing my creativity which is why I named it Follow your Creative Compass!!
Using black and white seemed simple but black isn’t a colour I use much, so I thought solids would be an option. Which also added to the “How do I quilt it” dilemma… it sat on the design wall for probably 3 weeks as I over analyzed and tried to find the “perfect” design. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
I knew I wanted to work with Compass blocks, using the Skinny Robin ruler by Robin ruth designs,
because why not use a ruler that has been sitting in my stash for 5 years, still in the package. So, I
sketched a couple of ideas and then using EQ8 I played with different blocks and colour placement until I had a design that looked great. When using a new ruler, it’s always good to make a few test blocks. Using the Skinny Robin ruler to strip piece the pie segments, trimming them and assembling to create the compass circles was fun. I will be doing other projects. They can be appliqued, or reverse appliqued on the background block. So, I chose reverse applique, because it gave a nice clean circle edge…another new technique to add a challenge for me and it turned out great with the help of lots of pins. Once the piecing was done than it sat on the design wall as I looked and tried to envision a secondary patten in the quilting, but it didn’t happen. I got out the preview paper and tried some options and still couldn’t decide. Finally, I just loaded the quilt, on my Amara and using two layers of batting (because why not), basted the layers of the whole quilt and did some stitch in the ditch. After scrolling through Pro-stitcher block designs several times, I found a few that had a similar feel and finally started stitching. Wow, the two layers of batting made it look fabulous!! To echo the compass block, I used “mark” because why not try something new to me. Some of them turned out better than others, but I learned a lot, but it still looks great. Finally, I got to the border, this is usually where I would normally free motion. But another first was using a Pro-stitcher design and then turning the quilt…note to self, make sure the backing edges are straight before reattaching the quilt otherwise the quilt would sit square.
So here is the list of Firsts.
- First project using Skinny Robin ruler.
- First reverse applique quilt
- First time using double batting. Won’t be the last!
- First quilt I’ve designed and finished using EQ8
- First time using the mark feature from Pro-Stitcher 6. Pro-Stitcher borders and turned quilt.
- First HQ Educator challenge
I think this created a Challenging Quilt, I learned so many things and I’m proud to say it’s done and
labeled!
Learn More About Cheryl!
Inspired by the creative women in her family, Cheryl learned to cross-stich, sew and crochet in her teens. Her husband is very supportive of her creativity and bought her first sewing machine. Making curtains and home décor were just a small part of her sewing journey. As her sewing skills improved, Cheryl started her first quilt in 1998, and in true quilters fashion, it finally became a finished quilt this year. But that’s another story!
In 2014 Cheryl started working at a sewing machine dealer and quilt shop in Burlington ON. A dream job what quilter wouldn’t want, to play with fabrics and be creative all day?! She purchased a previously loved longarm machine on a frame, and as her free motion skills improved, she did some quilting for family and a few friends. Cheryl enjoys sharing her love of quilting and has taught many quilt classes, bag projects and curved piecing quilts with Sew Kind of Wonderful patterns. She is also certified Sew Kind of Wonderful educator. When the store closed a few years ago, she pursued teaching online quilt classes and loves the flexibility that it offers.
In the summer of 2020, she upgraded to an Amara® with Pro-stitcher® and within a few months, Cheryl started her longarm quilting business, Compass Quilt Company. Now the quilting possibilities are endless; to use free motion, ruler quilting, Pro-stitcher or a combination of these techniques. Sharing these ideas and inspiration with others is another wonderful adventure.
CLICK HERE to see more of the Black and White Quilt Challenge.