Designing Quilts with Quiltrovert Nika Gordham Harrison, Podcast #59

Hello My Quilting Friends! This week I'm chatting with the Quiltrovert, Nika Gordham-Harrison about quilting and pattern design. Watch the episode using the player right here:

Or listen to the podcast or download it to your computer using this player instead:

Quick links to things mentioned in the podcast and introduction:

Sunflower Hat Tutorial

Quilty Box Challenge

Eternal Love Quilt Along

Nika Gordham Harrison goes by Quiltrovert on Instagram and that name immediately caught my eye. Unfortunately Nika's site is no longer online.

I find it really interesting to talk to quilters at all different stages of their quilting journey and Nika is no exception. She just got started quilting in the summer of 2017 and within just a few months she began designing her own quilts and patterns.

For some quilters, this just isn't the fun part, but clearly for Nika, designing and combining colors and creating a unique story with a quilt is exactly what she loves about the craft. Here's a picture of the Kalediescope Mountain quilt she was working on when we recorded this interview last month:

It's very clear from Nika's photographs that she has an intuitive sense of design, color, and shape. This is something you can build with time, practice, and effort, but it can also be a built-in sense too. I even catch myself looking at my quilts over the years and only after the fact, many years later was I able to see the connections and design style I was working through.

Lots of Projects in Progress!

I was working on a 2000 piece jigsaw puzzle during the introduction of this podcast which didn't really work too well for my brain. It's funny - I can knit, stitch, embroider, spin, and paint, but I absolutely couldn't work on the puzzle and talk coherently at the same time. I guess that's just how my brain works!

I've finally reached the point no return with the Mother Earth cross stitch project. I've been working on this in the evening since February or March and it's just no fun anymore. I'm really tempted to just call it finished here and be done with it.

Do you think this looks finished? Can I just stick it in a frame and call it done now?

Quilty Box Challenge

Affiliate - We have a beautiful Quilty Box for May filled with fun gear and beautiful fabrics from Violet Craft. I decided it was time for a challenge! I pulled out the fabrics and in record time put together a new version of the Eternal Love goddess quilt. Click Here to find this video.

This is the very first goddess quilt created with strongly printed fabrics and I wasn't sure how it would turn out. I LOVE the effect! I kept the challenge going by playing with different decorative threads to seal up the goddess's hair, then put the quilt on my longarm for quilting.

The main reason I quilted this on the longarm is time. It really is much faster to quilt with the machine moving, but I still don't have the control or precision that I have on my home machines. This version of Eternal Love is far from perfect, but I think I love it even more because it was such a challenge!

Affiliate - Click Here to learn about Quilty Box

Delay on Ruler Feet

This week was a bit frustrating because the quilting rulers and feet are delayed. I had what I thought was the perfect ruler foot. Upon more quilting and play I realized this was actually a terribly designed foot. 

So returns are in order and I'm going to go with another ruler foot for the Eversewn Sparrow machine. All around I'm frustrated and quite angry that a manufacturer put a foot on the market that clearly couldn't work.

Let the Sun Shine In!

On a happier note, I shared a tutorial on making a bright and cheerful Sunflower Hat. Click Here to find this crafting tutorial.

I really enjoyed creating this hat and I think it works perfectly as an everyday accessory to wear with jeans and a t-shirt. Of course, you can also take this tutorial and run with it in a totally different direction:

That's my Flower Girl costume! I haven't had a chance to wear this in 2018 so I'm looking for a fun indoor event to pull her out. Outdoor events are fun too, but I think this would work best as a living statue.

Finish Your Quilt Challenge

I realized this week that my stock of unfinished quilt tops was getting a bit ridiculous. Out of the 9 free quilt patterns shared in this photo, I've only quilted ONE of these quilts!

I think we need a new program for finishing our quilts! I can also combine this with my goal of quilting more on my Grace Qnique Longarm. I'm still learning the basics and it would be nice to have a push to share new videos every week.

Be looking forward to a new batch of videos as we learn how to finish our quilts quickly together!

Whew! That's it for this week! Let's go quilt,

Leah Day