Suzie Diver
How
long have you been quilting?
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I made my first "real" quilt before my middle son was
born, so 18 or 19 years.
How
did you learn to quilt?
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My grandmother made lots of our clothes when I was a kid, so I
watched her sewing. After she passed away, I inherited her sewing machine and
fabric stash. After that I started watching PBS quilting and sewing shows like
Eleanor Burns, Fons & Porter, Nancy Zieman, and Shirley Adams and trying to
sew things. It didn't take long to figure out that I like making quilts WAY
more than clothes! I subscribed to Quiltmaker and Quilter's Newsletter
magazines and read those. Eventually, I joined a couple of online quilt groups,
joined a few local guilds and a bee, took classes at Houston Quilt Festival,
and collected lots of fabric (and a few more sewing machines).
When I first started quilting, I fell into the "machine
quilting is cheating" camp -- until I saw Jane Sassaman's quilt at the
Houston Show. Fusible web and machine quilted and fabulous! Also in Houston, I
took classes on curved piecing and improvisational piecing that changed my
quilting world.
So, short answer, I guess, is mostly self-taught with bits of
great teachers thrown in.
What
is your favorite part/step of the process?
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Designing the quilt. I rarely make a quilt from a published
pattern, although I use popular techniques like Stack'n'Whack.
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| Yellow Stack"N"Whack made as a wedding gift for a friend |
Finishing! Too many projects in my head...and I hate binding.
How
many have you finished?
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Finished? Probably less than 30. Lots more that are unfinished.
Which
item that you have made are you most proud of?
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I don't know about proud, but the quilt I LIKE the most is one
that I hated when it was first pieced. "Dripping Paisley" started out
as a curved piecing project with darkish background and swirly yellow/red
limbs. It was hideous! So I cut it up into 8" squares and pieced
more 16-patches from the dark fabrics. I played with the blocks on the design
wall and then sewed everything back together, quilted it on the longarm, and
couched yarn along the binding.
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| Another of Suzie's favorites: Comfort was one of my favorite quilts to make. The center image started out as a doodle that I thought looks like three draped figures. I wanted to use colors reminiscent of Renaissance paintings. My mother-in-law thought the figures looked like a turkey and other folks have seen other things, which is fun.
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How
do you decide on a pattern?
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Usually it depends on what I want to do as far as technique,
what fabric is calling my name, or how much brain I have at the time. The
scrappy diamond block happened because i wanted to use up my scraps and needed
a block based design to work on at retreat. (But then my hubby got sick, so I
made them at home. Go figure.) Right now, I have the urge to curved piece some
larger design, but I'm focusing on another scrap block while I'm working from
the dining room and most of my fabric is stored away.
Tell
us about your stash:
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My son says I could open a fabric store. I say I collect fabric
and those pieces chat amongst themselves and eventually tell me what they want
to be.
How would you
define your style?
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Arty, scrappy, and eclectic.
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| unfinished project and original design |
What
are your go-to colors?
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Red, yellow, green, black (dark), white (light), and polka dot.
My brass stiletto for guiding fabric under the needle,
especially for curved piecing.
Do
you have other crafty hobbies?
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I would like to make jewelry and knit, but mostly I just use
beads and yarn to embellish quilts.
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| Suzie says: I made My Own Zen Garden because I wanted to work with only neutrals and I love triangles. My son had a miniature rock garden that he didn't want anymore, so I "borrowed" the small rake and added stone beads. This piece won Third Place at the Dallas Quilt Celebration in the Art Quilt-Artisan category, 2003. (Quilted with gold rayon thread)
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Anything
else you'd like to share?
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I hate to paper piece, but I will if I have to. I used to
hand-dye and hand-paint fabric. I had a longarm named Fred in the living room
many years ago. I would like to make quilts like Ruth McDowell when (or if) I
grow up.
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| Suzie says: The pink triangles are all from my hand-dyed or hand-printed fabrics, which were pretty ugly on their own, but I like them in this quilt with the wild print border.
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Thanks so much Suzie for giving us a peek into your quilting world!
If you want to know more about Suzie, please ask in the comments or at the next guild meeting; I know she would love to answer!
