Stitcher Spotlight - Lisa Sliva of Stitching the Journey
It always makes me so thrilled to see you, my quilting friends, stitch up my quilt patterns in ways I never would have thought of. What a gift, and a wonderful collaboration! And so, I've decided to begin a Stitcher Spotlight, a short interview with a maker featuring a Tales of Cloth pattern. First up is Lisa Sliva of Stitching the Journey! Lisa is a dear friend of mine who reached out in response to my blog years ago, and we became friends. We met in person for the first time this year when she hosted Tim and I at her house before QuiltCon and it was such a joy (and relief!) to learn we connect even more in person. Lisa works in the Tales of Cloth team on content editing, customer support, and pattern writing, and so I asked her to be my Stitcher Spotlight guinea pig with her Honeydew Quilt from the Hexie Handbook! Read on to hear more from Lisa and her beautiful quilt.
Tell me about yourself!
It's hard to know where to start with that question! I'm a pediatric oncology nurse by training, but I moved to Malawi (a small southern African country) in 2014 with my husband to be a missionary with my church. We lived there for the better part of the next 8 years, and it was there, during the long quiet evenings when the city "shut down" for the night, that I taught myself how to sew.
It was also there that I became a "dog mom." I've had four dogs over the past 5 years, two of which have sadly "crossed the rainbow bridge." The other two made the long journey from Malawi back to the US with us, and I couldn't love them more. Other than that, you can usually find me stitching (preferably outside), listening to an audiobook, and sipping on a cup of coffee.
How did you choose the colors/palette/vibe for your Honeydew quilt?
When I started making it, Liberty prints were very novel to me. It seemed that I saw them everywhere! And, in true social media fashion, I had to make my own. When you released the Hexie Handbook and I saw Honeydew, I fell in love with it!
I loved the idea that each block could be different but unified by the stars in each center. I imagined a Liberty quilt with a different fabric for each block. In the end, I only repeated three prints and added in one Heather Ross lawn because it fit the ombré effect I was going for. I managed to score enough of this beautiful lavender floral (also by Liberty) at a huge discount to use as the backing!
How long did it take you?
I started it in 2019, and finished it this year, so about 5 years. But, I stitched the majority of the blocks over the course of 2019-2020 because I had received a subscription of Liberty fabrics from Martina, who formerly ran the online shop Ava and Neve. After that, I slowly added scrap packs and finished the final blocks in January of 2023 just before we moved to the US.
It sat for a year waiting to simply be laid out, which finally happened this past March. From there it was stitching blocks into rows and then stitching rows into the quilt top. I opted to machine quilt it for a more subtle finish, which took me about a week and a half. I used the vertical zig zag seams between the hexagon rows as guides and then outlined the stars. I chose to bind it in the same Essex natural linen I used for the stars and edges to keep it uniform.
"This quilt is small, but mighty."
At only about 50” square, it holds over 100 different Liberty prints, and took over 5 years to complete— never allowing me to rush it at any juncture.
How long have you been quilting/doing EPP?
I picked up quilting in 2014 after moving to Malawi and discovering I had loads of time on my hands. I slowly taught myself to hand piece, not owning a sewing machine at the time. Eventually I learned the machine the following year, but in 2016 I discovered English paper piecing (EPP) and Tales of Cloth, and I’m besotted with it. While I’ve continued to grow and practice machine piecing, I always come back to EPP.
What’s your next EPP project?
I’m working on Evensong quilt, featuring some of my favorite novelty prints.
Want to stitch your own Honeydew quilt?
I'm so grateful Lisa shared her quilt with us! Liberty can sometimes feel too precious to cut into, but this quilt inspires me to reach for my favourites and use them. The finished quilt is completely worth it!
Want to see me make a Honeydew block before you cut into your prized stash? I've made a video just for you!
Honeydew quilt is now available in the shop! We have the paper pieces and acrylic templates bundled together at a discount below (you can also purchase them separately). Don't forget to complete your bundle with the Hexie Handbook, where you'll find detailed instructions on how to make the quilt (as well as 15 others!).
Interestingly, I too have just begun using some of my too-long-in-storage Heather Ross fabric, and my heart is singing! It was waiting for me to find just the right companion fabrics for a project I had in my head, which I found all in one shop (serendipity!) in April. It is so joyful to see it fulfilling its purpose!
Thank you for sharing and inspiring us to use “my precious” in our designs. I think we can all be guilty of hanging on and not allowing ourselves to just use the fabric now. This gorgeous quilt done with Liberty Fabrics is amazing. I wish I could feel it.
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