After the soaring popularity of knitting and sewing, crafty Louisa Goult reckons she’s on to the next big thing – quilting.
And she’s off to Texas next week to pick up a few new skills from the great American tradition.
Louisa, 41, from Middlesbrough, has launched her own online company to patch a hole in the market by offering quilt-making tips and creating her own patterns for fellow quilting enthusiasts.
Since the economic crisis sparked a new make-do-and-mend attitude, home-spun hobbies have become something of a Great British trend, reflected in TV hits such as The Great British Bake Off and The Great British Sewing Bee.
It was while working in a fabric shop in Hereford that London-born Louisa realised how many customers were showing an interest in learning how to quilt but there were few opportunities around so she came up with a beginner’s guide.
Then she set up Sewmotion after moving to the North East with husband Justin, who is from Redcar and proposed to her beneath the Transporter Bridge just around the corner from where they now live.
On the site, where she showcases her unique designs including a “Parmo” cushion, she offers a straightforward guide to quilt-making, tutorials about technique and free patterns for a fresh and extra-colourful twist on an old tradition.
She said: “It’s about encouraging people who want to quilt and showing them how to do it as they may not have the time to go to clubs or maybe there are none near them. Here they can learn online.”
Louisa’s love of quilting comes from her gran, who did tapestry, sewing and knitting, and she designed and made her first quilt when she was just in her teens.
“I’m completely self-taught – I’ve never been to a club. If I can do it then other people can.”
She says the hobby is growing in popularity with everyone from new mothers wanting to make a quilt for their baby to the older generation wanting to help their grandchildren learn a craft.
“I think it’s getting bigger all the time.”
It’s even being taken up by those recovering from illness “to get their minds working again”, she said. I find it very relaxing. It’s a hobby that is very stress-relieving as it concentrates the mind.”
And the bright colours and beautiful fabrics are therapy in themselves. Louisa is particularly interested in The Modern Quilt Guild, a young movement in America which is freshening up what used to be seen as a dated past-time and on Tuesday she’s flying out to Austin in Texas to attend its international show and conference QuiltCon.
“They use new, fresher fabrics and modern design to encourage a younger generation to take it up,” she said.
“America’s tradition comes from the English Pilgrims who did quilting out of necessity, using old clothes and it became a community thing.”
She added: “Durham and Wales have their own traditions of quilting and different areas have different techniques.”
Louisa will feed what she learns next week back into her own unique designs which include her cushion spelling out “parmo” in a nod to the local delicacy which her husband once made for her.
Her cushion range, which also features a “heart Boro” design, will be on sale today at a Vintage Valentine Fair in Yarm Fellowship Hall she is attending before her US trip.
Her future plans include creating more patterns for people to buy and acquiring a longarm quilter.
Read her blog at handmadebylouisa.blogspot.co.uk
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