Mary Elizabeth Kinch, Let me catch my breath ~

A big thank you from Quilters' Guild Acadienne to Mary Elizabeth Kinch for spending the past several days with us sharing  her love of quilt-making.  Mary Elizabeth professes to be an interior designer by day but a quilter by night.   She lectures, she teaches, she designs fabric and quilts and has co-authored two best sellers,    Small Blocks, Stunning Quilts and Small Pieces, Spectacular Quilts.  

Mary Elizabeth began Thursday morning by saying right out loud that every one of us has the ability to be creative....oftentimes it just takes encouragement.  That's exactly what Mary Elizabeth did as she continued luring us in with her fabulous trunk show/program.   She encouraged us by sharing her love of antique quilts and how she used  her analysis of them to execute the plans for her next antique  quilt replica.

I nabbed Mary Elizabeth before the program began to get this picture of her modern sampler.  The narrow string border intrigued me.  Notice that there are half-square triangles along with what perhaps might be 1" all the way up to 6"  fabric cuts pieced together.....particularly the long blue strip that wraps around the corner. 

I also found interesting the lighter shades within the courthouse steps block almost disappear into the white background.  Yes, interesting when we as quilt makers and artists so often feel compelled to have definitions rather than blurred lines.


Just give Mary Elizabeth a string or two and see what she does!  A very modern take on an ever so traditional quilt design. 

Inspired by Amish quilts and their makers....and the importance of "ish"....meaning that the large outer borders don't exactly measure the same.  They are 12" ish or so.  Mary Elizabeth is a stickler for measuring, cutting, sewing, pressing accuracy....so why the "ish" theory?   Let your viewing  eye be the judge.

And while you think you might be viewing a near solid medallion center triangle....well, let's take a closer look.

The entire triangle as well as the tan cornerstones are 1" ers pieced together.  Takes my breath away to think of the time involved.


Mary Elizabeth prefaced the showing of her next quilt by emphasizing the importance of finishing those UFOs.  She (frankly) says they do us no good except to take up very usable brain space!  What's a quilter to do?  Sort those unfinished blocks and quilts, finish those we love and donate those we don't.  Allow someone else to love them on to completion.  It's just that simple!

Having said that, here is Cocktails in the Library.  Mary Elizabeth says this one started with a block sampler taken away from a Gwen Marston workshop.  Don't you see the books....on the shelf....in the library with cocktails!

Just  as simple as taking a theme and flowing with it....foundation pieced strings on curry.

or testing your color combo's....spotlight the blues, remembering that blues are dark and light and aqua and can lean toward shades of mauve and purple and lavender. 

It was about here in the program that Mary Elizabeth talked to us about forming a posse.  A support posse that is!   We are at our best when surrounded by people who encourage and support and when asked will offer opinions and ideas that will help us to grow as artisans.    Know yourself....your personal design data base and what influences your style.

Mary Elizabeth also shared a story about an author's regimen of when to work and when to step out of the zone.   The author starts early in the morning, works till noon, takes a break, walks around the block.    Are you a morning person? Then be in your element and start designing and stitching while fresh.   Running into a snag?  Take a break, have lunch, get outside and take a walk around the block to solve those troubling problems.   If it works for a well known author, then we can also play that game.


And then there were workshops....two fun-filled days learning more about Mary Elizabeth and her techniques and her lessons in color value.

Foothills Quilt  was inspired by a late 1800's Canadian antique quilt with ever so interesting design elements and delightful quirks.   In the workshop, Mary Elizabeth emphasized the role of color and value and how sashing and borders can be a game changer.   Read more about her foothills quilt quilt-along here on her blog. 

 Saturday's  workshop was filled with Pumpkin Peels.  Oh, how fun!

It was a whirlwind trip for Mary Elizabeth, starting in Canada with stops in and around Houston and Beaumont, then over to Louisiana.....three days in Lafayette, then spending her last days in New Orleans before flying  home.   Mary Elizabeth, we so enjoyed your visit and hope to see you again.