I absolutely love (virtually) meeting new designer friends! This week I had the pleasure of chatting with Lisa Alley from Bear Hug Quiltworks, a quilt pattern designer extraordinaire, with a background in Civil Engineering. You can bet her quilt math is spot on! Lisa shared she once worked as a Bernina Tech and did a stint as a fabric rep. Plus she currently long-arm quilts for customers. It’s safe to say she has done it all in the quilting world, as you’ll read below. Here’s a bit from our conversation:
Q: How long have you been designing patterns?
A: I’ve been “seriously” designing patterns for about 14 years. I mostly design quilts, although I recently designed a table runner that Hoffman has kitted. That was fun and it has me thinking about other small projects. But my favorite will probably always be designing quilts.
Q: What got you started as a pattern designer?
A: I was making samples for our local quilt shop and started making up patterns for fabrics that were hanging out in the shop a little too long. They had some Hoffman Bali tiles that everyone thought were beautiful but they didn’t know what to make with them. So, I made up a pattern using them and a bunch of batiks. Their Hoffman fabric rep, Kim Denault, took a photo of the quilt hanging in the shop and sent it to Hoffman, and everything took off from there.
Q: What’s your favorite thing to sew?
A: I actually like simple, repetitive blocks but changing up the color and fabric combinations. I love seeing how different colors and scales change the look of a block. I don’t really have a particular style; I’d say, “I’m inclusive,” since I like it all!
Q: Do you teach classes? If so, a lot? and what do you teach/lecture on? Do you have a most popular class?
A: I teach occasionally at our local shop and for guilds. It’s not my favorite thing to do because I’m fairly introverted, but once I’m there, I really enjoy the people in the class and seeing their progress. The class I’ve taught the most is my Brickyard pattern. Most students finish the quilt top in a day class if they come to class with the strips already cut. It’s fun to see the different color combinations.
I do love to do programs for guilds. I have a few I do locally:
- “What a Judge Sees” where I walk them through the judging process and what the judge is looking for and why
- “History of Quilting in North Carolina” which is based on the NC Museum of History’s book plus a little more information I’ve found
- “Calming the Chaos” based off a friend’s intervention of my messy studio and what we did to organize the space
- And of course, trunk shows, my favorite!
Q: Feel free to gush about the quality of Hoffman’s Batiks 🙂
A: Hands down the best batiks! I love the feel of them and the color saturation. So yummy! (I have to agree!)
I also chatted with Lisa about her work style. With a Quilt Studio behind the house, and a self-sufficient husband (her words), she puts in more than an eight-hour day, seven-days a week. Clearly, she loves what she does, and I can attest she’s good at it! However, she did say that “Sometimes it’s hard to come up with a new idea.” But with eighteen (yes I counted) new patterns in the current Hoffman project book, I’m not sure I believe her!
You can purchase Lisa’s Bear Hug Quiltworks patterns through her website, at bearhugquiltworks.com/patterns. Shops can also purchase through Checker Distributors.
Look for more from Lisa in the future! I know I’m looking forward to it.
Until next time,
Karen