A journey of creativity, self-belief and love has mapped out a path from one continent to another for Cassandra Ellis, piecing together and adding new sections has been the making of her – literally. Sophie Harper talks to the designer to find out about her world of quilts and love for design.
New Zealand-born quilter Cassandra Ellis has been styling beautiful chic English homes with her own wares, soft furnishings, and overall good taste for the past decade. Luckily for us her love affair for the UK, in one way or other, began some time ago and appears (so far) not to have waned. And now she’s settled, it looks as though she’s here to stay – thank heavens for prayers answered by the style gods, eh?!
Naturally creative, Cassandra says she was drawing and making from a young age, and with help from her mother, learned to sew, and later on design and piece her own quilts. Already having spent some years in the UK, Cassandra moved back to New Zealand in her twenties and opened a store selling products designed and made by her and her team. Mainly consisting of furniture, small homewares and textile goods, Cassandra decided she wanted to add handmade quilts to their stock, but didn’t know how they were made. “My mother has made some incredible quilts,” she says, “so I simply asked her to show me how they were constructed. From there I designed one that represented my look, pieced it, had it quilted, and it sold the next day!”
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة April 2017 من Popular Patchwork.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة April 2017 من Popular Patchwork.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Handy Hints For Project Success
If you are new to Popular Patchwork or sewing in general, following a pattern can be confusing. We want you to enjoy making the projects in the magazine, so to help you here are some questions we regularly get asked.
Block Of The Month - Point Squares
Block Of The Month - Point Squares
Novel Stitching
This spring, Jane Austen’s House Museum will unveil a very special quilt to commemorate Jane Austin’s life at Chawton in an exhibition entitled: Piecing Together Jane Austen. Elizabeth Betts describes a year in the making.
Wedding Quilts
Diana Woolf takes a fascinating look at the history of quilt making and the designs traditionally associated with weddings.
Handy Hints For Project Success
If you are new to Popular Patchwork or sewing in general, following a pattern can be confusing. We want you to enjoy making the projects in the magazine, so to help you here are some questions we regularly get asked.
Patchwork Of My Life Ruth Singer
Ruth Singer left a much-loved job in museum curating to follow her heart and has since become known for her amazing talents in stitching and fabric manipulation. Her recent projects have ranged from being an artist in residence and honorary fellow at Leicester University Department of Genetics to extending her Criminal Quilts project, which was originally commissioned for the Shire Hall Gallery in Staffordshire. Here we find out more about this versatile and scholarly artist.
Ruaab - A Producer Company Of Women
How a group of women in India have taken their hand sewing skills into the international marketplace.
Abigail Booth of Forest + Found
Louisa Goult talks to quilter and textile artist Abigail Booth, half of the crafts partnership Forest + Found.
Down By The Riverside Competition
Back in May we launched a group design competition, in partnership with Lewis and Irene. Each group who entered was given a 10m length of the stunning ‘Down by the Riverside’ border print and the brief was to design a quilt to incorporate it. The entries were a varied and gorgeous mix of designs and choosing the winning quilts was a challenge. However, judging by the overwhelming response from visitors to the Popular Patchwork stand at The Festival of Quilts, we are confident in our final choice. Here we talk to the finalists about their experience of working as a group for this design challenge.
Stuart's Surgery
Each month Stuart Hillard answers your quilty questions!