Pat Paquette is an inspiration for our quilting guild. She brings extreme enthusiasm, extreme talent, extreme energy to our group! As a mother of five and grandmother of one, Pat manages to accomplish a great deal of quilting. She challenges herself ALL the time. I don’t remember a guild meeting where she did not have her hands working on a project while the meeting was going. It is always fun to find out what she will bring to “show and tell.” Her latest addiction is hexagons!!!!! We will be lucky recipients at the next meeting where Pat will demonstrate “how to” do those pesky six sided figures! I hope you enjoy reading about her quilting life…. so go brew a cup of java and read on….I PROMISE you will be inspired!!!!
My Grandma Campbell sewed all her clothes, quilted and crocheted. Of course the women of her generation and socio-economic status did those things out of necessity rather than hobby. When I was in college I visited her a few times to have her teach me to crochet, but in the early 80's, quilting wasn't the 'thing to do'. Around the mid 1990's I started collecting fabric, thinking I'd start quilting 'someday'. I think I made my first quilt around 1997. Grandma had passed on by then, and although I don't have her physical influence I still like to feel this connection to her when I'm working. I recently acquired a couple of pictures of her from the 1960's sitting at her sewing machine that I've framed and they sit at my sewing table with me. I wonder what she would think of the fabrics and notions that are available now!
I've been married for almost 30 years to Mike. We have five children - Adrienne 27, AnneMarie 24, Dominique 24, Joe 19 and Gracie 11. Adrienne and her husband are parents to our first granddaughter, Penelope who is seven months old.
Have you taught quilting to any of your children?
The twins each made a quilt - about 30"x30" when they were in middle school, all hand pieced and quilted. Anne Marie now enjoys sewing, repurposing garments, some quilting and enjoys all kinds of projects. Adrienne enjoys cross-stitch. Gracie has been making clothes for her dolls and toys.
Do u have a favorite quilt that you have made? Why do you love it?
Oh gosh. I don't think I have a favorite. Each quilt has its own purpose and there are feelings attached to each one... For example, the big Civil War quilt I finished last year really does not do much for me. I'm kind of 'over' that genre of fabric. I made it for my husband and he loves it SO much and appreciates it SO much it makes all that work worthwhile!
What excites you about quilting? What frustrates you?
I love making productive use of my time. I love that this is a hobby and creative outlet that I can share with my friends and also still hang out with my husband while I'm doing it.
I do go through periods where there is no creative drop anywhere to be found. That can be frustrating. Last year Dominique was moving to Connecticut and at the time I was participating in the local quilt shop's challenge which was something I had never done before. It required me to generate an idea and produce it with no pattern. Both of those events paralyzed me. I sat at my sewing table just staring at the wall for a good month at least. I was sharing this 'creative constipation' with my mom and she told me that when she gets into those slumps it is best to not even try to do anything, because the result is not going to be favorable. That actually helped give my negative productivity some validation, and even though I still could not do anything, I was less angry with myself. I knew that 'whatever it was' just needed to pass.
(and these are the creations out of the slump!)
What time of day are you most creative with quilting?
It varies. There are mornings that I can't wait to get down to my studio and get to work. Other times I have to make myself stop at 1am and go to bed!
Why did you want to join the Fredericksburg Modern Quilt guild?
A few things had happened right before the FxMQG's first meeting: Mike had made me a dedicated sewing table for my Bernina - dedicated space! What a concept! Then the Crazy Cousin had just opened up and I was SO excited to have a new quilt shop in the area!!! There weren't any classes that intrigued me, but then I saw the blurb about this guild and that just seemed more what I was needing.
You frequently participate in “block of the month” challenges. Does this keep your creative mojo flowing? What stimulates your creative spirit?
I signed up for quite a few BOMs a year ago. The purpose of each BOM was to teach me a new technique: paper piecing, quilting negative space, wool applique and decorative hand stitching and 'quilt as you go'. I've kept up with downloading all the lessons and the fabric is set aside for each one. They are on my list of things to complete this year!
Having these ongoing projects are kind of like 'staples' for me. Then there are the 'squirrels' - the things that distract me from the ongoing projects. Even though the squirrels take time away from the staples, they kind of cleanse my palate and help me get back to what it is I'm 'supposed' to be working on! (I just hope I finish more staples that squirrels this year!)
We know you have started your own blogspot (please write it out for me). Can you share with us a few of your favorite blogspots and/or websites relating to quilting? Do you have a favorite quilt book?
At our first FxMQG meeting there was all this chatter about blogs, and I had actually at that time not really looked at a quilting blog - at least not on purpose! I had a quite a bit of motivation at that time, to really produce something with my new dedicated sewing space and decided to document that progress by joining the blog world too. I got a little guidance from a good friend who blogged for a living and voila! Pat's Grain of Salt was born! It has my quilts and sometimes my quilting process on it, my ventures into Snead Farm's CSA and anything else that happens to come up in my life. I also have a Flickr page, which was encouraged by some of the BOM authors as a way for people to share their progress.
These are a few of my favorite blogs - the ones I actually stop and read instead of flipping by them when they show up on my feed:
My favorite website by far is Craftsy. I especially recommend Leah Day for free motion quilting and Amy Gibson for anything she is doing!
I've been purging my library - only to buy more books. My most recent purchases:
Modern Patchwork - Elizabeth Hartman
The Practical Guide to Patchwork (new basics for the modern quiltmaker) - Elizabeth Hartman
Sunday Morning Quilts - Amanda Jean Nyberg and Cheryl Arkison
What colors do you tend to gravitate to when picking out your fabric?
I love purples and greens. Pinks. Blues. I am always drawn to 'I Spy' fabrics too and I wish I'd stop because I have so many!!!!
If you had to pick one word to describe your quilting what would it be?
I can't pick one word, so I put it to the peanut gallery:
My husband said 'awesome!' What a guy!
Anne Marie said 'quilty'.
Gracie said 'furry' - because the cats are always sitting on my quilts!
We know you work as a speech therapist in the public school system and you love to hang your quilts in your office. Has that influenced any student to want to learn to quilt? How do you think we can influence the younger generation to become interested in quilting?
I work with kindergarten through second grade, mostly boys, so no, I don't think I will have any influence on any of them to learn to quilt - although you never know! The funny thing though, is nine out of ten alphabet charts have Q=Quilt and no one knows what a quilt is! Same with Th=thimble and N=Needle. So my little guys all know those vocabulary words!!!
I think I have influenced some staff members to take up quilting though - or to get back into it!
If you could have lunch with anyone in history alive or dead who would it be and why?
Oh gosh - Carol Burnett? Erma Bombeck? Tina Fey? Kristin Wiig? I just want to laugh with them until our sides hurt and we couldn't eat our lunch. And I'd really want to be just as witty and make them laugh too... So they'd want to have lunch with me again…
by Pat O'Brien
