Guest Blogger - Pat Winter

Hello everyone!  It's the 15th of the month and that means that I have another Guest Blogger to introduce to you.  If you love Crazy Quilting, you undoubtedly already know my next guest but if you're new to crazy quilting, this charming lady and her work will be a real treat for you!

I first saw Pat's work years and years ago at Art-E-Zine.  I instantly fell in love with her breathtakingly beautiful crazy quilt pieces. Her eye for color and composition is exquisite!  Eventually, Pat started blogging and I was thrilled to be able to see her new projects on a weekly basis.  As time went on, we became blog friends.  I so much admire Pat's work as I know you will.  Please welcome, Pat Winter.

Hi! My name is Patricia Winter and I am a crazy quilt addict. I am honored to be invited as a Guest blogger by my fellow crazy quilter and sweet friend, Pam. I met Pam online several years ago on a stitching group and greatly admire her talent.

I have always been creative as a child and as an adult my creative muse has taken over my world. Twenty nine years ago I began cross stitching then a few years later I learned patchwork hand quilting from my mother in law then I discovered crazy quilting in the 80’s and in 2001, after the passing of my father I dove head first into crazy quilting and fiber art creating something weekly. I discovered online stitch groups, began submitting work to magazines to be published, joined the staff of CQMagonline, started my own website and self published my own book to share an art that I enjoy so much hoping others would try it for themselves. My website at the moment can be found here. This may be closed soon since I’ve learned I can add pages to my blog which can be found here.

I was born and reside in Chesterton Indiana near the Dunes where I take advantage of walking along the shores along Lake Michigan collecting “Mermaid tears”, (sea glass) with my mother as often as possible.
I live in a 130 year old Victorian farmhouse with my husband of soon to be 30 years and our son who is responsible for me being an online presence .Without my son, aka “Computer guru”, I would not have any interest in computers which means I would not have found all of the wonderful creative souls out there many of which have become wonderful friends. We share our home with a 13 year old long hair Chihuahua named Angell who pretty much rules the house as some of you know.

I live in a 130 year old Victorian farmhouse with my husband of soon to be 30 years and our son who is responsible for me being an online presence .Without my son, aka “Computer guru”, I would not have any interest in computers which means I would not have found all of the wonderful creative souls out there many of which have become wonderful friends. We share our home with a 13 year old long hair Chihuahua named Angell who pretty much rules the house as some of you know.

After six years of lecturing and teaching at local quilt guilds and the Chesterton Art I decided to teach from my home. Hauling class supplies and samples to each event was exhausting .Last year with the help of my husband I converted my summer kitchen off my back deck into a class room to offer lessons in crazy quilting to anyone curious to learn more about my passion.

What is a “summer kitchen? When the heat of summer descended, before the days of widespread rural electrification, many a farm’s culinary captain moved the cook stove out of the house and into a smaller single-room building called the summer kitchen. It was a wonderful purpose-built structure where the year’s canning, preserving, pickling and processing all took place on a wood-fired stove that generated enough excess heat to chase anyone out of the main house.

My 130 year old brick summer kitchen, previously used as my potting shed is slowly getting a makeover by covering the interior walls with vintage lace tablecloths as I find them at estate sales. I moved in a 1950’s pink and white iron table set found at a yard sale last year as the work area. I have included a snack area consisting of a vintage porcelain top table which I painted pink, a small refrigerator, coffee maker and microwave for class refreshments which comes in handy for the eight hour classes.

I keep class size to no more than four students so each receives one on one time which is necessary because there are so many applications used in crazy quilting. Although I do offer color coordinated kits for several classes, I don’t teach color association. I teach the piecing and embellishing process because I feel the student should use what is beautiful to them. That is a personal choice and is not my decision.
The class room is modestly stocked with my hand dyed silk ribbons and some printed images for purchase. I have a few additional supplies such as silk thread, however my mission is to teach, not sell retail.

My home is in the country yet conveniently located 3 miles from the Indiana Toll way and the Hilton, an hour from Chicago and 6 miles from I-94. There is a campground across the creek behind my home and
there are several hotels and Inns around my area making it convenient to attend two day classes. I teach from May through October. The past nine months I’ve enjoyed meeting creative women as we sew, laugh and share stories.

I have taught several beginner classes, a dye class, clutch purse class and embellishment class so far. I am currently preparing a class to construct a crazy quilt eyeglass case and learn how to adjust any pattern to attach a metal purse frame with beads. I organize classes to meet the students’ needs and in many classes, I offer customized kits so everyone is working with the colors and theme they enjoy. Although this is time consuming for me, it has been a time saver in class and enjoyed by all students. If interested in class fees or information on current or possible future classes you may email me with your inquiries and we will set up a convenient class time for you and up to three friends. My email address is angell100@comcast.net.

My personal creative space is a spare bedroom in my home. I spend a lot of time in here.

I also love gardening which is where I gain a lot of inspiration for my crazy quilting. Sitting in the garden having tea and stitching is a common activity around here.

My favorite crazy quilt projects are purses or useful everyday items. I’ve only made three large crazy quilt wall hangings. My purple quilt titled, “Life Within A Garden”, won the CQ category in the $100,000 Quilting magazine contest. It also won the blue ribbon at our local fair last year which was even more
exciting because I haven’t entered anything in a fair since my 4-H days many years ago.

The other two wall hangings were commission pieces, one I recently finished for a woman in NY.

I enjoy any CQ work however my mind is always conjuring up new ideas so I don’t want to spend all my time on one project. There are too many beautiful fabrics and embellishments to play with and explore.
Clutches are really fun to make and use. These are some of my favorites.

I use fabric images on almost everything I do. I feel they add life and you can pull your colors and theme from beautiful images. I buy copyright free image discs and download images from etsy sellers to use in my work.


Since I have collected stash for as long as I can remember I am selective when purchasing new supplies. My favorite “stash” item is vintage lace. I love to find a new use for the delicate and sometimes stained treasure which makes it all the more special to incorporate into my work.

My favorite online stash sources are:

Kreinik threads - http://www.kreinik.com
Flights of fancy - http://www.flightsoffancyboutique.com
Cartwright sequins - http:// www.ccartwright.com
Etsy and Artfire


My favorite brick & mortar shops are:

Threads- House of stitches http://www.houseofstitches.com
Fabrics- Vogue Fabrics http://www.myvoguefabrics.com
Everything under the sun! Tisha’s Needlework Studio 3979 N Oak St. Metamora, MI 48455-9769

I recently enjoyed my first visit to Tisha’s and was thrilled at my discovery. Aside from crazy quilting, Tisha is an amazing Brazilian needle artist and such a generous and warm hearted woman.

I recently won first place in the crazy quilting category for a heart ornament in the July issue of Piecework’s magazine.

That was truly a surprise and honor because the work I see in Piecework magazine is such high quality unique projects.

Publications featuring my work are:

July 2010 Piecework: Purple Heart Ornament
Autumn 2009 Haute Handbags: Felted swing purse
Autumn 2009 Somerset Home: Crazy quilted night lights
Summer 2009 Art Quilting Studio: Pink Artists donation squares
Summer 2009 Sew Somerset: Crazy Quilt Bangle Bracelets
Spring 2009 Haute Handbags: Fairy pouches
Winter 2009 Sew Somerset: Mermaid’s Tale fiber book
July/Aug 2008 Belle Armoire: Oriental Tote
May/June 2008 Belle Armoire: Flapper purse & Sea Whispers purse
Jan/Feb 2008 Belle Armoire: Autumn Gypsy purse
Issue #4 2006 $100,000 Quilting Challenge: winning quilt
Best Quilts 2006: winning quilt
Summer 2004 Quilting Arts: Fabric book
CQMagonline 2003 to 2009: various articles and interviews


Online published work:

http://www.art-e-aine.co.uk/patdoll.html
http://www.art-e-zine.co.uk/pwinter
http://www.art-e-zine.co.uk/pwpurse.html

Thank you for the opportunity to share my life and work with you.


I hope you've all enjoyed this wonderful visit with Pat Winter.  Please hop over to her blog and pay her a visit.  In fact, I have a lovely incentive for you to do so!!!  Pat was kind enough to work up a gorgeous brooch for a drawing:

To enter, please let a comment to this post here on my blog.  Then hop over to Pat's blog and leave a comment on her most recent post telling her that you came from Kitty & Me.  All names will be put in a basket and my husband will draw the winner on Tuesday.  The winner will be announced here on my blog Tuesday night at 8:00 pm Central Standard Time.