Quilter's Bucket List: Victoria Findlay Wolfe
Posted by Heather Kojan on Aug 4th 2016
I'm so pleased to bring you our next interview with Victoria Findlay Wolfe!
I've had the pleasure of meeting Victoria several times, mainly through our connection with The Quilt Alliance . You may know her best through her blog and book 15 Minutes of Play—Improvisational Quilts and her book Double Wedding Ring Quilts—Traditions Made Modern. Victoria is a prolific quilter (read more about her process here), world traveler, teacher, author and just a super nice gal!
What are you working on now?
I’m finishing up my next book! I can’t wait tell you what it is! Coming out next year…
Do you have a favorite quilt you've made?
If you were going to twist my arm really hard and force me to pick one, I have this one red/green quilt that I made in a weekend… it has my 15 Minutes of Play “made fabric” in it, made up entirely of shirts purchased the same weekend I made it. It’s only partially quilted (been like that for at least four years… every time I see it, I think, that quilt is just right). It ranks up there with my Lace quilt which is in my Double Wedding Rings—Traditions Made Modern book… it has kind of the same feel to me, even though the stories are so completely opposite of each other… they actually have not a thing in common, but somehow in my heart they do.
They are all my favorites when I’m working on them. Once I work out what they are going to look like, I lose interest and start making another… it’s the journey of making that I enjoy most… I love the stories that emerge during and after I’ve made a quilt. I love how one quilt often inspires my next one… I have one I’m making now that I think is pretty special…. it’s… oh wait, I can’t tell you yet… it’s in the next book. (Don’t you hate that? Hehe.)
Do you have a favorite quilt you own (not made by you?)
I have a small portrait quilt of Salvador Dalí made by Sheri Culver that I won in a quilt auction at Houston. Every day I see it and think, that is the coolest thing ever… mostly because of all the stories I can connect to the artist and myself. I’ve been to his house in Portlligat, and his museum in Figueres, Spain, which was on a family trip, a highlight for all of us. We have very fond memories of being in Cadaqués, Spain. I could have stayed forever. Just a jewel of a place, hidden away.
What's on your Quilter's Bucket List?
If you are looking for a type of quilt? Nothing really. Whatever floats my boat on any particular day… What I do want to do is to get all my quilts cataloged, to see what the actual number is of quilts I’ve made… I’ve actually started that process, photographing and documenting every quilt that I own, have given away, sold, donated, etc. It will take me a while. I’ve made a lot of quilts since 2008.
Maybe moving to Cadaqués, Spain, should be on my bucket list… (hmmmmmm, ponder, ponder, tapping the side of my head…)
Speaking of other places, I have two states left that I have not been too: Alaska and Idaho! Perhaps I need to go teach there… anyone? Anyone?
Your catalog sounds like a wonderful (and major!) undertaking. What a fascinating journey it must be!
Anything non-quilt related on your bucket list?
I just went to Antarctica, to see penguins and whales… now I want to go to Churchill to see the polar bears, and beluga whales.
And just for fun, here's some lightning round questions about how you quilt:
Barefoot or shoes?
Barefoot, constantly. As soon as I get into the studio or to a class, my shoes come off.
Quiet or music/movie/tv/podcast?
All of the above.
Salty or sweet?
Both simultaneously, I can’t eat chocolate without eating chips afterwards.
Self taught or schooled?
Self taught.
Planned or scrappy?
Scrappy.
Perfect or done?
Perfect, to the best of my abilities
Victoria, thanks so much! It's been a pleasure!
Heather Kojan is a quilt teacher, lecturer, and author living in Baltimore, MD. She's the founder of the Baltimore Modern Quilt Guild and a contributing author to Classic Modern Quilts. You can read more about her quilting life on her blog www.heatherkojan.com.
