Quilter's Bucket List: Casey York
Posted by Heather Kojan on Jul 12th 2016
Hi All! So happy to be back with another installment of Quilter's Bucket List. This time, we're featuring Casey York. I particularly wanted to interview Casey because I'm in awe of her appliqué skills and appealing patterns. It's enough to convert a non-appliquér into a believer!
Casey, thanks so much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to chat! I know you've got many projects in the works, so tell us,
What are you working on now?
The most exciting quilting news is that I’m designing a fabric line for Marcus Fabrics! It’s scheduled for release in early spring 2017, and is inspired by some of my favorite places on Earth. The process has taken me longer and been more challenging than I anticipated, but in a really good way. With the support of the wonderful folks at Marcus, I feel like I have grown as an artist, and I’m so excited to share the results with the quilting community! (If you’re curious, you can sneak a peek at some my inspiration board on Pinterest!
Photo credit Anne K. Hubbard
On a small business level, for the last six months I’ve been participating in a St. Louis business incubator for creative professionals, which includes taking business classes and working part-time in a retail space. Getting ready for the grand opening a couple months ago and coming up with new products to test in the shop have both been incredible experiences. I’d love to branch out into creating more non-DIY consumer products, and this program has given me lots of opportunities to brainstorm and test out new ideas. In the same vein, I’m preparing to launch a Kickstarter campaign later this summer to help support this new venture. I’m reading a great book, A Crowdfunder's Strategy Guide, on running a successful crowdfunding campaign—there’s a lot to learn and take into account!
These new projects sound amazing! Can't wait to see the fabric line pop up next year!
Do you have a favorite quilt you've made?
That’s easy—whichever one I’m currently designing! I tend to spend so much time in my head (or on my computer, where I do the bulk of my designing) that when I finally have a chance to sit down and sew, I get to fall in love again with the process of quilting. And then while I’m enjoying the process of stitching, I fall in love with my next big idea for a quilt to design. I feel fortunate that the process is cyclical for me and that I enjoy all of the phases in the cycle so much (aside, perhaps, from basting).
That said, I have a particular soft spot for a few quilts that I’ve made and continue to use. One is the first pieced quilt that I made, which was based on Ashley Newcomb’s Rectangle Squared tutorial from her blog, Film in the Fridge.
It’s made from my stash of Joel Dewberry fabrics (confession—I might have acquired most of this stash in order to make this quilt…) Another is the Ripples quilt from Modern Appliqué Illusions, which I started on as soon as I had signed the contract for that book. Finally, I really love Corona de Flores, the Broderie Perse quilt from The Appliqué Book—I adored the fabric I was using and my quilter, Ann McNew, did an amazing job with the quilting.
I love this quilt (and also have a small crush on Mr. Dewberry, as I like to call him!).
Do you have a favorite quilt you own (not made by you?)
I still have the baby quilt I grew up with, which I treasure (and which is appliqué, incidentally). But the most meaningful quilt that I have was given to me by my husband’s grandmother, for whom it was made by her grandmother, Josephine, in the 1800s. It’s hand-quilted and hand-pieced from shirting cottons and it needs a bit of TLC, but it’s a gift I’m truly honored to have received.
What's on your Quilter's Bucket List?
There are so many things! If I had to pick one, I’d have to go with a Dear Jane quilt. (I even have the pattern book, so maybe one day I’ll actually get around to making one!) I love the way the use of color can unify disparate fabrics in that pattern.
Anything non-quilt related on your bucket list?
I’m sure I don’t have room here to list them all! But travel has always been high on the list for me—there are so many places around the world that I would love to see, as well as places that I desperately want to visit again.
And just for fun, here's some lightning round questions about how you quilt:
Barefoot or shoes?
Barefoot.
Quiet or music/movie/tv/podcast?
Music (but no movies/tv/podcasts—I can’t follow dialogue and sew at the same time).
Salty or sweet?
Sweet.
Self taught or schooled?
Both, but primarily self-taught.
Planned or scrappy?
Planned.
Perfect or done?
Done!
Casey—so fun! Thanks again.
You can find Casey's book Modern Appliqué Illusions here and The Appliqué Book here.
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.
