Michele Scott wins friends and influences quilters in classes across the United States and Canada with her positive, upbeat style. She is passionate about quilting and designing and has an incredible eye for color. Michele recently took a few minutes out of her busy schedule (she’s also a school teacher!) to answer a few questions:
What are your favorite things about quilting?
Michele: Answering that question is crazy. There are so many times during the process when I say, “I hate this!” (choosing fabrics, basting, piecing the back, ripping out my mistakes, constant breaking of threads that should NOT be breaking!) Sometimes I say to myself, why am I doing this? The answer is simple. I love the results. I love when all the colors and threads come together and I created it! Me! And all the mistakes that I thought were horrible blend right in. Actually, I can’t even find those mistakes, they must have been all in my head.
Fabric designing has to be one of my most favorite things in the world!!! I love being out on the road and meeting all of the quilters because we really are a tremendous group of people, but fabric design is done at home on the couch! I’ll spend a weekend in my jammies, sitting next to Sweetie while he watches hours upon hours of football or golf (depending on the season). He’ll help spot tracking in my repeats or suggest a design tweak or two. He’ll feed me and do the laundry. If it’s a successful ten hours of working, we’ll have cocktails by our fire pit to celebrate. How is that not the definition of heaven?
What do you find most frustrating about quilting?
Michele: I have to say that in every aspect of the quiltmaking process, there is a frustrating element. See above. But that’s a metaphor for life, isn’t it? There are things that frustrate us, but in the end we learn and overcome these frustrations. Everything we struggle through makes us better in the long run. We gain wisdom from what we’ve learned along the way.
Do you ever get really frustrated with your bobbin?
Michele, laughing: I just addressed this at a lecture this week. After going through all of the necessary steps: turning the machine on and off (it’s like a computer reset), rethreading the machine, trying another bobbin, you have only one recourse: walk away! Take some time to regroup. You know how animals sense fear? So does your sewing machine. It just knows when you’re getting more and more frustrated and acts up even more. Additionally, that time can give you some clarity to what the problem may be. Do some laundry, answer some e-mails, bind a quilt. More often than not, the problem will correct itself. And if it doesn’t? Ditch the thread. Life is too short.
Please share some wisdom from what you’ve learned along the way.
Michele: The best thing I learned from my years of travel and working in the business? Be generous. Be generous with everything: your time with people, your kind words, your patience, and your “stuff.” I’ve never lost anything by giving these things away. It has only added to my life. I believe all of my generosity comes right back to me, because my heart is full.
Also, weed the garden every once in awhile. You don’t need to waste time with people who don’t cherish you as a friend but more like an accessory. Create a garden with only beautiful flowers who bring you joy.
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