My first time in the studio of an award-winning modern quilter

by Nicole

Last week, I traveled to California to visit a friend. While I was there I contacted Sherri Lynn Wood from Daintytime to see if I could stop by her studio and hang out for a bit. Would you believe she said, “Yes!”?

Since the workshop I took with her a couple of years ago, our paths have crossed every now and then and I’ve continued to be a big fan of her work.

Related: Getting My Curve On

So, when she said “Yes, come on over”, I wasted no time in finding my way to her studio! Now, how gracious was she to let me interrupt her day and just pop on over?

When I walked into the studio, I gasped when I saw this strikingly beautiful work of art on the wall. Just look at the colors! And those little circles are mirrors!

Sherri_Lynn_Wood_Quilt

On her design wall was a quilt made from leftovers of pieces she made while demonstrating techniques in her workshops. Would you believe these are all orphan blocks? I am in awe of how she managed to put them all together and have a cohesive look.

Sherri_Lynn_Wood_Quilt2

Related: Top 10 Ways to Use Orphan Blocks

The fabric peeking out from underneath the quilt was a yellow and blue work in progress made using her floating squares technique that she talks about in her book: The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters.

Here’s a close up of the quilt.

Sherri_Lynn_Wood_Quilt2_Detail

Sherri quilts nearly all of her quilts by hand. We talked a bit about how hand quilting is less common than machine quilting these days, but that back in the day, it used to be the other way around.

Sherri uses Perle cotton for her hand quilting. Here is one of the variegated Perle cottons that she uses.

Sherri_Lynn_Wood_Threads2

She has quite a nice collection of Perle cottons and threads.

Sherri_Lynn_Wood_Threads

Lest you think that Sherri only does quilting, take a look at one of her “Tattoo Babies.” She asked tattoo artists to draw on the cloth dolls and then filled in their drawings with embroidery. She has sold most of the dolls, but has kept a few.

Sherri_Lynn_Wood_Tattoo_Doll

The detail and color is amazing!

Sherri_Lynn_Wood_Tattoo_Doll2

She has big plans for starting an artist residency soon, where she’ll be making quilts and other artwork. I look forward to seeing what she’ll create next.

If you want to learn more about Sherri, check out this feature that Sew Mama Sew did on her last year.

Hanging out with Sherri was an unexpected highlight of my trip. She is a very impressive and accomplished artist and I’m honored to have spent a bit of my day with her.

Sherri_Lynn_Wood_Nicole_Neblett

If you ever have a chance to take a workshop with her, do it! I’m betting you won’t regret it.

Nicole Neblett signoff Modern Quilting blog

 

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16 comments

Lucy @ charmaboutyou March 14, 2016 - 1:21 pm

How fun! Her work is amazing! Thanks for showing us 🙂

Nicole March 14, 2016 - 10:04 pm

My pleasure, Lucy! It was a treat for me!

Rosemary Bolton March 14, 2016 - 2:00 pm

I love those quilts, They are incredible, colorful and really happy.
You had a great visit, I am so glad you could do that.
The doll…. kind of freaks me out, but I could maybe get used to this… not sure 😀 🙂

Nicole March 14, 2016 - 10:05 pm

Hi Rosemary, yes it was a great visit! The dolls certainly are eye-catching!

SarahZ March 14, 2016 - 3:32 pm

How fun, and for both of you, I’m sure! I love the last pic of you two, and got a chuckle from how well you matched 🙂

Nicole March 14, 2016 - 10:06 pm

Totally unplanned, Sarah! You know what they say about great minds…

Meredithe March 14, 2016 - 4:43 pm

What a fun day! Great quilts and I’m drooling over all those luscious threads.

Nicole March 14, 2016 - 10:06 pm

It was an awesome day! And yes, the thread collection is something to behold!

Kathleen March 14, 2016 - 9:02 pm

Such beautiful hand quilting!

Nicole March 14, 2016 - 10:07 pm

Isn’t it? I want to hand quilt like that some day…

Paige March 14, 2016 - 10:27 pm

Oh my goodness, how exciting! I was a test quilter for the floating squares score and loved watching her video of how she approaches improv. I need to return to her book to explore another score.

Nicole March 14, 2016 - 10:39 pm

It was very exciting, Paige! Her book is a great resource that I turn to time and again!

Lynn March 15, 2016 - 6:58 pm

Lucky you! So much gorgeous eye candy all in one place…I wouldn’t know what to swoon over first! How nice you had a chance to visit her there.

Nicole March 17, 2016 - 10:28 pm

Indeed! It was a wonderful treat!

Kathy March 19, 2016 - 9:59 pm

But YOU are an award winning quilter! But what a lovely opportunity to talk quilting!

Nicole March 19, 2016 - 11:29 pm

Right! So I am! I forgot about that. Yes, it was a lovely opportunity indeed!

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