Michelle Suzanne Artworks

View Original

It All Began With An App And A Passion

As my “About” blurb indicates, I have been in love with fabric ever since I can remember. All of the different colors and patterns in the scrappy quilts made by grandmother were fascinated me. Unsurprisingly, I eventually became a quilter myself. My favorite part of the process is choosing the fabrics for quilt. Each fabric piece is an individual work of art. For me, the quilt is simply a framework for displaying them. I always hope I will do the fabrics justice.

A quilt I made for my granddaughter

I was never very good at drawing when I was younger - back in the day when pencils and paper were the only option. Here is where too much perfectionism can get in the way of learning. Mistakes necessitated erasing, and erasing slowly damaged the paper. Young me could not stand erasing more than three times before she declared the paper ruined. As we all know, learning anything new, requires that we give ourselves permission to be imperfect and messy, but I could not do that. (Honestly, I don’t know if I could tolerate a paper erased many times now. Yes, I know it’s weird.)

But apps like Procreate allow me to erase as many times as I need to while the “canvas” remains perfect. Finally, I am to learning to draw and design the fabric patterns I have had in my head for so long.

I have so enjoyed placing my fabric designs in my POD shops, and seeing the mock-ups on the products. I have even made a couple of sales. That first yard of fabric ordered from my Spoonflower shop is the best $2.23 I have ever earned. I kid you not.

My ultimate goal? To see my designs on fabric in a quilt store. I have no idea if I will be able to make that happen, but I’m going to have fun trying.


For my fellow artists, what are your ultimate objectives?