There is never enough space in the printed pages of GenQ to share all that we glean from talking to our I am GenQ guests, including Tammy Gilley, who graces that column in our just-off-the-presses September- October 2013 issue. (Which BTW, just hit fabric shops and newsstands last week. If your local sources can’t hook you up, go to our website, where we list on-line sources, too!)
Now, back to Tammy. If you don’t know her, we strongly recommend you remedy that like yesterday! A dynamo with needle, floss and scrappy bits of fabric both vintage and new, Tammy’s work is a ray of sunshine peeking through the clouds of the rainy Northwest USA. (And I can say that because I live up here.)
Don’t forget to grab our September-October 2013 issue to read the full Tammy Gilley interview. Meanwhile, here are the Q & A scraps that didn’t make it into print, but were too good to just leave on the sewing room floor….
As someone who grooves on vintage fabrics, what do you think about the prints and palettes in new modern fabrics today?
So much of what is considered modern quilting is lovely and gorgeous. I love that textile and sewing are so big again. This twist the younger group is putting on things is wonderful. I love the colors, I love the patterns, I love the use of negative space (but) I can’t physically do it. I feel so compelled to fill things up with embellishment! I like to work with old fabrics. I like to rescue things that might get discarded.
But you sometimes do use new fabric. Is there a trick to combining it with vintage?
I do use new fabrics sometimes in my work when I am appliquéing pieces on another vintage piece, even though my pieces have an old feel to them. My palette used to be more pastel (kind of boring now). I work with a much brighter look now. It’s all in the palette. And I feel very comfortable in any fabric store.
You’ve been blogging for nearly eight years. what keeps it fresh?
I like the sound of my own voice (Laughs.) I drift in and out based on what is happening in my life. I like to share what I am doing. I like to hear back from people. It opens up a conversation with people who get you. People who like the same thing you do. I like being part of that community.
Your website says you love Paris. Tell us more about that.
I studied there when I was in college, and if given the option I would sell everything and live there. My mom was a Francophile, she studied French in college and drew me French flash cards and taught me French when I was young. I could hardly wait to get to France. When I got there, I came up out of the Metro and saw Paris, and I just cried. Mom read me all of the Madeline stories and the Babar stories. I liked Paris before it was “cool” to like Paris.
Why don’t you go now?
Maybe I will, when we get off the phone. (By the way, she hasn’t left yet, so maybe there’s still time to stow away in her luggage!)
You have an Etsy shop too, How do you like that?
I do it just for fun that and because I make a lot of stuff and there’s only so much room. I like to test things out there and see if they will sell. It’s fun to have a little extra cash. I like to make pretty things, and I like to share those with others. (Note: Check out Tammy’s shop here and pick up some of those pretty little things yourself.)
Where do you teach?
I love teaching, but I don’t teach as often as I would like. I used to teach at artFIBERfest with Teesha Moore, but she’s not doing that anymore. And I have taught at Fibers in Motion in Portland, Oregon, but they went out of business.
A lot of my own workshops are through my blog. And I have also some classes at Joggles from time to time as well.
What is the best present you ever received?
This crazy little necklace that my nephew made me when he was five years old. It was made out of plastic beads and buttons on nylon thread. He handed it to me crumbled up in his pudgy little hand and said in his cute little voice “this is for you, Auntie” and it was so sweet. (Long pause.) That and a Cuisinart.
How about the best present you have ever given?
My mom made a lot of our gifts when I was growing up, but we got a lot of IOUs because they would come later, after the occasion. So, one year while I was in college, I made a coupon book for my parents. I made it out of envelopes with little coupons saying things we would do together: go out to eat, go to a park, go shopping, etc. It was highly embellished of course. They loved it. My mom would often hint later on about getting another one.
What’s the oldest thing in your refrigerator?
Half a block of cheddar cheese. I know this because I went to put some on a sandwich today, and now it’s a science project. All sorts of things growing on it.
Do you have a favorite fabric designer?
Amy Butler, Kaffe Fassett, I love their use of color. I love that Kaffe’s fabrics have a sort of painterly quality to them.
Fill in the blanks:
I have too many…
Ideas.
If I’m not sewing, I’m…
Thinking about sewing, and if I am not thinking about sewing, I am doing dirt therapy in the garden or cooking something for people I love.
My secret sewing weapon is…
A sharp pair of Gingher scissors.