Permission to Play

Today we are thrilled to have Aurifil Artisan Shannon Orr on the AURIbuzz blog! She is going to share a little about herself, her creative journey, and most importantly why she is a maker! The floor is yours Shannon. 🙂

As a life-long maker, a doodler and fabric lover I regularly sew, paint and draw both for pleasure and for work with Moda fabrics. You can see more of my creative world at Eva Blake’s Makery as well. There are some fantastic materials to work with and the materials themselves help generate new ideas. All of these new ideas can be pretty overwhelming to a creative. So many ideas, so little time!

Shannon at Spring Quilt Market

Tuppence fabric for Moda Fabrics

Maybe you’ve asked yourself, “Why do I make?” I know I have. Especially when the deadlines overweigh the fun spontaniety of creating.

Why do any of us make? Who cares if I sew, draw, glue, or build anything. It’s all temporary, it’s all decorative, and really none of it matters long term…

Or does it?

I concluded after a lot of pondering and talking out loud to myself that yes, it does matter. IT MATTERS! MAKING MATTERS because I matter. What I MAKE MATTERS. It fills me up, it adds beauty to my home, the people I share it with, and the world always needs more awesomely beautiful and joyful things.  Plus often while in the process of creating something new I surprise myself. New ideas work themselves out. Tinkering and experimenting works! That crazy left field idea to put this color with that one is gorgeous and deep. The combination of materials and methods leads to rule bending. I’m sure a lot of makers feel this way too.

Let’s bend rules. Creativity does that, because it matters. Maybe you feel the same?

All of this philosophical self-talk ultimate led me to make a quilt.It also gave me an excuse to play with all different weights of Aurifil thread. Generally I piece with 50 wt in a neutral color. I also have a good color assortment of Aurifloss for embroidery, but had never ventured into the finer weights of 80 or the fuzz of wool. All of which were just as smooth as expected from Aurifil.

With this Making Matters wall hanging I tried out all the things. Embroidery here and there, a little fuzzy wool. I even ventured out into some free motion quilting by in drawing leaves and stems along the edges.It is a motto that now hangs in my studio. The lettering and florals are all appliquéd and have a variety of embellishments with Aurifil thread. Although, it is bound and “finished” it will continue to have new elements added to it over time when inspiration strikes.I am so excited to offer this up as a pattern and cannot wait to see how different inspiration and interpretations strike each maker. What applique fabrics will you use? What colors, embellishments, and details will tell your story? Enjoy the Making Matters pattern!

You can following my continual creative mess on Instagram @evabmakery  Happy Making!

ABOUT Shannon
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Shannon is an artist, quilt pattern creator, author and fabric designer with Moda Fabrics. She is the creator of Eva Blake’s Makery and a firm believer in youthful quilters as defined by both age and enthusiasm. She shares her love of sewing through her first book Choose Joy: Quilting with Intention. She currently lives in the East Bay of San Francisco.