This month's interview was with Taylor Darby. Enjoy!
~Angelica
Hello, my name is Taylor and I have been sewing since my grandma taught me when I was eight years old. She taught me to crochet and knit as well. For most of my sewing career I have focused on making clothing and tailoring for my family and friends. Then six years ago I attempted starting a baby clothing company, but a year later I became a mother and things started to fall apart for the company. I drastically underestimated how much time a child would consume. When we decided to have a second child I completely gave up the idea of the baby clothing company and returned to sewing occasionally.
~Angelica
Hello, my name is Taylor and I have been sewing since my grandma taught me when I was eight years old. She taught me to crochet and knit as well. For most of my sewing career I have focused on making clothing and tailoring for my family and friends. Then six years ago I attempted starting a baby clothing company, but a year later I became a mother and things started to fall apart for the company. I drastically underestimated how much time a child would consume. When we decided to have a second child I completely gave up the idea of the baby clothing company and returned to sewing occasionally.
On the glaringly bright
side of things I have two daughters, Alanice and Danica, with my wonderful
husband, Colt.
My other hobbies are soccer, painting, traveling, and raising my babies. In the fall I start grad school at CSUSM in pursuit of a Masters degree in Biological Sciences. I have a humble little sewing room in our humble little house and I pack it with as much sewing paraphernalia as I possibly can. I have my industrial sewing machine on wheels so I can store it in the corner then pull it out when I use it. I also save space by using a folding dining table as a work area.
It’s a 7.5 foot long table, but it folds into thirds so I can customize how much work space I need depending on the project (2.5 ft, 5 ft, or 7.5 ft long area). I need to be smart about my space because I recently had a blossoming seamstress invade my sewing room (she’s sewing next to me as I write this).
We live in Winchester, CA
with our two dogs, Kimber and Blue.
My other hobbies are soccer, painting, traveling, and raising my babies. In the fall I start grad school at CSUSM in pursuit of a Masters degree in Biological Sciences. I have a humble little sewing room in our humble little house and I pack it with as much sewing paraphernalia as I possibly can. I have my industrial sewing machine on wheels so I can store it in the corner then pull it out when I use it. I also save space by using a folding dining table as a work area.
It’s a 7.5 foot long table, but it folds into thirds so I can customize how much work space I need depending on the project (2.5 ft, 5 ft, or 7.5 ft long area). I need to be smart about my space because I recently had a blossoming seamstress invade my sewing room (she’s sewing next to me as I write this).
For my daughter’s fifth
birthday in May 2017 I got her her first sewing machine. Naturally, I had to
set up a little mini station for her in my sewing room. It’s amazing how quickly she learns. She wants to be sewing with me every time I’m
in my sewing room. I love it, but,
although she gets a lot done, I don’t get much done at all.
I have always considered
myself an artist and I enjoy almost every way of expressing myself including
through my sewing. At one point I wanted
to be a fashion designer, but I wasn’t interested in the sales and competition
aspects of being a designer. I decided
to create custom clothing more as a hobby than a source of income. I hadn’t discovered quilting as media of
artistic expression until January 2016.
A friend invited me to the Road to California convention in Ontario, CA
and I loved it so much we decided to go to QuiltCon 2016. I absolutely fell in love. I really connected with all of the quilts I
saw and I appreciated the unique way each one touched me. At that convention I went to a Victoria
Findlay Wolfe lecture and instantly became a fan girl. I love Victoria more because of her
contribution to the modern quilting arena rather than her quilts themselves. She is so motivational and supportive of
genuine, individual expression.
Each corner I turned at
that convention I was learning something new, and my mind was exploding with
ideas and possibilities. I felt so
robbed of all of the years I could have been quilting but didn’t because I had
written it off. As a young girl quilting
wasn’t cool, and it had a reputation for being a hobby meant for an older
demographic. That convention proved my
preconceptions completely wrong and opened my eyes to the possibilities of
quilting I had never taken the time to learn about. When I saw the signup booth to join the
Modern Quilt Guild in Temecula I didn’t hesitate at all.
Today I have finished
one quilt since joining the TVMQG. It turned out okay, but it definitely needed
rescuing at one point. Using a long arm
is definitely harder than it looks. I
attempted zigzags because I didn’t know any better. What a mess! To rescue it I used my DHM to
sew straight lines across the entire quilt and freehand little monsters peeking
over the straight lines (check out the pictures, I think they turned out kind
of cute).
Besides a quilted bag I made, the rest of my quilts are in progress. I’ve learned I am a multiple project kind of quilter. I’m hoping to have my second quilt done by July 15th so I can enter it into my first quilt show in San Diego.
This is just the beginning of my quilting career. I’m hooked and I have a feeling I will be hooked for the rest of my life. Thank you, TVMQG, for helping me through the beginnings of my journey.
Besides a quilted bag I made, the rest of my quilts are in progress. I’ve learned I am a multiple project kind of quilter. I’m hoping to have my second quilt done by July 15th so I can enter it into my first quilt show in San Diego.
This is just the beginning of my quilting career. I’m hooked and I have a feeling I will be hooked for the rest of my life. Thank you, TVMQG, for helping me through the beginnings of my journey.
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