I'm Carol Ethier, owner of Village Quilts and The Village Bag Lady
How did you come up with your shop name?
When I first opened Village
Quilts in 2013, I lived in a small town. I wanted my shop to reflect the
values and homey comforts of that type of environment. When I opened The
Village Bag Lady in 2016, I wanted a visible link between the 2 shops.
Where do you live?
When did you start making quilts? Or, when did you become interested in
quilt-related items (fabric, patterns, etc)?
I started sewing when I was
in Grade 8. My mother was a very talented seamstress, and my grandmother
loved to quilt. I received my own sewing machine as a graduation gift
from high school, and I have never looked back. Although I have taken
many sewing courses, including tailoring in University, I am a self-taught
quilter, and have quilted for over 20 years.
When I started quilting, my first couple projects were wall hangings--very traditional styles. Then, my grandmother developed Alzheimer's disease, and I made her a quilted patchwork throw with all her grandchildren's names stitched in the blocks. When she passed away, the quilt was buried with her.
What inspires you?
While my first quilting projects were quite traditional, I now find myself inspired by colour and abstract designs. Quite a change, but I think I can express my originality more with these modern quilts.
Do you have any other hobbies? Pets? A garden, kids, or volunteer activities?
I also enjoy to do counted cross stitch; in fact, I have done that
for much longer than quilting. But I am not ashamed to say that my
passion for quilting has left little time for that anymore. I still have
many cross stitch projects planned, including an East Coast street scape which
I designed after a visit to Nova Scotia. My husband and I, both recently
retired, enjoy biking on the many trails in our area, and taking mini trips on
his Harley Davidson motorcycle. Our little dog, Lord Stanley, keeps us on
our toes.
Do you do any charity sewing?
Not at this time
Running an Etsy shop means you wear many hats in one day. How do Etsy activities impact your other life activities, such as work, family, other activities?
Until recently, I worked full time in a doctor's
office. When we retired and moved to Peterborough, we had the basement of
our new home finished so that I could have a large sewing studio. While
my passion for quilting began as a hobby, I now try to focus 4-6 hours a day on
sewing in my hopes to develop 2 successful Etsy shops.
How do you plan your projects?
I very rarely use patterns. Most
of my projects are inspired by the fabrics themselves, pictures I see, and
holidays we all celebrate. I admit that I don't sleep well, and find
myself doing most of my planning when I wake up during the night lol!
Then in the morning, I rush to write down my ideas so that they aren't forgotten.
Shops:
Facebook: Village Quilts, Designed by Carol
Facebook: The Village Bag Lady
We have a lot in common, Carol. Self taught quilters, counted cross stitchers, design most of our quilts without patterns. Loved reading your story.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your great story, Carol. I am also a self-taught quilter. I love the story about the quilt you made for your grandmother.
ReplyDeleteEverything you make is beautiful.
Blessings in your two shops!
Seems like a lot of us are self taught, best way if you ask me, then you don't worry about the 'quilt police' Love your quilts and bags, always so colourful.
ReplyDeleteCarol, your quilts are an inspiration to me to go bold with color! You made your mom and grandma proud! Self taught, no patterns, sounds familiar!
ReplyDeleteAnd I really like your new bag shop. Lots of hard work manipulating stiff bags through a sewing machine, I' m sure!
And , you are an Etsy success story! Over 200 sales! Wow!
Lord Stanley is a handsome devil. And I love that batik quilt ... marvelous use of color! Very inspiring Etsy success - Keeping up with two shops - oh my!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful quilts! Glad to hear I'm not the only one awake planning quilts!
ReplyDelete