Get to know the QQQs: Stephanie from Stephs Quilts

I’m Stephanie Hateley, the captain of Quilts QuiltsQuilts,  and my shop is StephsQuilts,  not very original but easy to find!  I live in Australia and recently moved to a small country town in Tasmania, home of the Tassie Devil, great food and wine and craft shops in just about every town, also known as the Apple Isle. 

My first quilt

I first started making quilts when my youngest son informed me he was getting married and I thought a quilt would make a lovely wedding present for them both. That quilt took me 6 months to make, it was a queen size and I did it Quilt as you Go method on a very small domestic sewing machine.  Until then I had never used a sewing machine and it took me 2 hours just to work out how to thread it!  But I persevered and I became completely addicted to quilting. 

I began making baby quilts for family and friends, table runners, mug rugs and bags for birthdays and Christmas presents and quilts for charities.  I decided to open up my Etsy shop to get some money back to continue with my habit, it’s not a cheap hobby!  I love the camaraderie on Etsy, especially within the teams, and I’ve made some wonderful friends within the quilting world, both on and off of Etsy. I love trying new designs and ideas. I think this is where quilting is so addictive and there are never 2 quilts the same, even if they use the same pattern the fabrics set them apart.

I’ve made quilts for Elim Kids, a foster home in China for orphan children with HIV, so far every child in the home has their own quilt that they can take to their ‘forever’ family when they become adopted.  I have also made quilts for a village in Papua New Guinea where the villagers lost everything, and for various one off events such as for victims of fires (Scotsdale in country Victoria where so many homes were lost), the Mater Hospital Mental Health stall to sell and make money for the children’s mental health ward in Newcastle NSW and have donated a quilt for a raffle at the Cochlear Centre in Newcastle to raise money for others to be able to have a cochlear free of charge and give the gift of hearing.  I myself have a cochlear implant and know what a life changer it can be.

My Butterfly Quilt in Handmade Magazine

I get ideas on what to make from all over the Internet and in magazines, browsing Pinterest, watching videos and going to quilt shows.  There are so many possibilities!  I have also had 2 of my quilts in Handmade Magazine, both have now sold, the butterfly quilt was my favourite. 

My quilt displayed in a customer's studio

A customer also sent me a photo of one of my quilts where she had made an alcove especially for the quilt in her studio.  What a compliment!

 I would love for you to visit my shop and browse the quilts, runners, mug rugs etc that I have for sale.

You can also find me on my FB page
https://www.facebook.com/StephsQuilts/

Shop
https://www.etsy.com/shop/StephsQuilts