show & tell - kate dixon

One of the many glowing comments on Kate Dixon's Flickr pages reads "you are so good at putting fabrics together", and its very true! Kate's skill at combining different fabrics and designs make her quilting work compelling. She has a great eye for colour and pattern, combining them in sometimes unexpected but always successful ways with the result that her work is somehow classic and modern all at the same time.

Its the same with her patterns, in her recently released Geometric Quilt pattern Kate takes the traditional Log Cabin block and turns it on its head, creating a lovely fresh design with firm foundations but a lovely randomly pieced look. I'm lucky enough to have some of Kate's patterns and they are written in simple and easy to understand terms, and she is always sharing skills and ideas through her blog and Flickr sites, helping quilting newbies like me find our feet and share the fun.

In fact Kate was one of the founding members of Fat Quarterly magazine and worked with the online publication for the first year as it became established. She is also the organiser behind the successful Down Under Doll Quilt Swap, which is now in its second round, as well as an enthusiastic member of many other quilt block bees.

On top of all that Kate has many other crafting talents, as a quick look through her One Flew Over blog and Flickr site show. You just need to look at her list of links, below, which are the first here to include ravelry, pinterest and twitter, to see how busy she really is!

For those of you who love Kate's style she has also recently opened a new shop, Bespoke, where she sells her one off quilts and beautiful quilt patterns.

Thanks Kate for joining us for this month for Show & Tell. I especially loved the story of how you came to crafting, and the sound of your perfect landscape!

name
Kate Dixon
location
Currently - Melbourne, Australia
blog
www.oneflewover-oneflewover.com
shop
http://oneflewover.bigcartel.com/
flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/-one-flew-over
ravelry
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/OneFlewOver
twitter
http://twitter.com/#!/OneFlewOver80
pinterest
pinterest.com/oneflewover/

1. Can you give us a short description of your blog/style/work.
My blog is a little space where I chronicle my crafting adventures.

2. Why blog? How did you start?
I remember the time well. It was in 2008, my youngest was six months old and I felt like I was slowly losing my mind. Like many mothers with small children I was out walking the streets trying to put the little guy to sleep when I walked past the Prints Charming Studio. The colour and fabrics coming from that place were unbelievable and incredibly inspiring, I signed up to one of their stitching classes and never looked back.

Blogging just kind of happened. No-one in my family is remotely crafty and I was really just hoping for some feedback on some of the things I was making. 'One Flew Over' has given me so much more than that. If the whole thing goes kaput tomorrow, I will walk away with some lifelong mates and I think that is pretty special.

3. Family taught/Self-taught/Trained?
A bit of both really. I love taking classes and try to get to as many as possible but I have also learned a great deal from other crafters.

4. Workspace - studio or kitchen table?
It used to be the kitchen table but the kids are now sharing a room which means I have a dedicated sewing space. It has made a huge difference.

5. Blog/Shop name, where does it come from?
I have my Nan to thank for my blog name. As a baby she started calling me ‘One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest’ which was then shortened to just One Flew Over and eventually my little family nickname evolved into ‘Cook’.

Which, I still get called today…'Cook' or 'Cook-a-loo'… not so cute as a 30 something.

6. Favourite media to work in?
Fabric & wool.

7. Ambitions/future directions/future projects/medium you'd like to try?
I would love to try my hand at dying fabric.

8. Are you neat and organised or, ahem, creatively messy?
Organised... ridiculously so.

9. Favourite handmade, handcrafted item you own not made by you.
That's a tough one but my 'rein it in' footstool made for me by Kirst.

10. Favourite food/recipe?
Does wine count?

11. Favourite colour?
Blue

12. Star sign?
Aries

13. Favourite place, landscape (not necessarily Australian)?
A very special farm in Tuscany - http://corzanoepaterno.com.

14. Any tricks for juggling life/work/family with creative pursuits?
Get organised, set goals, write lists and enjoy the making.

15. Favourite artists, artisans, crafters?
Far too many to name but most have had a direct influence on how and what I craft.

16. Your favourite thing you've made/written/done.
Probably the second quilt I ever made.  It's imperfect in so many places but that's the best part about it.

17. Three words to describe yourself?
Bossy, organised and very black or white (no room for grey)

18. What do you like to do besides creating?
Eating, drinking wine and reading