Julia McLeod started her career designing textiles for menswear. She now creates unique quilt designs using upcycled fabrics that most of us shy away from — silks, neckties, decorator fabrics, vintage fabrics and more.
How did you find yourself on an artist’s path? Always there? Lightbulb moment? Dragged kicking and screaming? Evolving?
I have identified as an artist from a very early age. When I was very young my family did not have a television, so I spent many hours at the kitchen table with crayons and paper. I was always proud to share my art with family and neighbors.
Why textiles? How did you get started?
I knew I wanted to go to art school. I remember a high school art teacher bringing up the subject of textile design, pointing out a printed floral curtain and saying ‘Someone designed that!’.
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I’ve always loved fabric and sewing, so the idea of becoming a textile designer started to coalesce. On my degree course I specialized in designing woven textiles and went into a career in the British menswear industry.
Quilting was born of resourcefulness. How are you mindful about your fabric footprint?
Most of my quilt tops are completely made of up cycled fabrics. I ‘harvest’ my fabrics from neckties, kimonos, saris, furnishing fabrics and clothing. I like using fabrics that have already served one purpose, giving them a second life.
Where do you find your inspiration for your designs?
I find late 19th century quilts very beautiful, especially silk quilts in traditional patterns. I enjoy symmetry and repetition, so anything from tiles to mosaics, stained glass windows and architecture catch my eye and spark ideas.
Tell us about your book, Patchwork Luxe, Quilts from Neckties, Kimonos & Sari Silks. What is the most important takeaway for readers?
The goal of ‘Patchwork Luxe’ is to give quilters the confidence to use silk fabrics in their quilt making. Many quilters have stashes of neckties, kimonos and treasured silk fabrics that they daren’t cut into because they’re intimidated by the way silk can slip, stretch and fray.
My book offers them the techniques to tame those difficult qualities. For quilters who like to follow step by step instructions, there are seven techniques and nine different projects from pillows to full size quilts.
When it comes to creating, are you more of a planner or an improviser?
Ideas tend to marinate in my mind for a while.
I begin with the general idea of what the quilt will be about. Usually it starts with color, with a handful of gorgeous fabrics, with a particular block that interests me.
Then the quilt takes shape. I might sketch it out for the sake of ‘quilt math’, but quite often I will just keep building sections and rounds until the quilt seems complete. I do use a ruler and I do use traditional blocks.
In the quilt world my quilts would not be described as ‘Improvisational’ but anyone who has made a quilt without a pattern knows a lot of improvising takes place along the way!
Because I use up cycled fabrics, I frequently have to substitute fabrics for ones that have run out. A gorgeous silk blouse might be the ‘star’ fabric in a quilt, but I need to be ready with ‘understudies’ for it if I want to make a large quilt. I think of this as improvisation. (So many theatrical metaphors!)
Are you a “finisher”? How many UFOs do you think you have?
I think of myself as a finisher but I do have a stack of tops waiting to be quilted! Most of those are the result of workshops or round robins that perhaps don’t feel like my own, authentic work.
When I finish a quilt top that I love, I get it straight to my long arm quilter and when she’s worked her magic on it, I bind and label it pronto.
Do you have a dedicated space for creating? If so, what does it look like?
I’m very fortunate that our mid century California home has a bonus room in the backyard. Over the years it’s been used as a guest room and a study but I fully claimed it as my sewing studio when our kids left home a decade ago. Having good storage and design walls is a game changer!
What is your favorite tip for organizing your stash of creative supplies?
Carboard banker boxes fit perfectly into Ikea’s ‘Kalax’ shelf units. I have several units of these with necktie fabrics sorted by color. I also have a 6’ wide alcove full of Ikea’s ‘Hejne’ shelving that my design wall stands in front of like a giant door. That’s where I store items I don’t need to access too often.
Beware clear sided bins! While helpful in letting you see what you have, they let the light in enough to fade fabrics. Silk dupioni especially, will fade along a folded edge exposed to light. Ask me how I know…
Scraps. Saver? Or be done with them?
I don’t keep really tiny scraps but anything I like that’s over 6” or so goes back in the banker box with its color mates.
Do you use a sketchbook or journal? How does that help your work develop?
I keep dated notebooks with sketches of project layouts, details of measurements etc. For teaching purposes I often photograph projects step by step. My phone is my go-to for retrieving a lot of information, comparing different color groupings or layout choices.
How often do you start a new project? Do you work actively on more than one project at a time?
I usually have one ‘passion project’ on the go, with class samples, teaching trips and commissions interrupting the flow with their deadlines!
Teaching, writing my book, and family matters have taken up a lot of my time this past year. I’ve noticed my output of finished quilts has slowed significantly from four or five quilts in a year to maybe only a couple. But that’s OK – life comes in seasons!
Can you tell us about the inspiration and process of one of your works? How does a new work come about?
‘The Lone Robin’ is a quilt with a good story behind it. I made it during the pandemic when group projects like the Round Robin, where quilters take it in turns to each add a round to a quilt, weren’t so easy to facilitate.
I came up with a prompt each month for myself and members of the San Francisco Quilt Guild. Makers could work with any colors, any composition, fabrics and any dimensions but they had to follow the prompt of the month. There were six prompts: Curves or circles, flying geese, stripes, squares, crosses or ‘X’s, then the final round was quilter’s choice.
In my own quilt I used an antique crazy quilted block I had had squirreled away for too long; a vintage kimono, a length of blue Chinese satin, and mountains of neckties. Every quilt that was made by guild members following these exact same prompts turned out completely differently. It was a delightful creative exercise!
Which part of the design process is your favorite? Which part is a challenge for you?
I love gathering fabrics together and creating a color palette. My past career in menswear textile design involved developing ranges of fabrics to show clients. Creating mood boards and seasonal fabric collections helped me develop the ability to arrange colors and fabrics together with speed and confidence.
I can complete a quilt top in a blaze of excitement and joy! But then comes the need for it to be quilted.
I can free motion quilt, but not to a high standard and not with any enthusiasm. I hate wrestling a large quilt through a domestic machine and although I bought a mid-arm, it stands in my studio like a piece of rarely used exercise equipment, hidden under a stack of books and fabric. So I quilt by check! I work with Nancy Williams, a long arm quilter in Emeryville. Her quilting elevates my quilts in a way that my own stitching would not. Worth every penny.
Is there an overarching theme that connects all of your work?
Yes: All my quilts are made from rescued textiles. Sometimes I’ll find yardage at estate sales or vintage stores. More often I take apart clothing, ‘harvesting’ the fabric for use in my piecing.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received?
I played fiddle in a band for almost a decade. At times I was overcome by stage fright or impostor syndrome. I’ll never forget the moment when our bass player said to me ‘You’re here because you’re good enough’. That was such a generous, liberating thing to hear!
I’m also grateful to Lyric Montgomery Kinard who I connected with at the start of the pandemic through her two enterprises; Global Quilt connection and The Academy for Virtual Teaching. Her message, ’Start where you are with what you’ve got’, is a helpful mantra in moments of overwhelm!
How has your creativity evolved over the years? What triggered the evolution to new media/kinds of work/ways of working?
I turned to working with silk and rescued fabrics because I love the adventure of thrifting, and because in so many areas of life, I prefer not to buy new.
Like many other quilt makers and instructors, the pandemic forced me to take a steep learning curve into teaching virtually and creating on demand content.
Recording a Creative Spark online course then led me to submitting a book proposal to C&T Publishing and writing my new book, Patchwork Luxe.
In recent years I have recovered from the mistake of worrying about what other quilters are making, and trying to imitate them. I’ve discovered the value of doubling down on who I am and what I’m good at. I’ve learned the satisfaction of exploring ideas thoroughly before moving on to the next thing.
Where can people see your work?
My website is juliamcleodquilts.com
I post frequently on Instagram – @juliamcleodquilts and on my Facebook page, Julia McLeod Quilts.
I usually submit work to Pacific International Quilt Festival, to the UK’s Festival of Quilts, and to my local San Francisco Bay guild shows. The quilt that is featured on the cover of ‘Patchwork Luxe’ is called Kaleidoscope Pineapple, and is part of The Quilt Show’s exhibit Behind the Seams. It’s is just coming to the end of a tour of 2024’s AQS quilt shows. In September you can see it at Quilt Week in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
I have recorded an episode of The Quilt Show (#2902) with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims, and will be doing a second episode in 2025.
My Creative Spark course, How to Use Silks in Your Quiltmaking, is available online. All of these recorded presentations include a selection of my quilts.
Check out Julia’s book Patchwork Luxe.
Interview posted September 2024
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