About Nikki...

Hi!  I'm the suburban stay-at-home mom of 3 year old Wyatt and 2 year old Owen.  The wife of Patrick and a former 1st grade and ELL teacher.  Grew up in Arkansas, but have been in the KC Metro for 7 years.  


1.  Do you have a quilting "style"?
I'm coming from a more traditional style of quilting, but love the looks I'm seeing in modern quilts, these days.  I love the brave use of big prints, bright colors and the freedom of not having to make everything so perfectly symmetrical.  Jelly Rolls are great fun to use... And I have been playing a lot with color lately...

 2.  Do you tend to use certain colors more than others?  Or prints more than solids?   My favorite color is blue.  My least favorite color might be orange, but I do like the rustier colors of orange a lot.  I have a lot of 30's prints in my collection and they're mostly pastels, but I find that I like the darker ones the most.

3.  Are there any colors you strictly avoid?  Not really.  I don't use much brown, but I'm thinking my next project might be brown and green... or orange and green...  Something very different than usual.  I don't use muslin, really. 

4.  Have there been any blocks that you've made in the past that you particularly enjoyed making?  Any that you hated and never want to do again?  I am drawn to flying geese.  I love log cabins.  Flower type blocks are fun and so are stars...  Haven't done many baskets before, but I like them... 

5.  Is there something in your life that you collect or are fond of? (Are you a KSU fan who loves purple??? Do you have lots of cats???  Do you collect owls or antique china or stamps???  Are you addicted to sushi???  Help us get to know some details about you and your taste...) I went to college at the University of Arkansas, so I'm a Razorback.  A pig quilt might be fun to do...  I am not a huge animal fan...  I enjoy looking in antique shops, but don't buy much...  I have two little boys, so I am starting to get more into making quilts for them, but I want to make quilts that they'll be able to use for a long time...  I'm also working on making more quilts for ME because I tend to give the quilts I make away.

6.  Are you into art quilts? or do you mostly make quilts with the intention of them being used regularly?  I mostly make quilts for people to use.  I have some wall hangings, but not many.  I have an appreciation for art quilts, but right now, they're not my focus.

7.  Do you usually do small projects, such as wall hangings or baby blankets or do you usually make quilts?  I usually make quilts that are specific to the person I'm making them for...  Lately, lots of baby quilts... Some Christmas gifts for family members, too...

8.  If you could live anywhere, where would it be and why?  Inverness, Scotland.  I'd have a bed and breakfast in my castle.  There would be a fireplace in every room and all the floors would be heated marble...  My castle would have a go cart track inside and out...  A pizza restaurant (just for me) in the dungeon along with an arcade...  I could go on...

9.  What's your favorite place that you've traveled to before?  I enjoyed the Scottish highlands the most, but there are some beautiful places in the mountains of Arkansas that I like to go...  Both feel like ancient homes to me.  The flatlands of Kansas are not particularly beautiful to me.  I miss the trees, cliffs, streams and quiet solitude of the Ozark mountains.

10.  If we looked in your closet, what are the two colors we'd see the most?  Black and blue.

11.  In your fabric collection, what groupings of fabric do you have (30's?  Batiks?  Modern stuff?  Certain designers?  Solids?  Asian fabric???, Etc.)  I have a lot of Asian fabrics, batiks and 30's prints.

12.  Which is more important to you?  The look of the fabric or the feel of it?  The feel.  For sure.

13.  Are there any charities in your life that you're passionate about?  I make quilts for Quilts of Valor and Project Linus.

14.  Besides quilting, are you crafty in other ways?  If so, tell us more...  I'm artsy.  Can paint and draw... can play some piano and trumpet... and I'm into making stick horses right now.  I knit a little, want to learn to crochet...  Would love to do some wool rug hooking... want to be better at embroidery...  Wish I had a better camera and I'd learn to do more with photography.

15.  Do you have in mind what you'd like your quilting project to be?  Any ideas on blocks or color schemes?  Will you be making your quilt for someone else? or for yourself?  I'm tossing a few ideas around... But the quilt I make will probably be for MYSELF! :)


Here are some pictures of quilts I've made or are currently working on: