Meet Ian!

Hi everyone! I’m Ian and it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I live in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas. I’m 35, and relatively new to quilting. I’m an educator for a library, and also work part-time at a science museum. I consider myself a Maker of all kinds, not just sewing. I have had the opportunity to use all kinds of Maker tools such as 3D Printers, laser cutters, robotics equipment, woodworking equipment, embroidery machines, Cricut cutting machines, and many more. I love to learn, so if there is an opportunity to learn something new, I always jump at the chance. I have an insatiable appetite for knowledge.

I have always had an interest in sewing. Even from a young age when my mom would bring out her Singer sewing machine, I always wanted to use it to make anything and everything. She taught me the basics such as pillows and clothes for my stuffed animals, you know, the simple things. As I got older, I still would find reasons to use her machine. I liked making things like costumes for different occasions, and a satchel to hold an iPad. I even tried to make a button up shirt but… let’s just say that didn’t go very well. Making clothes is hard! I think that’s why I like quilting so much: it’s mostly two dimensional.

What really got me hooked on quilting, though, is when the quilt my aunt made me in middle school started falling apart and I asked her to make me a new one. I used that quilt every single day…you could say I loved it to death. She agreed to help me make a new one on one condition, I helped her make my new one. I agreed and we set to work. It took us about a year, mostly because it was a huge quilt and we only worked on it about once a month. However, it is a quilt I will treasure forever.

While showing off pictures of my completed project to a coworker, she suggested I check out my local Modern Quilt Guild. I attended a meeting and was very welcomed, but still wasn’t sure if this was something I wanted to do. The next month I attended again, and the guest speaker was Libs Elliott. It was like fate knew I needed that last little push for me to dive in. Libs uses programing code to create her designs and from that point on I was hooked. I joined and started learning so much about the modern quilt world and everything that it had to offer. I was even president of our guild in 2019 and 2020. Quilting is such a huge part of my life now.

Now that you know a little more about my background, let’s rapid fire some favorites of mine:

Favorite fabric designers: Heather Givans, Giucy Giuce, Libs Elliott, Tula Pink.

Favorite quilt pattern: Hard to pick just one but I do really love the Modern X from Christa Quilts because it is so simple but can have so many different variations.

Favorite non-quilt pattern: I love the Chunky Wee Zippy Pouches by Hunter's Design Studio.

Favorite movie: I can’t pick just one but some of my top picks are Big Hero 6, Finding Nemo, Coraline, Kubo and the Two Strings, Hocus Pocus, and Onward.

Favorite TV shows: Doctor Who, The Masked Singer, America’s Funniest Videos (which I was on by the way), American Horror Story

Favorite video game: Animal Crossing

Favorite color: Blue

Favorite books: Winter’s Orbit, Harry Potter series, The His Dark Materials trilogy, The Martian

Favorite candy: York Peppermint Pattie

Favorite holiday: Halloween

I hope you will take the time to check out my YouTube channel and my Instagram. I love interacting with everyone and making new friends, so take some time to comment and say hello!