Lori Holt
Posted by alpinefabrics on Wednesday, April 27th, 2011
I am very excited to talk about Lori Holt of Bee in my Bonnet, designer of Sew Cherry.
I have know Lori for over a year, but became a huge fan of her quilts long before then. If you have seen any of her quilts you would know why. She has an incredible eye for detail and designs jaw dropping applique themed quilts.
Here is Lori in her own words:
I grew up in a small town on a small farm in a quilting and sewing family.
I loved to spend most of my time climbing trees and riding on
tractors or herding the sheep. I really just loved being outdoors among
the flowers, pastures and farm animals.
Most of my neighbors consisted of my grandparents, aunts and uncles
and cousins so we are a very close family and I consider myself very
lucky.
All of my designs are inspired by all things vintage, my family and my childhood memories.
I come by my creativity honestly as I was surrounded by everything
made on our own. We were a very self sufficient bunch. At our home..if
we needed it...we grew it or built it.
By profession...my father was a mechanical engineer and a rocket
scientist. He also grew very large gardens and took care of our farm. He
was always fixing or designing or building something and as a young
girl i often played at his desk with graph paper and special rulers for
design...I still play with both of these almost every day!
My mother says I was practically born with a needle in my hand and
that I was her creative, happy go lucky child. She says that from a
very early age she could tell that my whole world revolved around
drawing, nature, color and design.
As a baby I would lay on my great grandmothers double wedding ring
quilt that she had made for my mother as a wedding gift... and I would
just stare at the fabric and pet it.
She also said i refused to wear any hairbands or barrettes unless
they were the perfect color match to my clothes...something that she
wondered why I was so stubborn about.
The first 4 children in my family were girls of which I am the
youngest...however later 4 brothers and 2 more sisters came along!
My mother sewed most of our clothes and she also was inspired to
turn us first four girls into a singing group called "The Sisters
4"...and sewed us several matching costumes to wear when we performed.
Most of our other dresses that she sewed for us were matching and
because i was the youngest...I had to wear the hand me downs and it
seemed like I wore the same dress forever!!!
Both of my grandmothers along with my mother taught me how to sew,
embroidery, crochet and quilt when I was very young. It seemed we always
had a quilt on the frames in my house of my grandmothers house.
Both of my grandmothers have been an inspiration to much of my work
and i feel lucky to still have both of them in my life...one at the age
of 96 and one at 98.
I married my childhood sweetheart after graduating high school and
we have been married 30 years. we have been blessed with 2 sons and a
daughter and also a granddaughter!
I have been designing for 28 years....I established my quilt
pattern company called Bee in my Bonnet in 1994....before that I
designed Tole Painting books for Provo Craft for 12 years. I am so
excited to now be designing fabric...my first love according to my
mother!
I love working with Riley Blake and I am so happy to be a part of their design team.
When I am not quilting....I love to decorate my home with my
vintage finds...
I still love the outdoors and being in my garden growing
vegetables, flowers and old roses.
I enjoy camping and fishing with my
family in our old trailer.
I love good music and to read good books..and I pretty much love to
craft just about anything that keeps my hands busy! I enjoy being in my
studio every day and I never run out of ideas or get tired of creating.
I also love being in kitchen with my family and in the sewing room with my daughter.
I am especially fond of my friends and of our quilting retreats and get-togethers.
This is just one of Lori's amazing quilts called "Apron Club".
I just finished "apron club" myself and here is my favorite apron I made out of her pattern.
So out of a creative mind comes beautiful fabric. Sew Cherry just arrived last week.
Look how well Lori's colors coordinate together in this rolie polie.
We love the reds, blues, browns, butter yellows, sweet greens and yummy pinks. You can see Lori's love for vintage, but her fabric has modern flare.
And if you happen to be going to market, you will be able to see all of Lori's new patterns using Sew Cherry fabric....in just 2 1/2 weeks. Yikes!
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