Homespun E22 | Nicola Walton

hi everyone welcome to Homespun where creativity Finds Its voice I am your host Misty Don and today I'm joined by Nicola Walton who shares her journey from Fashion Design to quilting which led to her company Daisy and Grace and its unique approach to quilt as you [Music] go hello everyone I am joined today by Nicola Walton Nicola thank you so much for being here I feel like most people would probably know you from your quilt as youo at least here on the in the states um we we love all your quilt as youo projects but I know that there is more to your story so I'm excited to get to talk to you today thank you so can you just uh tell everyone a little bit about yourself a little bit about your background yeah well I've sewn All My Life um I since the age of five I've had a sewing machine so I've SE is absolutely in my blood um and I actually went into fashion design um so I was a fashion design here in lond well I'm not in London anymore but I was a fashion designer in London for quite a few years and then I went into quilting and I love it I won't I I wouldn't look back how did you make that jump from Fashion into quilting well it was quite a long period um I started do it I came out of fashion design um after I married my husband Dave we we got married when we were older um and we went off traveling around the world for our honeymoon and when I came back I started doing part-time jobs because we wanted children uh but we didn't get them so unfortunately um so this is my baby and I I went back into designing so yeah this Daisy and Grace is next my baby I love that I love that you know it it's good to have a passion and for something to to fulfill you and you've certainly done amazing things with that so how did you come to Daisy and Grace because it's quite unique oh what the name the name and the you know your Technique I feel like both are quite unique so well I I started um I joined a quilt group and um I was making lots of projects and putting Fabrics together and everyone was saying where did you buy that and where did you get that and where did you buy those fabrics and and then I suddenly realized that not everyone could do what I was doing it's just my love of color and the way I put things together um and then that so that's when I thought actually I'm doing something that people actually want to do um the name Daisy yeah and the name Daisy and Grace came from my two grandmothers so my two grandmothers were Daisy and Grace and they were such lovely women um so yeah that's where the name came from and the quilt as you go templates I tried quilt as you go um and I didn't like the fact that you couldn't get the the positioning of the wadding and the main Fabric in the center so that you could get your bindings accurate so it was just I wanted to make bigger projects and um so I just came up with this idea for this template and that just went bananers and it's something certainly did yeah I I love that and the thing that I love about it especially is it's quite approachable whether you have a machine or you're wanting to stitch by hand and I think that's quite unique in in what we do I mean we you could do English paper piecing but for quilt as you go to be able to have these shapes that you can sit and Stitch without having to have a machine although I'll admittedly uh I I admittedly prefer to do it by Machine just because I I don't I'm not in the phase of life that I do a lot of hand stitching yet but that's okay my time will come um but I I love the versatility of it and you can use hand sewing and machine together so you know if you start it by hand and then think oh goodness I've had enough now you can then go on and Stitch It Together by machine and also it's space I mean if you've only got a small space laying out a big quilt and then quilting it can be really quite daunting but whereas you're making little mini quilts and then joining them together it it's just a bit more accessible for beginners and and people really experienced it's just a nice way to quilt I agree like I said I think it's it's very unique in the approach and and I love um I don't know if you follow Missy the little green bean but she just has been working with your templates and she's making the most beautiful quilt and I'm like oh it's reinvigorated my my desire to play with all of the shapes and and see what else I can do and I I love that about quilting is that it feels like it's new every day you know there's so much possibility um in what you can do so very fun and the the amount of variety that you get from one idea in your head and then people run with it and it's just like it still amazes me it still gives me such Joy when I see things from people and I go wow you know that's like so exciting absolutely I know for me like one of the things I love the most is when you put a design out into the world and you're and then people make little changes or tweaks that you didn't even imagine that makes it so much better and you're like oh this is the most magical thing to see this this little idea kind of grow wings and fly in a bigger way than you ever dreamed yeah and Inspire so people to have a go and create their own ideas from it it's yeah it is really thring it's such an amazing thing to be able to do ah I love that so tell me a little bit more about your grandmas that uh your company is named for because I have a soft soft place in my heart for for grandmas my grandma Sandy taught me how to quilt and so I I share her story as often as I can because she was an incredible woman and I love that I didn't realize I guess that we had that in common that you you learned from your grandmas and you are honoring them through your business so can you share about that yeah well um my two grandmother were really quite different um Grandma Daisy was the real creative one she was a Knitter she soed she painted she just she was really creative and Nanny Grace well she was just she was So Glamorous she would never do crafting at all she used to really she used to get yeah Nanny Grace she was very glamorous she she didn't like cooking she didn't she was just like she was a diva really Nanny Grace harsh as you might say over there yeah um and my mom actually made a lot of her clothes for her as well because mom made all loads of clothes for me as well so my mom was my main yeah Mom we we were quite we didn't have an awful lot Growing Up So mom made all our clothes and um so that was really great and that inspired me really in the clothes making side and I've actually taught my mom how to quilt so it's gone full circle it's really amazing mom never qued yeah now you brought her into the fold yeah she loves it she's always doing something she creates so many quilts it's unbelievable and it's it's it's really lovely that it's gone full circle and I've quoting yeah that's really special what a fun thing and and what a way to stay connected to to what is obviously a rich Heritage in your family of creativity I love that you um I love that your grandma was just not about it I think there's something really empowering for knowing who you are and just being like that's not for me but also being able to appreciate it because obviously she wasn't above any sort of craft she was willing to wear what I'm sure are beautiful clothes that your your mom made for her so I think that's really really wonderful she obviously could still appreciate it even if it wasn't for her oh yeah oh no my granddad was quite disappointed because my my grand nanny Daisy never made any she she didn't bake so my granddad used to come to us to get my mom's cakes all the time for all the treats huh that's so sweet well I was just GNA say did that did your the your mom's garment sewing that she did early on when she made clothing for you is that what kind of interested you in fashion design I think it was because I was always seeing mom at the sewing machine sewing and making garments and things so I I think I was just emulating her with wanting a s machine which I got very young and and then making doll's clothes and things like that and then I was just I just really love um making my own clothes as a teenager at school I was known for if there was a party going on I'd run something up in the afternoon to go to a party so I was always known at school that I wondered what what I'd be wearing you know I love that do you still make clothes now not as much no but I really would love to because um yeah no I just don't get the time which is so infuriating but then I'm doing quilting so but yeah occasionally I made a lovely dress the other year and stuff so I I do try but not as much the skill is still there I I understand that too because when I first started sewing my grandma when I was very young she made all my clothes all my little dresses and outfits um I was very lucky to have beautiful clothes made by my mom and grandma and um and so same thing when I first started sewing with her it was doll clothes right that was that was my first you know attempt at the sewing machine and even after she passed because we didn't have a lot of time quilting she got sick with cancer and and um I had a beautiful about a year and a half where I would help her sew on on her quilts but that I didn't want to come back to quilting for a long time because of that because it was with her and um but I still would would you know alter my clothes or add a ruffle or or do things like that with my sewing machine because I learned those skills from my grandma and I've I was thinking about it recently it's been a long time since I made any type of clothing but it's probably time to uh to brush off those skills a bit yeah and it's something so nice when you go out and you've got something on that you've made it's like you made and it fits you it fits your body I think that's yes absolutely well and the other thing that I've noticed in my life and maybe you can speak to this too is that when I take time to create adjacently right whether it's making clothing or doing embroidery or you know uh we've done bead making and arranging flowers all these things that are beautiful creative projects they always sort of reinvigorate me in my career so in designing for quilting so do you have anything like that that sort of fills you up when you need a new idea or encouragement to keep going I umum I like I like I still play with Fabrics to be honest when I like my so Mojo walks out the door I think oh so I I tend to do a lot of uh crumb quilting or I do embroidery so it's quite fabric related um but recently I've started doing a lot more painting and drawing and things so that's been really cool that's that's that's really got me going on on on creating other things as well so but yeah when when I I that creative spark goes a bit I do just play with fabrics and I I get some amazing happy accidents yeah I love that it's it's a good reminder to all of us right to not take it too seriously I think especially if you get in the middle of a project that maybe isn't going well or isn't going how you anticipated it's easy to get frustrated and kind of lose the joy of the make but it should be fun and I I say that all the time I'm like we're we're not you know performing brain surgery here this this is a fun creative Hobby and if it's frustrating it's probably time to step away for a moment and then when we come back with fresh eyes we'll be ready to go again exactly yeah and as adults we should play we don't play as adults do we and and I I find sewing a form of play it's it's just releases me and yeah it I love sewing it's it's been my life and it will always will be so yeah I think that's that's it's so special right to be able to have a creative practice and I think for those of us who have made it a priority in our lives we realize the benefit and that's why we want to share it right it's like it's like oh this is this is such a joyful like soul part of my life and and I can completely relate to that and it always like for me uh I like to sew but the the design part is my absolute love the what happens when I put this shape here what how do these colors look together that's that's what gets me so excited and the sewing is like the means to seeing that creativity come to life right um which I enjoy but it's not the act I don't I don't love the sitting at the machine I know I know everyone will think I'm crazy because I I do a lot of that but I love the teaching and I love the design that that part fills me up every time and it's just so important like you said to remember to play um because it really is fun what we get to do yeah I find it all all in one really I I love being seeing something in my head get creating it with the Fabrics so part of the sewing I get what you're saying it's not your favorite but for me I just find that it's such a part of the whole experience oh absolutely it absolutely is detach it it's yeah it's it's still that is part of the fun for me as well I do love sitting at the sewing machine and just sewing well and and the part that I love too is like even when I CU I'll design a lot of things digitally right and and sometimes I think I know how it's going to go but when I sit down at the machine and actually work with the fabric that's where oh my gosh this little miracle happened and I can actually get more blocks and I realized you know and so it's definitely a beautiful part of the process and I don't I don't take it for granted but there are sometimes once I've like figured out that block design for example that I'm like oh now I'm just sewing I'm just sewing I want I want to play more it starts to feel like work yeah I want the result that's exactly it yeah see I don't do designing digitally at all so it's all gone on in my head and then I create it on paper or or through fabric so I fabric I never I never know until it's done I love that that's exactly how Jenny is too she's the same way she just grabs her Fabric and starts to play which I I totally admire that is just it doesn't work for me I'll just look at that pile of fabric forever and not know where to begin but isn't that amazing that there's so many different ways that we we end up at the same point it's like oh absolutely well and that's part of why I like having these conversations because I think it's it's really easy to compare ourselves to other people and think maybe we're not doing it right or maybe we need to change up our process but it's a good reminder to to understand that we all do it differently there is no right way to approach it there's no right way to approach design because it's it's your way and and I think that's really a beautiful thing and and it just goes to show I mean like you said earlier Nicola when you're in this quilting group and you had done some quilt as you go and you realize that other people weren't seeing it the same way that you were and I think that that's true right everybody has a different talent that they bring to the table Jenny talks a lot about how her Talent is not color um and so she she relies on designers she relies on you know friends who are really good with color to help you know guide her and I think it's really beautiful to be able to acknowledge and say you know what that's not my strength but this person has got it and to be able to work together and and I feel that way about your quilt as you go because for me until I saw your shapes quilt as you go was not my thing because it felt almost too limiting cuz all the versions I had seen it was like oh you you make your sandwich and you just sew your your thing and you add it to the thing and there's no play right you don't get to act you don't have as much creativity and so then having your shapes that are are completed but individual and you can still you know move them around and and get your own unique thing I was like this is amazing never would thought of it but what a gift to all of us that uh we get to use it in our in our work oh thank you you're welcome so but I love I love the fact that because all of the shapes have got the same I use the same binding on all of them that they integrate together so if I started out and had different shaped bindings it just would have been a complete mess so I'm pleased that I started out the way I did and it's grown and more templates have been added and yeah I I just can't believe the the things that you can create now it's just like oh it's and I'm not it's definitely magical I've not got bored with it yet either so like nine nine 10 years down the line I'm still not bored with it you know so isn't that amazing I mean people ask me all the time I teach a lot of quilt tutorials I'm constantly designing and I've so you've been what did you say nine or 10 years now I I think I've been teaching seven seven so not quite as long as you but it's it it I used to think early on that I would run out of ideas that somehow I would get bored or that I wouldn't have anything left and that has so far knock on wood not been the case for me you know I think when you when you make this creative habit it it fills you up and it it just inspires new ideas and I I think that's the same as what you're saying and and it's so exciting to be able to to do something that challenges you and fulfills you creativity creatively excuse me so yeah yeah so yeah oh go ahead no I I was just I was just getting excited about thinking about things that I'm going to be doing and and actually I'm not going to turn my head off yet my head hasn't finished there's still in there waiting to be come out and be born and go into the world but I think the day I stop that the day my head doesn't have new ideas and things I think that's the time Daisy and Grace has to go to bed right right well exactly but you haven't seen it yet so I don't think that's I don't think that's coming anytime soon so can you share a little bit about any any new ideas that you have in the works or anything you're excited about that's coming up well there there's something very exciting happening at the moment um I'm actually working with a company to create my own Fabrics wonderful so that's really exciting that's just in the initial stages it's gone to the creative team and they're just fine-tuning the the design so that's really exciting so that's coming not yet that be a couple of years down the line I think because of the time scales with meals and things so that's really exciting um I'm here in the UK I'm doing really well on um a TV channel here called Create and Craft so I'm bringing lots of new things to that and what am I working on at the moment I'm well it's something I've had for a little while um and it sort of hawks back to our the beginning of our interview but um it's like um a doll's house do thing F fun yeah but it's not Quil as you go but it's still a SE thing and it's it's lovely and I've been doing some more jewelry oh it's just so exciting so yeah so much going on I love that I love that so much and I love that you're you're to connect can you tell me a little bit about how the quilting World differs in the UK compared to the US still like vibrant do you have a lot of shops okay there's not no no um in the UK there's not as many Quilters as in America there aren't as many quilt shops um a lot disappeared during covid there are a few shops still around but they' few and far between a lot of it has gone online like like my store is online um although I'm now I've I've moved house and I'm in the countryside you never know there may be a daisy and gray shop coming but we're we're cross that bridge when we come that won't be that not anytime soon but maybe but hey I would love that that would give me another reason to come visit exactly yes we did just come come to um England because the more people that come and Infuse the quilting World here the better because there are a lot of younger Quilters coming up up and as well which is great um because we're we're getting older we need younger people to take up like we certainly don't want it to go away right we yeah I think that's so important and uh Jenny talks a lot about that about how important it is to share what you know with the younger generation otherwise it dies with us right and I think that's a great reminder that you're bringing up that we we need to be willing to share we need to be willing to let people learn because sometimes it can be frustrating if you've been doing it for a while if it's just not clicking for a newbie but we want them to be excited and to feel welcomed and um and to continue on this beautiful craft right um yeah I certainly don't want it to end with me so hopefully more Generations will continue so yes that's awesome well is there anything else you would share maybe to someone who is just starting out or wants to make the leap um into sharing their ideas with the world well well sharing their ideas be brave um it's not going to be easy as you know it's not going to be easy but have the faith inside you that you're and and and believe in yourself you know believe that actually what you you want to produce is different and that there will people like you that will love what you're doing um I never I never believe that people would love what I was doing and look at me now so you got to you got to have the faith in in yourself and and if if it doesn't work the first time try try a different like try something new in quilting or sewing you know but try not to give up because it does take a while it doesn't come overnight um it it was about three years for me before you know I suddenly thought oh actually this could be a a proper business and yeah you've just got to persevere have faith and and be excited about what you're you're doing cuz if you're excited somebody else will excited absolutely that that enthusiasm always shines through right and people can tell if you're genuinely interested or uh if you're just punching the time card so to speak yeah yeah exactly exactly yeah oh well Nicola I truly appreciate sitting down and talking to you I appreciate your your wonderful enthusiasm for what you do I think it's definitely contagious and and you can see that as people have have have tried the templates and have have played and shared what they're doing I think that's it's really cool to watch and I truly appreciate you being here and sharing a little bit more about your story um and so hopefully we'll get to see each other soon in England I hope yes for sure I would love that all all right I will talk to you soon thank you n Nicola oh one more thing before I forget can you remind everyone where to find you on social media if they want to follow along with what you're up to um it's I'm on Instagram I think it on I can't remember my Instagram maybe we can put a little link to my on Instagram I've got YouTube videos teaching quilts you go as well so there's a YouTube channel Daisy and Grace um and and if you're on Facebook come and join Daisy and Grace Quilters on Facebook because you can see some amazing work on there amazing wonderful absolutely well again thank you so much and I will talk to you soon see you later thank you bye [Music]