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Holly Clarke Design

Holly Clarke Design

Quilter, pattern designer, maker, sharer

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Welcome!

Hi! Welcome to my little corner of the internet. My name is Holly Clarke. I’m a designer, quilter, fabric junkie, coffee drinker, and flower smeller. I live in Winnipeg, Canada and I love how the World Wide Web connects me with quilters from all over the world. If you want to reach out to me, email me here.

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This project is helping me beat the summer heat. M This project is helping me beat the summer heat. My sewing room is the coolest room in our house, tucked away in the basement with a direct line to the A/C. I’ve been having fun making up these easy breezy blocks for a magical quilt that will be fit for a princess. I’m using a FQ bundle of the upcoming Brier Rose collection by @zippyboro for Riley Blake Designs. #rileyblakedesigns @rileyblakedesigns #brierrosefabric #iloverileyblake #quiltingfabric #precutfriendly #fatquarters #fatquarterquilt#sleepingbeauty
Yum! Sensory overload with this dreamy Brier Rose Yum! Sensory overload with this dreamy Brier Rose floral print and the fruity scent of fig Flatter smoothing spray. What’s bringing you joy today? #brierrosefabric #rileyblakedesigns #soakworthy #flatterspray #onthecuttingboard #quiltfabric
I spent the whole weekend cleaning up my studio. N I spent the whole weekend cleaning up my studio. Not my sewing room but my home office where I work as a graphic designer (while wishing I was in my sewing room). I cleaned a pandemic-worth of dust, tossed about 200lbs of old magazines into recycling, cleared a few dozen random knick knacks to be donated, and dealt with tons of other random crap that tends to accumulate in this room. As I drink a nice frosty glass of beer and admire the fruits of my labour I am feeling truly blessed to have such a bright beautiful space in which to work. #workfromhome #homeoffice
This spectacular new fabric collection called Brie This spectacular new fabric collection called Brier Rose tells the story of my favourite fairy tale, Sleeping Beauty, and it is truly magical. I am a total fan girl of @zippyboro Jill Howarth’s work and her latest collection for @rileyblakedesigns is hands down my favourite. I can’t wait to start my next project. Check my reels to see a fabric flip book. #rileyblakedesigns #brierrosefabric #iloverileyblake #quiltingfabric #fabricpull #fatquarters #fatquarterfriendly #sleepingbeauty
Follow-up to yesterday’s post… I finished quil Follow-up to yesterday’s post… I finished quilting my scrappy Folk Festival quilt last night. Again, with podcast on, drink at hand, snacks nearby… same routine as my basting set-up but with quilting comes visual results as you go so it’s like a feedback loop to keep going. Do you have any specific routines to keep you motivated when you’re on the final stretch of finishing a quilt? #folkfestivalquilt #makeitscrappy #scrapbuster #rubystarsociety #ogcottonandsteel #cottonandsteelfabric #quiltsofinstagram #walkingfootquilting #straightlinequilting #quiltsinprogress #scrapquilts #modernquilt #quiltingcommunity
Basting used to be my least favourite part of quil Basting used to be my least favourite part of quilt making. Now it’s bumped up a notch to second-least favourite. (Least favourite is now making the backing). I’ve decided that I don’t actually mind basting so much. I pour myself a beverage, search the kitchen for my secret chocolate stash, put on a podcast (currently binging @americanhysteriapodcast) or Audible (currently listening to LoTR Return of the King) and just take my time and enjoy the repetition of taping, smoothing, inserting pins, closing pins, more smoothing, more pinning, etc. until it’s finished. I mostly work on quilts at night so by the time I finish this process it’s usually quite late but then it’s all prepped and ready for quilting the next day. What’s your second-least favourite part of the quilting process? #folkfestivalquilt #makeitscrappy #scrapbuster #rubystarsociety #ogcottonandsteel #cottonandsteelfabric #quiltsofinstagram #quiltbasting #quiltsinprogress #scrapquilts #modernquilt #quiltingcommunity
My scrappy Folk Festival Quilt top is finished. Th My scrappy Folk Festival Quilt top is finished. This is the small throw size, which measures 53x53”. I’m excited to announce that writing this pattern didn’t in fact kill me as I thought it might at one point last week. 😂 It’s out with testers right now (watch the hashtag #FolkFestivalQuilt for progress photos) and I will be releasing the pattern on August 17th. #folkfestivalquilt #makeitscrappy #scrapbuster #rubystarsociety #ogcottonandsteel #cottonandsteelfabric #quiltsofinstagram #finishedquilttop #quiltsinprogress #scrapquilts #modernquilt #quiltingcommunity
🦋 and 🍬 yes please! These are the final two 🦋 and 🍬 yes please! These are the final two blocks for my scrappy Folk Festival quilt. Can you spot the hidden greeting in the 2nd one? #folkfestivalquilt #makeitscrappy #scrapbuster #rubystarsociety #ogcottonandsteel #cottonandsteelfabric #quiltblocksofinstagram #scrapquilts #modernquilt #quiltingcommunity
How about a little sunshine ☀️ and strawberrie How about a little sunshine ☀️ and strawberries 🍓 to start your day? Here are 3 more blocks for my scrappy Folk Festival quilt. I haven’t decided if I completely love or completely hate the third one. #folkfestivalquilt #makeitscrappy #scrapbuster #rubystarsociety #cottonandsteelfabric #quiltblocksofinstagram #scrapquilts #modernquilt #quiltingcommunity
#Repost @carolina_oneto ・・・ I’m happy to #Repost @carolina_oneto ・・・ I’m happy to introduce Holly Clarke @holdmyseamripper a new story to enjoy and beautiful quilts to delight I am a graphic designer and modern quilter from Winnipeg, Canada. I have been sewing since the late '90s when I studied fine arts and graphic design at the University of Manitoba. I used my sewing skills and my love of fabric to create a trendy hat business that helped me pay my way through university and many years later, I started a baby clothing company called Small Potatoes, which I still operate today. I designed the first quilt I ever made by myself, not realizing that there were actual quilt patterns out there. Eventually I discovered the world of patterns and quickly realized that this was something I wanted to do. In June 2019, I released my first commercial quilt pattern called the Raw Diamond quilt. I am inspired by the world around me, from shapes in nature and architecture, to bold visual graphics I see in various pop culture media. My design aesthetic is heavily influenced by being a child of the '80s; my parents' home furnished with mid-century modern furniture, my mother's love of Scandinavian textiles, my Sanrio toy collection, Saturday morning cartoons, Archie comics, and record album artwork. My go-to colour palette is bright and bold and usually includes hot pinks and sunny yellows. I love to play with colours, seeing where a design can go with different effects such as transparency and contrast. I also enjoy pairing beautiful prints with coordinating solids to honour my love of prints while giving the eye a bit of a resting place with the solids. I lean towards symmetry and balance in my designs, so I tend to design block-based quilts. I find that during the piecing process it can be very rewarding to focus on one block at a time, knowing that it is a small part of the whole quilt. With every quilt that I design, I challenge myself to try something new, whether it is with the overall quilt design, the fabrics I use, a construction technique or the quilting process. #modernquilter #modernquiltingcommunity
I’m now working on a scrappy version of my Folk I’m now working on a scrappy version of my Folk Festival quilt. The block on the top right was my original test block for this quilt design. I loved it so much I am making it some friends so they can all live happily ever after together in a quilt. Pattern update: I’m hoping to launch the pattern in August. I need to do a final proofread today before sending it out for testing. Whoohoo! #folkfestivalquilt #makeitscrappy #scrapbuster #rubystarsociety #cottonandsteelfabric #quiltblocksofinstagram #scrapquilts #modernquilt #quiltingcommunity
Here are some close-ups of my Folk Festival quilt. Here are some close-ups of my Folk Festival quilt. Because this is such a special quilt to me, I sent it to get long arm quilted by the extremely talented Shelly @matantequilting. My first choice was an intricate pantograph of overlapping circles which made sense with my block design but would have made the overall quilt busy and cluttered. Shelly talked me into going with the simple wavy goodness of the “Good Vibrations” panto and 1. She’s a genius because it looks amazing and 2. The name of the panto totally fits with my Folk Festival theme. Shelly took these amazing quilting detail photos. Did you know that along with her crazy awesome quilting skills she also teaches a beginner quilt photography course? If you’re looking to up your quilt photo game, I highly recommend you check her out. Pattern: Folk Festival Quilt (coming soon) Fabric: Confetti Cotton Solids by @rileyblakedesigns Backing: Blossom by @the_tattooed_quilter Quilting & Photography: Shelly @matantequilting #folkfestivalquilt #folkfesthappy #quiltsofinstagram #quiltsinthewild #modernquilting #modernquiltdesign #confetticottons #blossomfabric #rileyblakedesigns #quiltingcommunity #canadianquilters #matantequilting #goodvibrationspanto
When you love a quilt so much you throw it over a When you love a quilt so much you throw it over a decayed tree. Here are a few more shots of my Folk Festival Quilt taken at the lovely, sunny Bird’s Hill Provincial Park. If you want to read about why and how I made this quilt feel free to hop over to my latest blog post (link in profile) for all the juicy details. Pattern: Folk Festival Quilt (coming soon) Fabric: Confetti Cotton Solids by @rileyblakedesigns Quilting: The superbly talented @matantequilting Inspiration: @winnipegfolkfestival #folkfestivalquilt #folkfesthappy #quiltsofinstagram #quiltsinthewild #modernquilting #modernquiltdesign #confetticottons #rileyblakedesigns #quiltingcommunity #canadianquilters #canadianmqc #showusyourmqg
My Folk Festival quilt is finished and I took it u My Folk Festival quilt is finished and I took it up to Bird’s Hill Provincial Park for some fun in the sun with my daughter, her bestie, and a guitar. I can’t tell you how special this quilt is to me, I hope you’ll check out my blog post to read what inspired my design and what it means to me (link in profile). Pattern: Folk Festival Quilt (coming soon) Fabric: Confetti Cotton Solids by @rileyblakedesigns Backing: Blossom by @the_tattooed_quilter Quilting: The superbly talented @matantequilting Inspiration: @winnipegfolkfestival #folkfestivalquilt #folkfesthappy #quiltsofinstagram #quiltsinthewild #modernquilting #modernquiltdesign #confetticottons #blossomfabric #rileyblakedesigns #quiltingcommunity #canadianquilters #canadianmqc #showusyourmqg
And she’s done! My first attempt at outdoor phot And she’s done! My first attempt at outdoor photos with this beauty didn’t do it justice so I used the sunny corner of my son’s bedroom. It looks so good in there I think he should keep it (swipe to see his orange accent wall and some close-ups). I’m so happy with how this quilt turned out. I made it while testing the Togetherness quilt pattern for @lynsavenue. It was a fun and quick pattern to make. Watch for the launch on July 2nd! Pattern: #togethernessquilt by @lynsavenue Fabric: Butterscotch by @made_everyday @figofabrics and Painters Palette Solids by @pbsfabrics Backing fabric: Spark by @rubystarsociety #togethernessquilt #lynsavenuepatterns #quiltpatterntester #quilting #quiltsofinstagram #walkingfootquilting #flangebinding #quiltfinishing #figofabrics #canadianmqc #painterspalettesolids
My flange binding worked! Thanks for all your tips My flange binding worked! Thanks for all your tips and tutorial suggestions. Who knew this was such a well-known technique??? The most commonly suggested tutorials were by Jenny Doan from @missouriquiltco and Aunt Marti from @52quilts ... I watched them both after sewing my binding on and I am happy to report that I did basically all the same steps as they covered. My width was a tiny bit wider, however, so the binding ended up being a little wider than normal but I like the effect. This is my Togetherness quilt that I’ve been pattern testing for @lynsavenue. The pattern will be released on July 2, 2021. #togethernessquilt #lynsavenuepatterns #quiltpatterntester #quilting #walkingfootquilting #flangebinding #quiltfinishing
I recently learned about “flange binding” whic I recently learned about “flange binding” which is basically a binding made with two contrasting fabrics. I spent way too much time reading confusing tutorials abou t how to make it and because I’m impatient, and dislike reading instructions, I pulled out some scraps and just figured it out myself. Here’s the result. It’s wider than regular binding but I think that’s the point. Have you tried flanged binding? Do you have a tutorial you’d recommend? I’m really winging this so I’d love any advice! #quiltbinding #quilting #flangebinding #quiltfinishing
Oh yes! Don’t you love it when a plan works? I q Oh yes! Don’t you love it when a plan works? I quilted this design on my domestic machine last night. I used a template I made (see previous post) and walking foot quilted it in a few hours. I thought I would curse those 45° curves but after a few rows they weren’t too hard. I sewed very slowly at the intersections to make sure all my lines connected perfectly. I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out. Now to decide on what to use for the binding. 🤔 This is my Togetherness quilt that I’ve been pattern testing for @lynsavenue. The pattern will be released on July 2, 2021. Fabric from @winniquilts @marshallfabricswpg #togethernessquilt #lynsavenuepatterns #figofabrics #rubystarsociety #sparkfabric #quiltpatterntester #quilting #walkingfootquilting #straightlinequilting #quilt
I made a quilting stencil! I was inspired by a pre I made a quilting stencil! I was inspired by a pretty line design that I saw while working yesterday and, because I’m always thinking about quilting even when I’m working, I couldn’t stop thinking about how it would make a great quilting design. So last night I made the design in Illustrator, printed it on 2 pieces of paper tiled together because the stencil is longer than a standard piece of paper. I cut it out of card stock and then I marked up 4” measurements on my quilt top so I could place the stencil in the right intervals and then traced it. I used the Ultimate Marking Pencil @fulllinestencil, which is a magical chalk pencil, and it worked well on the dark fabric. I also used a Hera marker to mark the orange fabric because the chalk didn’t show up. Tonight I quilt! Let me know if you’ve worked with stencils before - do you have any tips? This is my Togetherness quilt that I’ve been pattern testing for @lynsavenue. The pattern will be released on July 2, 2021. #togethernessquilt #lynsavenuepatterns #fabricpull #figofabrics #quiltpatterntester
A quilt top gently blowing in the light breeze is A quilt top gently blowing in the light breeze is so calming on a Sunday morning. This is my finished quilt top for the upcoming Togetherness pattern that I’ve been testing for @lynsavenue. Fabric is called Butterscotch by Dana Willard @made_everyday for Figo Fabrics @figofabrics #togethernessquilt #lynsavenuepatterns #fabricpull #figofabrics #quiltpatterntester
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Did you know…

I'm also a graphic designer by trade. You can check out my website here Waterloo Design House.
And my other business is Small Potatoes where I make handmade baby clothing and gifts.

Holly Clarke Design

Quilt making, quilt design, fabric appreciation, sewing tips and tricks, and all-around crafty inspiration.

Want to share my photos?

I’d love to collaborate. To share photos, please email me here for permission. All photos © Holly Clarke, 2021.

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