SPOTLIGHT: Pam of "For Quilts Sake"

This Spotlight centers on Pam from her Etsy shop "For Quilts Sake".  Pam, from Yellow Springs, Ohio, has several great venues to showcase her work!  The first is a feature in the OH+5 2012 Exhibit at the Dairy Barn Art Center in Athens, Ohio. The exhibit displays all media and artists from Ohio and the five surrounding states: Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, and Michigan.  Pam's featured quilt is her "carnival of colors" quilt, but since I cannot find a picture of it, it may have already found a new home? 

Pam's second is her art quilt "Let a Hundred Flowers Bloom", which she made during the 2011 Project Quilting, Season 2, is included in the Ohio Designer Craftsmen's "Best of 2012" exhibit. The show will start in Columbus and then travel to Wooster and Hamilton (near Cincinnati) this year. Isn't it a beauty?

And her third is an article in the June 2012 issue of Art Quilting Studio magazine that will feature some of her quilts and notecards she's had made that showcase some of her wonderful quilts.

Pam also manages her own website, For Quilts Sake, and an Artfire shop, and writes two blogs: For Quilts Sake blog and her travel blog, Pack up the Car.


Start in Quilting
From the look of Pam's shop, one would never guess that she hasn't been a life-long quilter!  Her background is in graphic design and while she's always loved fabric and quilts, she didn’t sew.  As a result, 'learn to sew and quilt' made it to her bucket-list.  Then, in 2001, Pam took a class on hand piecing and hand quilting; she loved the result, but not the time it took to finish a project.  To save on the time aspect, Pam realized she'd only need a sewing machine that ran forwards and backwards.  So after some research and a good book on machine quilting, off she went to buy her machine and she jumped right in. Pam was hooked - like so many others we know!  While Pam still enjoys other artwork (watercolor painting, photography, mixed media and pressed flowers), it’s the quilts on which she's compelled to work! Pam makes both traditional and art quilts, and all are her original designs.  There are many beautiful items in Pam's shop.  Some of my favorites include:

Cupcake Postcard - look at the little heart in the cherry!

 Art Quilt

 Notecard Set - Images of Pam's Tree art quilts

Sewing Machines
In 2008, Pam bought a Juki TL-98 QE, which isn't a long-arm quilting machine, but it does have a throat larger than most domestic machines.  It’s also a straight stitch machine; Pam loves that it only does one stitch, but that one stitch is done very well.  She still has her older machine that is used for its zigzag stitch, but she isn't crazy about that machine - they've had several discussions, it knows why.

Color / Inspiration
Pam can get an idea from just about anything.  Through the Quiltsy Team, she's loved the Project Quilting challenges over the past two years, and because there’s only one week to finish the project, the projects have really forced Pam to quickly develop her ideas.  While Pam doesn't necessarily have a favorite color, she is partial to batiks and small tone-on-tone prints.   For smaller projects, she does like to use novelty prints, but she never needs more than a fat quarter.  For all her entries into Project Quilting, she was the grand prize winner of the second season!  Even though the prizes were great, the best thing for Pam was that she made six amazing quilts in a twelve week period.

For fun....
I asked Pam where she'd like to go on vacation, if it is to be a place she'd never before been.  Her response?  Pam's goal is to actually visit all 50 states - just driving through or having a layover doesn’t count.  She's been to about 20, so she has plenty left to visit.  Two years ago she went to Oregon to see the Sister’s Outdoor Quilt Show in Sister’s Oregon, and she'd also love to go to Paducah, Kentucky.  As a sidenote, through my regular job in commercial real estate, I too want to stay in all states - my criteria is an overnight, not a full visit.  But I think I should change that requirement! What a great vacation plan.....


Cheers!  Jennifer

My mother and I make up the Olive Street Studio design and sewing team.  I cannot remember my mom NOT sewing or quilting.  Since 2003, we've made chenille and cotton baby quilts, baby gift sets, little girls dresses and skirts, and for a second dimension, reversible tote bags and smaller handbags.  I joined the Quiltsy Team on Etsy in 2010. 
Etsy Shop: Olive Street Studio
Website: Olive Street Studio
Blog: Olive Street Studio on Blogger