Hi there!

mbqmelissa

Thanks for visiting my website, I'm Melissa from New Plymouth, New Zealand.

I began quilting in 2004 when I found a magazine at my local bookstore, and fell in love with the cover quilt.. the rest, they say, is history.

I create custom made quilts for friends and family, from baby comforters to double bed covers and art quilts. I love to personalise them so they all tend to be a little different. I’m not sure you could sum up my style, like my taste in music, its a bit eclectic. I do tend towards applique and freemotion quilting when I begin thinking about my design process, I love to push the boundaries in the way I think about things.

My weapons of choice are a Brother Innovis NV400 for piecing and blanket stitch applique (and other decorative stitching). I also have a semi-industrial Brother mid-arm, the PQ1500s, for piecing and freemotion quilting.

I've authored a review of the PQ1500S HERE.

When I design my more complex pieces I use illustrative programs (like Inkscape) where I can be super accurate when planning the quilt dimensions and take my time developing the custom applique images. I must confess though, I have only followed a full quilt pattern, that I haven’t made myself, once or twice. Although I do have a mass of books, magazines and good intentions!

I grew up drawing or painting, and continue to fill my notebooks with sketches still. My other love is geography and geology which eventually became my livelihood. I have a full time job in GIS (mapping) with a background in CAD, cartography and general GIS analysis. I would love to create a map quilt at some stage, I’ve seen a few out there in blog land already, but I’ve got a couple of ideas in my head that are busting to get out.

When I’m not quilting or looking at quilting things on the net or taking on yet another hobby, I’m spending time with my awesome husband and freaking cool son. Oh, and by the way, my fav music bands are the Eagles, Iron Maiden, Jack Johnson, Prodigy and Pink! (I told you I can’t make up my mind! I love them all)


- Melissa Brooks