Get to know The Guild by meeting our talented members! We have interesting and inspiring members all over the country doing amazing sewing and we want you to be able to share their work.

Meet Guild member, Pascale Michalski.

What are you working on now?

At the moment, I am working on my biggest piece so far. It doesn’t have a title at this stage, so something to be figured out in due time. My technique has evolved a bit over the lockdown periods. I create my original design as a silk painting and then work in free motion quilting and raw edge applique, but I am taking more creative risks when it comes to the free motion quilting. The stitching itself has become more like a basic embroidery or pictorial embellishment.

What is your favourite quilt that you’ve ever made?

I’ve created many pieces over the last few years which have all been very well received at events and festivals, but I think my favourite one so far is the one I created at the end of 2020 featuring a rhinoceros. The piece is called ‘It is a pear, within a pear, John’.  It hasn’t been exhibited anywhere yet, but hopefully it will be in the coming year. This is the first piece which I had immersed myself in pushing my free motion quilting a bit further and used pictorial elements like flowers and leaves to create the quilting pattern within my subject.

Who are your quilting heroes?

Susan Carlson is on the top of my list, with all her animal quilts created from very impressive quilting collages. She uses bright and bold print fabrics and really understands the shapes and textures of her subjects.

And although I am a contemporary art quilter who creates pictorial work, I am also a huge fan of quilters like Victoria Findlay Wolfe and Chris English, who take modern quilting and composition to a different level.

Can you recommend a good quilting read?

Inspired by Endangered Species: Animals and Plants in Fabric Perspectives, by Donna Marcinkowski DeSoto, published by Schiffer. Not because one of my quilts features (on page 45), but because it includes over 180 wonderful small quilts of endangered plants and animals. It’s a fun and very informative book showing off textile art approaches by artists around the world. All 184 quilts were specifically created for this publication and the collection has been touring as an exhibition around the US along with the book since 2019.

Why is your Guild membership important to you?

I have been a member since 2017. By being a member, I support the craft I love, and The Guild has also given me endless opportunities to exhibit country wide, and explore new ventures in my quilting journey. I was awarded two bursaries by The Guild which I have used to develop my palette of skills, and I wouldn’t have progressed as a quilter and textile artist without being a member. I am also very thankful for having met so many wonderful people, and being part of a growing community of quilters and textile artists.

We are asking Members to tell us a bit about their sewing life using five simple questions. At the end of the interview each member suggests another to interview. This way we hope to bring you a wide range of makers from all corners of The Guild over the next weeks and months. If you know an inspiring quilter who we should feature, get in touch at commsupport@quiltersguild.org.uk and we’ll send out a copy of our questionnaire.