We recently connected with Mel Beach and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Mel thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

In 2003, I had a stack of t-shirts and got the idea to stitch them together into a quilt. My mother loaned me her Kenmore sewing machine and showed me how to use the various features and set me off to make my first quilt. Looking back, there were plenty of technical issues, but I absolutely loved the process and immediately purchased quilting cotton to start my second quilt and have probably made 200 or more quilts since then! For the first 7 or so years, I learned how to make mostly traditional quilts through quilting books, magazines, and tv programs. When I moved across country to San Jose, California, I joined a quilt guild and enrolled in quilting workshops through both the guild and several local quilt shops. Each workshop introduced me to new set of techniques, tips, and tools to add to my quilting tool box. At times I wish I had started taking workshops sooner, but since I never knew there were “quilting rules”, I tend to be fairly fearless and quite resourceful when it comes to my quilting!

Through the guild, I was introduced to quilt challenges and have since completed more than 100 quilt challenges at the local and international level, with several of my quilts going on to earn honors, juried into traveling exhibits, and published in magazines. In my “Challenge Yourself!” lecture/trunk show, I share how these quilt challenges have helped me to overcome my fears, as well as how participation has helped me to explore new designs, experiment with different techniques, and develop my artistic voice.

For years I set five quilting/creativity goals for myself. They were way more fun than traditional new years resolutions of going to the gym, losing weight, etc, and I was much more successful! I love choosing resolutions that help me to face some of my fears while also stretching my creativity in a fun new direction. Past resolutions have included learning free-motion quilting, fabric dyeing, entering my quilts into national venues, and joining the quilt teaching circuit.

In more recent years, I have stretched my creativity through the completion of six 100 day projects which involve rolling the dice for my daily or weekly assignment. Rolling the dice adds an element of play while stretching me to experiment with design composition, free-motion quilting, mark making on fabric, block printing, while also exploring new sources of design inspiration! It is so much fun that I teach a mini workshop, Design by Dice, and have an entire Design by Dice gallery of how I’ve used dice in my art. I’ve also been discovering all new design inspiration by enrolling in mixed media workshops which has definitely translated back into my quilting.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am a fiber artist, teacher, and lecturer based out of San Jose, CA. I absolutely love to teach and offer a menu of fun and inspiring quilting lectures and workshops to help quilters advance their quilting skills, confidence, and enjoyment. My workshops focus on art quilting, surface design, free-motion quilting, and modern, improv design.

With the pivot to online teaching, I find I am able to pack even more inspiration and technique into each workshop, while connecting with quilters all around the world! It is incredibly rewarding to see quilters experiment with a new-to-them techniques and add their own unique style. And it is an honor to see familiar faces coming back for multiple workshops as well as guilds inviting me back year after year. When I’m not teaching for guilds and quilting conferences, I host several workshops each quarter that have open enrollment, meaning anyone can join the fun!

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I strive for creative play, each and every day! Whether it is participating in a 100 Day Project or experimenting with mixed media, I try to incorporate art into my daily schedule. When I frame it as play, it makes it easier to head into the studio to see what possibilities await me. It removes the pressure to create a finished piece and as a result generates lots of experimentation and learning along the way! In my latest series of block printed & stitched pieces, I start with a square of evolon, a non woven fiber, that is transformed with faux dyeing, block printing (many of the blocks were carved in 2022 during my 100 Days of Hand Carved Stamps) and stitching. I’m especially enjoying the meditative nature of hand embroidery and look forward to these daily stitching sessions! Even just 15 minutes of daily play can really add up over a week, month, and year, plus 15 minutes usually turn into an hour or more once I get into the creative flow.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

First and foremost, it is important for artists to have platforms that they own including a website and newsletter. These were my first priorities when I first started teaching so folks had a way of finding me via my website and stay connected via my monthly newsletter. My website is routinely updated with new quilt finishes and upcoming workshops, in addition to sending out a monthly newsletter that is packed with inspiration from my studio, upcoming workshops, along with a curated list of resources that are inspiring me that month.

Social media, whether Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube, are wonderful tools for connecting with new audiences and inviting them to visit my website and/or join my newsletter list. However, I am very mindful that I do not own these platforms and they can cease operation, change algorithms, and/or block my account without any notice. When posting to social media, I enjoy sharing sneak peeks from my studio, inspirational messages, workshop photos, and other creative endeavors. Participating in 100 Day Projects has been an incredible opportunity to create plenty of content while sharing insights into my creative process, in addition to networking with other participating artists. Posting my daily progress also keeps me accountable and motivated, especially on days when I may not be feeling as inspired to create. This year I’ve been posting Friday Try Day posts where I share my results experimenting with a new product, technique, or tools. These have been fun as they certainly stretch my creativity, while also modeling how much fun and rewarding it is to venture out of our comfort zones! Plus, daily Instagram and Facebook posts can then be combined and reformatted to create weekly blog posts and/or featured in my monthly newsletter.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://melbeachquilts.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melbeachquilts
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/melbeachquilts
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MelBeachQuilts

Image Credits
Professional Headshot taken by Carla Morgado, permission given to use