About Lucy
Lucy Engels is a Modern Quilter and Visual Artist, Based in Edinburgh.
With a background in Fine Art and a BA (Hons) in Printmaking from Grays School of Art, Lucy has always been creative. But the real world beckoned, so she side-stepped into the world of social work for a good decade of her life. When Lucy moved back to Edinburgh for her partner’s work, this was her opportunity to step back into her artist shoes. She hasn’t looked back!
Lucy feels that her artistic background helps her bring different kinds of knowledge, skill and inspiration to the quilts and patterns that she creates.
You may have seen some of Lucy’s work exhibited at QuiltCon in 2018, 2020, and 2021 – – where she won an award in the appliqué category for my Naive Melody Quilt. She is heavily influenced by music!
Lucy collaborates regularly with industry leaders such as justhands-on.tv, JanomeUK, Aurifil Thread, FIGO Fabrics, Oakshott Fabrics, Purl Soho, and RJR Fabrics. She also teaches online workshops to individuals, groups, and Guilds, as well as in-person workshops in my Edinburgh studio.
According to Lucy, “I create unique, modern quilt patterns that coax out your inner artist by allowing you to put your own personality and stamp on what you’re making. This isn’t quilting by numbers. You don’t have to follow what I do to the letter. Consider it more as a map to guide you towards creating a stunning piece of art that you can curl up under when it’s done.”
To see Lucy’s designs and limited edition fabric collections, visit her website: https://lucyengels.com/
You can watch Lucy make a colourful modern quilt design using a foundation paper piecing technique that she calls, “controlled improv” in this episode of The Makers Studio series.
Signature Technique
Controlled Improv
Top Tips
- Experiment with colour to create movement in your quilt.
- Map out your design on a wall before cutting and sewing.
- Use music as an inspiration for your quilt design.
- Blue tip needles work a treat for paper piecing. Fine and sharp.
- A single line of different colour thread in your quilting creates lift.
- Fold the freezer paper along template lines to help with your foundation paper piecing.
Videos
Patterns
Posts
What size do you need to cut with the rotary cutter?
The rotary cutter means that you dont have to use templates and here are some simple rules that you can apply throughout your patchwork: On the Flying geese fast no-waste method you just need to add 1 1/4" to the finished size you need for the larger square so for 4" you need 5 1/4" and then 7/8 to the size of the smaller square - so again you are right at 2 7/8 and if you want to enjoy the video on this click here: The other magic numbers for rotary cutting are as follows:
For a plain square you add 1/2" so 4" finished becomes 4 1/2" For a half-square triangle we now add 1" - so cut 5", - and once sewn trim back to be an accurate 4 1/2" before sewing
and for quarter-square triangles we add 1 1/4" (as per the flying geese) and pay attention to the seam allowance we sew!
Do you love Butterflies?
I do and certainly can't resist fabric that has them on; not so keen on moths however. Still follow this link and you will see them in a whole new light: North Carolina-based artist Yumi Okita creates beautiful textile sculptures of moths, butterflies, and other insects with various textiles and embroidery techniques. The pieces are quite large, measuring nearly a foot wide and contain other flourishes including painting, feathers, and artificial fur.
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