My Modern Muse - Toni at Hoosier Toni

It`s already mid-March and I`m having a great time with my mum visiting but I`m having life changing thoughts about work which is somewhat preoccupying and so if  I haven`t visited you in a while and commented or am slow to respond to an email please forgive me!

I`m delighted to have Toni from Hoosier Toni in the States with me today for the fifth installment of the My Modern Muse.  I came across the ever so talented Toni when I signed up for her Pay It Forward and she made me the most beautiful tote bag which I use all the time!

So today Toni and I went out in to the beautiful countryside where we ate fresh bread dipped in olive oil and Toni told me a little bit about what inspires her!

 Annabella For those who don`t know you Toni, how would you describe your style?
Toni Colorful?  I can’t say really. I love using bright modern fabrics but my quilts tend to be a mix of modern and traditional. I’m not really into any designs that are too fussy or complicated as I just don’t have the patience for that right now. Fairly simple patchwork in interesting color palettes is more my thing. 

Annabella  What inspired you to take up quilting?    
Toni My mom has quilted or sewn for as long as I could remember, so it was just kind of something that I picked up along the way.  At first I just pieced a few tops of my own and let her do the rest of the work, but now that we live so far apart it came time for me to suck it up and learn how to finish them. So I started reading some quilting blogs and it kind of snowballed from there!


Annabella Is there a blog that you find a constant source of inspiration? 
Toni It is really hard to narrow it down. Kati at From the Blue Chair and Natalie from Greenleaf Goods never fail to inspire me. Kati is so prolific at churning out incredible quilts and Natalie’s use of color and fabrics always has me wanting to see more. 

Toni`s Dead Simple quilt

Annabella When you are offline, what things in life inspire you to create your beautiful quilts?   
Toni All kinds of things really… Interesting color combinations and patterns in nature, the tiles on the back splash of the restaurant bathroom I was in the other day. Quilts are everywhere when you stop and look around.

Annabella Apart from your immediate family, who has been your greatest creative inspiration in your life and why?   

Toni Is it horrible that I can’t think of anyone? My mom was obviously the one that gave me an interest in creating but there really hasn’t been one specific person I look to for inspiration.

Annabella Is there something (a design, technique) you haven`t tried yet that you would love to do?  
Toni There are so many designs based on half-square triangles that I love, but I find HSTs mind-numbing to make so those will probably have to be minis or baby quilts. I want to try piecing curves but haven’t quite jumped in on that one yet. The NY Beauty quilt-alongthat is happening now is intriguing, too.

Annabella Can you tell me a little about this gorgeous Plus quilt you have with you?

Roger`s quilt

I decided last summer that I wanted to make my husband a quilt for our anniversary. For as long as we have been together, he has bugged me to make him a John Deere pillow. He is a farmer and of course John Deere equipment is his favorite. Since I was starting to figure out this whole quilting thing a bit, I decided he should have a quilt instead. Only I could not bring myself to use the ugly licensed John Deere fabric with the tractors all over it, so he got a quilt using JD colors instead. I wanted it to be a fairly simple pattern, but a bit more complex than just random squares so I chose the “plus” design. I really like how it turned out, but what I love is that my husband uses it nearly every day and if I am ever on the couch with it, he wants to know why I’m using “his” blanket. I think he likes it…

Annabella  Do you have a favourite quilting book? 
Toni I suppose if I were really cool I would say some obscure Japanese patchwork book, but I’m not, so I’ll choose Modern Blocks. I am in a bee that is based on this book and I have really enjoyed trying some of the blocks. There are several in the book that I think would make spectacular quilts.

Annabella Do you pin? Where can people find you?   
Toni I am so thankful that someone was creative enough to come up with Pinterest. I adore it and it has really saved me time looking through random bookmarks on my computer or trying to recall just where that tutorial or recipe was that I was sure I wouldn’t forget! You can find me here. 


Annabella Do you find there is a color palette you come back to again and again?   
Toni I find that I use quite a bit of green, yellow, and orange. They are so fresh and fun that it is hard to make something without at least one or two of those colors.

Annabella Who is a creative inspiration you would most love to have 30 minutes of their time and why?   
Toni Gabrielle Blair of DesignMom. I love her style and design aesthetic. Plus, she has six kids and has such an ease about her that I find appealing. 

Toni`s Across the Seas quilt

Annabella Who is your favorite designer Toni?  

Toni I think everyone has some hits and misses, but I find that I am always drawn to creations using Denyse Schmidt prints. Joel Dewberry and Sweetwater are two more that I can nearly always rely on.

Annabella Why do you think quilting has become so popular again?    
Toni Have you seen the amazing fabrics that are being designed these days? And with all the online shops and free tutorials, people have seen that they really can make so many things for themselves. Everything is so accessible these days! It seems like there has also been a renewed interest in so many of the older ways of doing things. Canning is cool again, gardening and cooking food from scratch has become popular lately, it seems only natural that people would show an interest in sewing and quilting. Making things on our own instead of relying on a faceless industry to create them for us has definitely changed the way many people live. 


I have loved spending some time with Toni today and hope you will check out the links as recommended by her as well as her lovely blog.  Do be sure to pop back on Monday when I`ll be spending time with my oldest blogging buddy!