2016 Trimmings Challenge JUDGE: Soule Mama

@soulemama Photos by Soule Mama

Umbrella Prints are huge fans of Soule Mama and have been for over a decade so it is our absolute pleasure to have Amanda Blake Soule lending us her keen eye to help choose a winner for the 2016 Umbrella Prints Trimmings Challenge Quilt entries.

Amanda (as you probably already know) is the editor in chief of the comforting and inspiring magazine, Taproot. Taproot is amongst many things "... a collection of curated stories written by and for people living fully and digging deeper; people who are interested in deepening their connections to their families, communities, and themselves as they strive to live locally and closer to the ground."

Our stash of Taproot Magazines (all 15 of them!)

Taproot magazine makes us want to run away to the country, grow vegetables, live simply and cherish the time we have with our families. Whilst a tree change may have to wait, every issue of Taproot magazine is filled with really practical beautiful things you can do right now ... slow down and be present with your family. An antidote to modern life.

One of our favourite recipes for the winter blues

We asked Amanda what her favourite thing to do with fabric trimmings is?

I save all my fabric scraps. Maybe it's the influence of my depression era grandmother who made something out of nothing all the time - in her cooking and in her sewing too. Or maybe it's the influence of my children, who pick up what I think to be true 'scraps' on the floor of my studio and then turn them into something magical with tape, glue, stitches or even nails! There's so much potential in a little piece of fabric, isn't there? I do love quilting with the scraps I keep (my most recent favorite being the cut up scraps of baby clothes from my children), and I love finding any and all ways to incorporate what I keep into a new creation. Lately, I've been making a lot of rope baskets and folding fabric scraps into and around the rope here and there. That's just what I did with my own Umbrella Prints scrap pack, and now the giant basket holds my latest round of wool roving, at the ready for spinning.

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Amanda's conundrum: Should I sew or knit?! via @soulemama

photo by Amanda Soule via Soule Mama

Photo by Amanda Soule : Umbrella Prints Trimmings X Clothing line basket

Thank you for being a part of our lively and creative community & helping us choose a winner of the 2016 Umbrella Prints Trimmings Challenge Amanda xx