The Hottie Hotseat Is On Fire with Northcott Silk Fabric Designer Michele Scott

Welcome to March's Hottie Hotseater, Michele Scott!
Michele is a well known pattern and fabric designer whose designs have been featured in umpteen magazines and whose fabrics might just be hanging out in your stash. Let's get the down and dirty on the real hottie behind the designs!

Name:  Michele Scott

Business Name/Title: The Pieceful Quilter/owner

Location:  Deptford, NJ

# Years in Business: 15 years

Current Quilt project: Block of the Month for AQS

·       If I came to your house unannounced, could you give me a tour of your studio, or would it be such a disaster you would make up an excuse as to why we couldn’t go in?

I love my studio and would be jacked to have anyone come and visit!  I always have it in decent order because I’m way too OCD to have a lot of crap lying around.  I get nervous when things aren’t in order.  The reason why I love it so much is that my new husband created it for me.  Well, he’s not so new...it  gwill be 4 years this summer.  When we got back together after dating 25 years ago and decided to get married 2 weeks after our first date, I wanted a studio.  The next day, he began transforming his den into said studio.  Right there, I knew he meant business.  I have everything there – my computer and “business” stuff, a badass Horne cabinet for my machines and a great cutting table.  It’s a place I love spending time and that’s so important when you have to spend so much time there.

·       How many completed quilts are there in your home?

This display is a brilliant space saver! - BH

I have over 100 quilts in my home.  The majority of them are hanging in one of the spare rooms, ready at any time to take to my lecture.  I like to bring LOTS of quilts to my lectures.  I hate slideshows.  They’re boring. I want my fellow quilters to really be able to see and feel the work.  Once, while my ex-husband was loading up the car with my 70-80 quilts to take to a lecture, he asked why I couldn’t just take pictures and do a slide show.  This is why he is “ex”.  Current husband does this for me without question.  That’s love, baby.   

The house isn’t over-decorated with quilts, though.  A designer told me that you should only have one quilt per room, so I stick with that rule.  Our absolute favorite, however, is the flannel lap quilt.  We love to snuggle under during winter months.

·       Who is your famous person doppleganger?

I’ve been told years ago, I resembled Glenn Close.  I guess I can see that.  I like to think I look more like Michelle Pfeiffer.  I guess I do...that is if you are drinking wine, stand about 10 yards away, and squint.

I'm not even drinking wine and I can see it. - BH

·       What is the ugliest fabric in your stash?

Flamingo Fling by Michele Scott

None!  I actually don’t have a fabric stash.  The only fabrics in my stash are mine!  I design fabrics for Northcott Silk, so I always have a bunch of it around.  When I travel, people always ask me how big my stash is...I MUST have tons and tons of fabric.  They find it hard to believe that I don’t.  Again, it goes back to the OCD.  If I’m not using it, I don’t want it around.  And I mostly only make stuff with my fabrics!  Well, that’s not entirely true.  I’m currently doing a Block of the Month for AQS and I needed a fabric that had longevity, so I chose a new staple fabric from my Northcott design mentor, Deborah Edwards called Shimmer.

More Flinging Flamingos

It’s this amazing collection of metallics.  I’m using 18 fabrics.  Writing the directions with 18 fabrics is a friggin’ nightmare, but it’s a cool quilt.

Michele was kind enough to offer us a sneak peek at her latest line of fabrics, "Dino Pals" for Northcott, which she told me "has consumed her entire winter." If only real dinosaurs had been so cute, perhaps they would not have become extinct.

·       What is the nerdiest thing about you?

About a year and a half ago, I began running.  Other than fabric design, it is the one thing of which I’m the most proud!  In the past 18 months, I’ve completed countless 5Ks, a 10 miler, and most recently, the Philadelphia Half Marathon. What the nerdy part is that I LOVE to run to show tunes.  And if I’m feeling particularly good during the run, I will sing rather loudly, oblivious to anyone around me.  I swear my neighborhood thinks I’m out of my mind.  For fun, I will play some of my running playlist for friends.  They love to laugh at me.

Thank you, Michele, for this fun look at your real person side. I'm sure any of us would love to have you run through our neighborhoods belting out show tunes! Thanks for sitting in the hotseat!