Friday, March 6, 2020

Past Perfect: Kim McLean

Autumn Leaves by Kim McLean

This month's Past Perfect quiltmaker is Kim McLean, chromatic queen,
who's had great influence on the look of 21st-century quilts.

Kim drew her pattern from a quilt by Charlotte Jane Whitehill in the collection of the Denver Art Museum. Whitehill was inspired by Mary Hilliker's prize-winning quilt in the 1933 Chicago World's Fair. Hilliker's original inspiration was a pattern by Anne Orr, which she elaborated upon. 

Orr's pattern for Good Housekeeping
A perfect chain of inspiration

Kim, a former pharmacist who lives in Australia, began making quilts in 1990 and after a year won Best of Show at the prestigious Sydney Quilt Show. On her webpage she writes:
"In the early days I designed and made quite a few quilts based on the antique ones I saw, using the reproduction fabrics available at the time. That all changed when I discovered the Kaffe Fassett Collective fabrics. Although my quilt designs still have the antique feel to it, they are done in these bright, cheery, happy fabrics that I love."
Princess Feather


Mariner's Compass Medallion

New York Beauty (all solids)

Pine Trees detail

Glorious Hexagon


Stars & Sprigs

See her patterns and quilts at her webpage. It's a great gallery of her work and you can click to buy the patterns.

Lollypop Trees


Here's Kim's Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/kimmcleandesigns/


See Mary Hilliker's 1933 Autumn Leaves here at the Quilt Index:

And the original Princess Feather quilt from Ohio here:

9 comments:

  1. serious drool here...i absolutely love her patterns and coupled with kaffe fabrics...aaarrrrgh...wish i was 25 and not 70 but absolutely must make at least part of one...the leaves have always been my fave...well, i think so anyway

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Barbara,
    Many many thanks for posting about my quilts!
    I dropped my cup of tea on the table and myself this morning when I opened your email, I can’t believe it!
    I have enjoyed reading your blog posts and have certainly learnt a lot from them.
    Many thanks again, I will print it out for posterity,
    Cheers, Kim McLean

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow! Those leaves are gorgeous. Also love the little birdies around the Princess feather quilt - pretty colours indeed.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am amazed at the detail and intricacy of Kim McLean's work, and that she's so productive! Thank you for profiling this fantastic artist / quiltmaker.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Kim's quilts are Gorgeous! So much color, so much applique, so much happy inducing, so much inspiration to do your own thing.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Am I flattered that Kim McLean reads this blog with her morning tea. As you can see I am a big fan, Kim!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I do indeed Barbara, a lovely way to start the day!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Quilts like these make me wish I was proficient in doing applique. Gorgeous.

    ReplyDelete
  9. A GREAT SPELL CASTER (DR. EMU) THAT HELP ME BRING BACK MY EX GIRLFRIEND.
    Am so happy to testify about a great spell caster that helped me when all hope was lost for me to unite with my ex-girlfriend that I love so much. I had a girlfriend that love me so much but something terrible happen to our relationship one afternoon when her friend that was always trying to get to me was trying to force me to make love to her just because she was been jealous of her friend that i was dating and on the scene my girlfriend just walk in and she thought we had something special doing together, i tried to explain things to her that her friend always do this whenever she is not with me and i always refuse her but i never told her because i did not want the both of them to be enemies to each other but she never believed me. She broke up with me and I tried times without numbers to make her believe me but she never believed me until one day i heard about the DR. EMU and I emailed him and he replied to me so kindly and helped me get back my lovely relationship that was already gone for two months.
    Email him at: Emutemple@gmail.com  
    Call or Whats-app him: +2347012841542

    ReplyDelete