Dianne Huck, quilter, editor of British Patchwork and Quilting magazine and one of the original founders of Quilts UK tells us how she went from hating sewing at school to being a well known name in the world of quilting, much to the surprise of her sewing teacher!

How did you get started in sewing?

I learnt at school but never enjoyed it. We were taught to make clothing; it would take months to make anything and by the time I had re-worked the seam allowances (which got less and less) I had grown bigger so it wouldn't fit anyway! It put me off sewing for a long time. I was told I was no good at it. At the first Quilts UK, my sewing tutor, Mrs Mitchell came and was amazed. She said the last thing she ever, ever expected to see me doing was anything involving sewing!

What got you back into sewing?

I tried many different crafts but never really got very far with any of them. I saw a book which showed traditional American blocks. It showed how different the blocks could look when you using different colours, or changed them from straight blocks to diagonal blocks. I was intrigued by what a different look you got. I was going to try it myself from the book, but fortunately didn't, as I probably would have tried to find a quicker way of doing it, not succeeded and would have moved on to something else.

Instead, in September 1983 I joined a local quilting class and there we were taught to make blocks properly. I liked maths and I enjoyed working out the measurements. The points met - the blocks looked good. Each week we were taught to make different blocks, getting more intricate as the weeks went on. I would go home and do another similar block that week, until I had enough for a quilt. At this time most of us were piecing by hand from our own home-made cardboard templates. Fortunately for my quilting career, we had really bad snow in the winter of '83-84 and I was snowed in for 3 weeks. By the time I returned to the class for the next term, I had hand quilted and finished the quilt and was hooked. I found it quite addictive; once I cut out a block I couldn't stop until I had sewn it together.

How did you go from quilting as a hobby to making it into a profession, and becoming the editor of Patchwork and Quilting?

I had been teaching science before I started quilting. Quite quickly I ended up teaching quilting. Whilst attending Malvern quilting group I met a lady called Elaine Hammond. I used to give her a lift to the meetings. During one of the talks at our quilting group the speaker said it was a shame we didn't have a British magazine, they were all American. On the way home from that meeting, Elaine and I looked at each other and said, ‘Why don't we do one?'

So it was the first British quilting magazine?

Yes, other than the Guild Newsletter, Patchwork and Quilting was the first British quilting magazine.

Did you approach publishers at that point?

Partly. We did everything ourselves except design the pages. There was an advert in the local paper about a new publishing company who had set up in Malvern and who could produce news letters, magazines etc; this was Traplet publications. We spoke to the managing director, Tony Stephenson,
who understood what we wanted to do and agreed to design the pages and work with the printers for us. We edited, provided the copy, sorted out the advertising, arranged the printing etc, etc.

How did you distribute the magazine? How did you know how many to print and where to sell?

We went to the Guild AGM prior to producing the magazine and obtained names and addresses of those who might be interested in the magazine. A few months before we planned to publish, we wrote to everyone on our list and said we would produce 4 issues a year at £2.00 each. If they would be interested in subscribing they could pay £7.50 up front for the year. We were amazed to get over 1,000 subscription responses (plus many more asking for individual copies), which gave us our seed money! Once printed, the magazines were delivered to our homes and the whole family became involved in packing and sending them out. We also sold through quilting shops and we went to the quilting shows to promote the magazine and built up a good list of subscribers.

Did you own the magazine initially then?

Yes, we owned it. After about 5 years of selling direct to subscribers we realised that we were never going to progress much further without being on sale in the newsagents. Because we were such a small enterprise we were unable to finance the printing of enough magazines to get it into the newsagents, so when Tony Stephenson of Traplet Publications approached us and offered to buy the magazine whilst letting us stay on as editors, we jumped at the chance.

With the magazine having been running for so long now is it hard to find fresh content?

It's no problem! I have a whole filing cabinet of projects and features. A lot of our content is provided by readers. Teachers or those who just love quilting often contact us to show us what they have made. If we like their project, we ask for the instructions. Our readers are a vital part of the magazine and we are always happy to hear from them.

How have things changed in the world of quilting since you first started?

I would say the greatest advancement is the invention of the rotary cutter. That transformed quilting; you no longer had to cut out patches single piece by single piece, but in multiples. It is a great time saver. Another change is that people began to us the sewing machine more and more. When I first started a few people used to join pieces by machine, but still hand quilted. Now many more people piece and quilt by machine. The great joy is that we have the choice - to hand stitch or machine

Another big change was when the shows started. We wouldn't have the readers we have now if it wasn't for the advent of the quilting shows. The National Patchwork Championships started around 1980, and there was the Guild AGM. They were the 2 biggest events in the patch working year.

There are quite a few quilting shows now throughout the year aren't there?

Yes, there are now several throughout the year. Elaine and I actually started Quilts UK in Malvern in 1989 and we ran it for 10 years. Then unfortunately Elaine was unwell, as was my husband, so we sold it on in 1999. Grosvenor Exhibitions run it now, along with several other quilting shows. The biggest UK quilt show, Festival of Quilts at the NEC Birmingham, attracted over 31,000 visitors from 50 countries in 2009.

I understand you are also involved in quilting tours too, how did that come about?

When we first started the magazine, we were invited out to the biggest quilting show in America in Houston, Texas. Initially we thought it would be a once in a lifetime experience, but when we wrote about it in the magazine, we asked if anyone would be interested in coming if we went again. About 15-20 people wrote in saying they would like to, so we decided to plan the trip. We were so naïve then that when the American hotel told us its room rate, we didn't realise that tax of over 10% still had to be added on. We gave everyone the tour cost and then, later on, had to write again to explain we needed more money! Luckily everyone was most understanding and paid.

Do you visit the same shows each year?

No, we did just go to the Houston show for the first couple of years, staying in Houston for a week to attend the show, but then people wanted a change and we started to hear about another major show in Paducah, Kentucky. This wasn't as easy to get to as Houston; you couldn't just fly in and out. So we decided to arrange a tour based on the show. We stayed in St Louis, then went to Kalona, a small Amish town and then to the quilt show after that. That was the start of the format we still use for many of the tours - to go to a city, followed by a small town and then onto a quilt show. We would visit several quilt shops as part of the trip. It's a shame the airlines have reduced the baggage allowance! We used to be able to bring back two suitcases each weighing 70lb (think of all that material), now it is 2 of 50lb and may soon be just one!

Are your tours always in America?

We started with America, and then went on to take tours to Australia and New Zealand. We then started to offer inspirational tours, visiting countries to help inspire patchwork design, rather than just to buy materials and visit shows.

Last year we went to Tanzania where we met local people who taught us different craft techniques. We were invited into the home of one lady to learn tie-dying. It's something you would never get to do as part of a normal holiday.

We are going to Sweden this year. We will be meeting up with a local quilting groups and learning about other local crafts such as weaving. We are also planning to visit Alaska, Ireland, Paducah,Egypt, New Zealand and New England in the next 18 months.

How long are the tours?

They are usually between 2 - 3 weeks. We started off doing one tour a year and we've built up to offering 4 or 5 tours a year. We have from 15-40 people on a tour. I think about 30 is the ideal number.

You must feel like you have the ideal job? Travelling the world and doing what you love.

I do! A lot of it would not be possible nowadays, to set a magazine up the way we did or to launch a new quilting show. There is much competition now, whereas we were there at the beginning and were lucky that we did what we did when we did. I think if I had known from the outset where it was all going to lead, I probably would have felt too intimidated to begin. Instead it grew slowly and things just seemed to progress naturally.

What advice would you give to anyone planning a new venture or wanting to change their life style?

I think if it is at all possible, go for it, especially If you can get the support of your family. We only have one life, so it is important to enjoy what you do if you can. I have had the luxury of doing a job that I love and have enjoyed every aspect of it.

You can find out more about Patchwork and Quilting magazine by visiting http://www.pandqmagazine.com/  and visit http://www.quilt-tours.co.uk/index.php  to find out more about P & Q tours.