Melissa Averinos is an artist and quilter living on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Melissa’s artistic endeavors span all across the gamut, as she paints, designs products, quilts and illustrates. Melissa won Best in Show at QuiltCon 2016 with her quilt My Brother’s Jeans and her quilt Face#1 received a Judge’s Choice Award at QuiltCon 2015. Melissa is also a painter of all things quirky and quaint. She paints everything from pet-portraits to landscapes or your favorite body part. Melissa teaches workshops across the country and is an author (her latest book Making Faces in Fabric is available from C&T Publishing). In addition, Melissa has written articles and had her quilts and artwork featured in numerous publications. Her newest project is a line of awesome leggings, that you can purchase from her shop, Yummy Goods. Welcome, Melissa!
How would you describe your quilting style/aesthetic?
Melissa: The most consistent thing in my work is that it’s all imperfect (and I like it that way)!
Mostly improv piecing. A lot of scrappy low volume which I think of as my blank paper that I draw on.
When I’m not improv piecing, I love making raw-edge appliqué faces.
Confident color. Happily wonky stitching. Spontaneous. Experimental. Evolving.
My Brother’s Jeans. Image courtesy of Melissa Averinos.
How would you describe the creative environment in your home as a child?
Melissa: My mom was a sewer and crafter when I was very little, so there were lots of supplies for ten-year-old-me to pillage and appropriate! I didn’t have much (if any!) supervision which had the positive effect of allowing me to to be really creative and expressive without any negative consequences: like drawing on the walls, cutting up clothes to refashion, using sharpies to write poetry on dresses. My dad didn’t live with us, but he encouraged my artistic spirit by buying me art books and supplies like paints, sketchbooks, and colored pencils.
While I wouldn’t say my family really placed a lot of value on the arts, it does run in the family. My father’s grandfather was a painter of seascapes, did coppersmithing, and did commercial screenprinting. My father’s father did exquisite woodcarvings and wrote poetry up until he died. My father used to build intricate model ships and is incredibly talented at precision-work with his hands like tile work, which was his profession. My mother’s mother was an avid knitter and my mom used to knit, crochet, macrame, decoupage, sew — you name it and she did it! My siblings are all talented in their own ways as well, from woodworking and stained glass, to painting and paper crafts.
Image courtesy of Melissa Averinos.
Do you consider yourself a “quilter”, an artist, or some combination of both?
Both for sure, but I mainly identify as an artist. I’m a lifelong painter, who sometimes uses quilting as a medium.
Image courtesy of Melissa Averinos.
Are there any rituals that you perform to prepare/ground yourself in your work?
Music, always! I didn’t necessarily think of playing music as a ritual around my work, but since I always do it I suppose it is! All kinds of music: nostalgic 80’s stuff, soundtracks to musicals, sanskrit chanting, contemporary americana/folk/bluegrass, and dance/pop.
Dorito Ears. Image courtesy of Melissa Averinos.
What is the support system you have in place for creating your work?
I do all sorts of work aside from quilting (I work with an art licensing agency, do freelance illustration jobs, teach workshops, write craft books, do pet portraits etc!), so this applies to all of it:
I’d say there are 3 main supports: having space, my husband, Stuart, and my friend, Debbie.
-I have a couple of rooms at home solely for my work: one is a painting/fine art studio and the other is the sewing room. Of course, very often I will sprawl out in the living room and take over the dining room table as well!
-My husband is a dreamboat who has always been very supportive of me following my dream of making a living as an artist, which is a challenging path! Talking things through with him helps me deal with any rejections I get and jealousy/envy that comes up. He’s the best.
-Debbie comes to the studio monday mornings and we help each other stay on track with our businesses and productivity. She isn’t an artist (she is a Pampered Chef consultant), but I think the differences between us really complement each other! I bring creative problem solving and a different perspective to her and she is very good at goal setting, follow through and productivity – all things that I struggle with. In addition to co-working on Monday mornings, we have a quick check in phone call at 8:15 am the remaining weekdays for accountability and encouragement. We’ve been doing this for about 3 years now and it’s pretty great!
-Oh! A fourth support is Instagram. Seriously! I don’t have an in-person sewing community so ig is my quilt guild!
Detail. Image courtesy of Melissa Averinos.
How do you deal with comparison to / envy of others? Can you describe a time when you used comparison/envy/admiration to push yourself in your own work and self-discovery?
It’s hard! Unfortunately I’ve struggled with envy since I was a kid. I work on it but it still sneaks up on me! A few years ago there was a hashtag on instagram #thisquilterinspiresme, created by the wonderful Latifah Saafir. I would see people posting these awesome works. At the time I had only made simple improv-pieced scrap quilts and was like, ‘huh, i should probably start making all the quilts I have in my head!’ That’s around the time I started working on Face #1!
I find over and over again that the only balm for envy is to embrace my own weirdness and get back to work.
Also! As a preventative measure, it’s helpful to mute or unfollow people on social media who bring this feeling out in you! I have had to do that and although at first it feels bad and weird, it is really a relief. I use social media as a tool to connect and if it causes me stress or makes me feel bad then that’s not good for anyone.
Detail. Image courtesy of Melissa Averinos.
What was the most challenging thing you ever made?
Face #1 – also the most satisfying! All those tiny pieces! I loved the process of figuring it out as I went – AND it made it really hard to put together! (*person shrugging emoji*).
Face #1. Image courtesy of Melissa Averinos.
Thank you, Melissa! Your artistry shines through in everything you do! For more about Melissa, visit her website, or connect with her on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest. To sign up for Melissa’s newsletter, visit her website and don’t forget to check out her product line at Yummy Goods!
Would you like to be featured in The Creativity Project? Reach out! I’d love to hear from you! Contact me.
Want to participate, but not necessarily be featured? You can do that! Click here to take the survey!
The Creativity Project can be found on Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter or Bloglovin’. Or check back here every Friday of 2018!
Michelle @ From Bolt to Beauty
August 29, 2018 at 6:45 pmI’m a fan of Melissa’s and had the luxury of seeing her lecture and present some quilts last year, but this is the first I’ve heard about Debbie. I love that part of Melissa’s story! We all need a Debbie — someone whose skill set complements our own, someone who keeps us accountable, someone who makes us better at being us.
lelandavestudios@gmail.com
September 4, 2018 at 2:12 pmThis rang so true with me too! Finding that different voice to talk things through with can help with perspective and breaking through creative blocks.