Creativity & Play: a lecture with Victoria Findlay Wolfe

Friday, June 29th | Tickets $10

Doors open at 5:30 for exhibit viewing, lecture at 6:15

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A new world is being patched together by young quilters with fresh, creative ideas. Victoria Findlay Wolfe entered the modern quilt world when making quilts for her three-year-old daughter. Now she is known for creating unique one-of-a-kind quilts of her own design and sells her original works to collectors, architects and decorators while also available to work on commissioned projects.

Findlay Wolfe found her first influence from her grandmother’s quilts, which were vivid and had creative color choices. “As a little girl, being buried under her warm quilts during the winters was wonderfully comforting,” Findlay Wolfe recalls. Her mother was also a skilled seamstress and her father had his own upholstery business on the family farm.

Graduating from the College of Visual Arts in St. Paul, Minnesota with a B.A. in Fine Arts, Findlay Wolfe began her creative profession as a painter, sculptor and photographer. She has had a painting exhibited at the Parrish Art Museum in Southampton, New York, and sculpture in Spike Gallery in Manhattan, New York. Her travels have taken her through Europe to countries including Italy, Spain, France, Germany, and China, as well as other parts of the globe from Japan to Peru. In 2003, Findlay Wolfe founded Bumble Beans Inc. and began making custom children’s clothes after designing a few pieces for her own daughter. This lasted a few years and was put on hold until she began to blog on behalf of the company in 2008. She wrote about her quilting and quickly started working on commissioned quilts. She now has a number of unique quilts for sale in her Manhattan studio, and teaches from her home classroom.

Findlay Wolfe has shown quilts internationally in Museums and taught globally. Her quilt “LACE” was shown at the Houston International Quilt Festival as part of the juried section of the event, the highest honor at the largest of quilt shows. She is on the board of the Quilt Alliance, International Quilt Association, and the International Advisor board for the International Quilt Study center, as well as a founding member of the NYC Mods, member of the EMPIRE quilters, Minnesota Quilt Guild, SAQA, IQA and American Quilt Study Group. As the president and founder of the NYC Metro Mod Quilters, Findlay Wolfe designed a group for non-traditional quilters to connect and create. Victoria has published three books to date: 15 Minutes of Play – Improvisational Quilts, which teaches inspiration, creativity and discovery techniques, Double Wedding Ring Quilts: Traditions Made Modern, and Modern Quilt Magic.

Giving back to the community is important to Findlay Wolfe. “I’m lucky that I can do what I love each day by creating something that will outlive me. It’s very important to do what you love and share that,” she explains. Her quilts have been auctioned off for Craft Hope to aid earthquake victims in Haiti and Love Without Boundaries, an organization that helps Chinese orphans in need of medical attention. Findlay Wolfe also founded Bumble Beans Basics to aid Acacia Network – formerly known as Basics.org – a not-for-profit whose mission is to partner with communities to lead change offering services in health, housing and economic development, making 20 quilts in 2010 that were auctioned off and raised over $30,000. Now, the project has turned into a quilt drive in which more that 700 quilts have been donated to families.

Findlay Wolfe co-resides in Manhattan and the Hamptons with her husband, Michael and daughter, Beatrice. She enjoys spending time with her family, cooking and gardening as well as riding her Harley-Davidson.