Featured Designer: Mathew Boudreaux (a.k.a Mister Domestic) June 11 2019

I have long been an Instagram follower of this month's Featured Designer - Mathew Boudreaux (@MisterDomestic) and was pleasantly reminded of his authenticity and ability to inspire when I grabbed photos from his Instagram page to include in this post.  Mathew is always looking to learn a new skill or a new technique and enthusiastically shares his new skills from fabric weaving to English paper piecing to apparel to 3-dimensional and beyond through project tutorials and blog parties on his website.  His personality and passion is contagious, and I can't help but smile when watching him create.  I hope you do too!

Now let's get to know Mathew!

Jen:  Where were you born and raised?

Mathew: I was born in Lafayette, LA and raised in Houston, TX.  (Mathew now resides in Washington state)

Jen:  Tell us about your stitching journey.  How did you learn to sew?  To quilt?

Mathew:  I began sewing hardcore when my daughter Helena was born. I knew my way around a sewing machine prior, but my quality was dreadful. Once Helena was born, I took a couple apparel classes and was inspired to really pay attention to detail because I was trying to fill my projects with as much love as possible. With her as my inspiration, the quality from the get-go blew my mind and inspired me to push myself even further. Quilting was the same beginning with my taking a couple of classes to unblock my barrier to jumping in and then the sky was the limit.

Jen:  How did you end up designing for Art Gallery Fabrics?

Mathew:  Early on in the journey of Mister Domestic, I was asked by Art Gallery Fabrics if I’d be interested in being their ambassador. I jumped at the opportunity because I loved their stuff. After a couple years, I decided to see if designing was something I’d find joy in doing and even be good at. Once again with my daughter as inspiration, what I was able to create blew my mind and the journey began. 

Mathew:  As soon as Helena was born, I began taking her to fabric stores, which became her playground. Even before she could speak, I’d let her pick out fabrics, no matter whether I thought they’d go together and it would be a challenge for me to make the combo cute. After awhile, her purely intuitive choices became a practice I did on my own and continues even to this day. Kids have this awesome intuition that we all push to the side as we become grown ups, and Helena taught me how to bring my own back to life. 

Jen:  Can you tell us about your process for designing fabric?  What are your inspirations?

Mathew:  To date, the four collections I’ve designed have deeply personal inspiration points. My first was inspired by my love of EPP and my daughter’s love of flowers (Loved To Pieces). My second was inspired by a daddy-daughter trip to Hawaii (Aura). My third was inspired by my husband’s love of fishing and our family fishing spot (Catch & Release). And my fourth I can’t say but it’s awesome. As I’m designing, I’m absolutely thinking about all the potential applications. Can it be fussy cut? Is there variety of scale and volume? Can I use this in clothes and bags? Will these combine well into a quilt? Since I’m a maker that does all of this, I use my maker brain to make sure all bases are covered before I submit a collection.

Jen:  Complete this sentence. When I am not sewing, I am...

Mathew:  Working at my day job in HIV pharmaceuticals, working out, hanging out with my family and crocheting. 

Jen: What sewing machine do you use?

Mathew:  Felicia is a Brother DreamWeaver and Alphonso is a Brother SE-1900.

Jen: What is your worst sewing habit?

Mathew:  I don’t know if it’s my worst, but I’m definitely hurricane Mathew as I’m sewing and my room turns into a hot mess. 

Jen:  What is one sewing notion that you can’t live without?

Mathew:  Wonder tape.

Jen:  Are you slow sewing or instant gratification?

Mathew:   I’m neither. I’m a process sewer. I want my process to be filled with joy and that’s how I measure whether my project is a success or not.