MEET THE MAKERS: Marlena Gonzales
In 2018 Marlena joined Flowfold as a Production Assistant, and she’s been a cheerful and speedy mainstay of the team. Marlena is so speedy that you will need a fresh pair of sneakers to keep up...
MEET THE MAKERS: Brooke Biette
In our Meet the Maker series, we're pulling back the curtain and revealing the secret sauce of the Flowfold brand ... our team! Take a seat and read on as we introduce members of our production team—the gifted folks whose hands, hearts, and minds form the foundation of all Flowfold products.
Brooke sees the world in colors and fabrics. She’s a professional quilter and ice dyer and the one-woman show behind her company Dust and Waves. Her handmade products tell stories of extremes and expanse, of spirituality and healing, and of the landscapes that have impacted her designs: the desert and the ocean.
Brooke grew up in the seaside city of Portland Maine. She moved to Los Angeles, and then to Tucson where she fell in love with the desert and it’s vastly different weather, culture, and landscape. She says, “The best part about the desert was the amount of inspiration I could pull from it. Everything was gorgeous, the sunsets, the sunrises, the landscapes, the plants, the animals, the adobe houses. It was like being in a wild west movie.”
“I try to capture a feeling, a view, a moment, a place, and translate it into color.”
Brooke joined Flowfold as a production assistant this summer when she moved home in the early months of the pandemic. It was then that she then began to see the similarities between the desert and the ocean. They both provide a great expanse of blues, from the desert sky and deep ocean, and brown tones, of the beach sand and scruffy chaparral. She uses these landscape pallets as inspiration in her quilting and ice dying color combinations.
In all her quilts Brooke uses a variety of materials including vintage, designer, and her own ice dyed fabric. She uses half square triangles to make each quilt block, which creates endless pattern and color schemes. Each block has its own story. She describes her process as, “I try to capture a feeling, a view, a moment, a place, and translate it into color.” These color combinations are gorgeous, unexpected, and endlessly inspiring to watch come together.
As she finishes a quilt block she photographs it and releases it on her Instagram account, documenting her whole quilting process as it unfolds. In this way you can watch the process of a whole art piece in real time. She has used this platform successfully, especially through the pandemic, to create a community where she can interact with thousands of people. Her craft has made her more extroverted, she explains, “It’s made me step outside myself and share what I know, and learn from others.”
Brooke’s crafting knowledge and lineage runs deep. “My mom and both my grandmothers were all crafters. And my great grandmother. I learned how to quilt when I was ten, and am super grateful for that. I don’t know who I would be if I wasn’t making things all the time!” Wintertime is offering no hibernation for Brooke this year, between full days at Flowfold, and growing her business, she stays very busy. All her hard work is paying off though, this last year she tripled her offerings. You can find her and all her goodies at: www.dustandwaves.com and @dustandwavestextile.
LIGHTNING ROUND! 3 Questions with Brooke
1. Brooke, What is your favorite Flowfold product?
I love making the Creator wallets! It was one of the first projects that I learned to make at FlowFold!!!
2. Do you have a favorite bag?
I use my Muse bag every day as my purse!
3. What do you love most about Flowfold designs?
I love how functional everything is! Not only does it all look clean and sleek, everything has a purpose down to the smallest loop or buckle. Nothing goes to waste or is just for show.
- Tags: Ice-Dye maker Meet the Makers quilting
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