Designer Interviews - Joan Ford

Meet Joan Ford of Hummingbird Highway.

Joan is a member of my Creative Passion to Profit Mastermind (with Morna from the International Association of Professional Quilters).  Joan is the brains behind scraptherapy® and the author of Cut the Scraps! and Scraps Plus One!

When did you start quilting and how did that happen?

I started quilting on February 8, 2003. It must seem strange that I know the exact date, but that’s when I took my first quilting class. My husband bought me a very basic sewing machine as a Christmas gift that holiday season, so I could use it to complete my knitted projects. To get more value from the machine purchase, I thought I’d take a beginning quilting class. I barely knew how to thread the needle! By the end of class I was hooked on quilting, and proceeded to buy several yards of fabric for my next two quilts right after the class. I still have several projects of yarn waiting for me to make into sweaters, abandoned temporarily to address the quilty itch. As an aside, I’ve upgraded my sewing machine at least four or five times since that very first machine – two of those upgrades were during the first year after that February class.

How did you come up with your company name?

The Hummingbird Highway is the name of a place. It’s a road in Belize. I had been to Belize on a SCUBA vacation a few years prior to starting my business, and the name stuck in my head, because I absolutely adore hummingbirds, and I liked the sound of the two words together. I have several hummingbird feeders around my house. It’s not uncommon for all work to stop temporarily to for a hummingbird sighting!

How would you describe your style?

Traditional with a twist. I love putting fun fabrics and colors together and I love making traditional quilt blocks. Sometimes the ‘twist’ comes into play when I’ve taken a unique spin on a technique that makes the construction of a project easier or more interesting.

What inspires you to create a new design?

Inspiration is everywhere! A shape or color in the garden around my house. The shape and color on a tropical bird, a colorful fish, or a wild animal. The interaction of light and dark values on a very old quilt. The combination of shapes in mosaic tiles on the floor or walls of an old building. Sometimes it’s as simple as a color combination in that gotta-have bolt of fabric at the local quilt shop.

Do you use technology when you develop new designs? If so, how?

Yes! And No! I use the Adobe Creative Suite to make sketches and add color to some ideas, but I almost always do the math by hand. I’m very hands-on with construction. I feel I can write the pattern better, if I’ve made the quilt or the project. Often I’ll go back and forth between the sewing machine and the computer to finalize a project.

Do you participate in other activities related to quilting?

I’m a big fan of hand work. Hand piecing, hand embroidery, adding beads and embellishments to small projects. I really like that quilting is a ‘social sport’ and take advantage of group sewing events like retreats and small group get-togethers with some close friends. Many quilters are also great cooks, I’m not including myself in that category, but it sure makes them a pleasant bunch to hang out with!
 
What are some of your interests outside the quilting world?
I mentioned SCUBA diving earlier, my favorite dive vacation spot is Little Cayman Island. I like reading, traveling, and movies. And I still knit—mostly socks now that quilting takes more of my time.

Anything else you would like people to know about you?
I’m absolutely crazy about anything ‘bird.’ My husband and I have an Amazon parrot, named Peaches, and two conures, Doodle and Woodstock. They demand our attention with their non-stop antics and vocalizations each day.

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Something Fishy is one of Joan's Scrap Therapy patterns. It would make a great dent in MY stash! You can buy it - and many other patterns - here.

Designer Interviews - Brenda Miller

Meet Brenda Miller of Among Brenda's Quilts - and Bags.

Brenda is a fellow Canadian designer and a member of the Creative Passion to Profit Mastermind (through the International Association of Professional Quilters).  Brenda and I have similar backgrounds. We both started sewing doll clothes!  Our passion for sewing and creativity lead both of us to quilting and design.

When did you start quilting and how did that happen?

I actually started piecing early in life.  Nobody in my family quilted but my Mom did have a Singer Sewing Machine for mending.  We also had a bag of scraps.  I found a pattern for a quilt top made of 4” squares in a Family Circle Magazine, part of a ‘Gifts to Make for Under $10’ article.  Not knowing how to make a template for a perfectly square 4 ½" square was a problem for me.  I was only 10 years old with nobody to help me.  I sewed together 3 or 4 rows, but when I went to join them together nothing lined up like in the picture.  I should have boldly carried on like a Gees Bend Quilter but I gave it up.  It took me another 15 years before I finally finished another quilt. 

How did you come up with your company name?  

My friend Shirley Bobier, a retired librarian teacher, and I were throwing names around one day.  Shirley suggested that I have a name that started with the letter ‘A’, that way my business name would not get lost in the alphabet, when buyers were looking around for patterns in the distributors listings.  Shirley had just recently opened a quilt shop and I had given her all of my pattern samples for display in her store.  Shirley was literally ‘Among Brenda’s Quilts’.  That’s basically where the name came from.  Later when it came time to figure out a logo we ran into a problem.

How do you illustrate the concept of being among Brenda’s quilts? 
My friend Christine Buechler and I decided my cat Harry would be among my quilts and we popped him into the logo.  He is in fact often among my quilts, lying on them or in the middle of them on my sewing table.  My company name has morphed into Among Brenda’s Quilts & Bags, but some suggest it should be Among Brenda’s Bags and Quilts because I’m better known for my bags than my quilts.  Constant tweaks seem to be a way of life with my company name!

How would you describe your style?

That’s easy.  Patterns with Purr-sonality!

What inspires you to create a new design? 

I design for function.  Some of my business acquaintances call me the functional bag expert!  When I got a request to design a casserole cover that converts to a table runner from my friends Lisa and Marlene, I created the Home Cooking Casserole Cover and when my son and his girlfriend for a party bag I designed the Bevy Bag.  When I got a request to design a bag that uses a whole package of 2 ½" Bali Pops the My Monster Bag pattern was born.  Right now I’m designing a bed runner and pillow set for my son and his fiancé.

My quilts are usually designed with a fabric line in mind.  Fabrics inspire me to no end!

Do you use technology when you develop new designs?  If so how?

Yes, I use EQ programs to design a good number of my quilts and other flat items like runners and place mats.  The bags are not doable on EQ as they are three dimensional.  I do them in my head, do a sketch and just start cutting fabric. 

Do you participate in other activities related to quilting? 

Yes, I have been a member of the Huron Perth Quilters Guild for a number of years.  I have been their program director and was the chair of one of the guild Quilt show in 2010.  I just recently joined the Modern Quilt Guild in London, Ontario. I also belong to a group of six ladies.  We get together at each other’s homes about once a month to eat (notice that eat comes first) and to sew.  It’s a great support group to bounce ideas off of. 

It was my honor to host a fund raising quilting class to benefit the town of Goderich, Ontario after a tornado swept through the town in the spring of 2011.  Guild members participated and we raised about $2,000 for town relief.  I was really proud of the guild members that day. 

What are some of your interests outside the quilting world?

I love to read, camp in a tent, walk my dog and garden.  I am very interested in whole food nutrition and its power to heal the body. 

Is there anything else you would like people to know about you?

Not really, I am just an ordinary person whose love of sewing and quilting has taken me off on a wonderful tangent.  I’m always surprised at how far I’ve come in the quilting industry.  I couldn’t have done it without my friends, my husband Rob, son Paul and strangers who just took and interest in me and helped me out. 

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Here is one of Brenda's MOST functional bags - the Everything Goes Bag.  I think I need to make one of these to carry ALL my stuff, including my iPad!

 

Designer Interviews - Janice Pope

Meet Janice Pope of Anything But Boring

 

 

Janice and I are members of the Creative Passion to Profit Mastermind with Morna McEver Golletz of the International Association of Professional Quilters. We met in person earlier this year at our 2-day Group Retreat in Baltimore. I find it interesting to learn how my peers started their businesses.

Janice is the designer of the wildly popular Two Hour Tulip Purse.

When did you start quilting and how did that happen?

I had been making my own clothes since taking Home Economics Class in High School. I had accumulated lots of fabric scraps. I was 22 when I verbally asked my grandmother, “Mawmaw, how do you make a quilt?” 

She said, “A nine patch is a good quilt for a beginner.”

I asked, “What’s that?”

This was her reply. “Take a bunch of scraps. Cut them all the same size. Sew them together in 3 rows of 3 each. That is a nine patch block. Make a bunch of these. Buy one fabric and cut it into strips. Sew the strips between the blocks to make rows. Sew the strips between the rows. A good way to finish for a beginner is to tie the quilt. For the edges, just pull the back to the front and tack it down.”

So I said to myself, ok, I have scraps. I tried cutting out the squares but I was afraid they weren’t the same size so I cut out a cardboard template. Unfortunately, (this is 1977 before rotary cutters and mats) I didn’t measure the cardboard to see if indeed it was square. I have an eye problem called astigmatism. I didn’t wear my glasses much back then. After cutting up all my scraps into little squares, I discovered my template wasn’t square. It was actually 3-1/4 inches by 3-1/2 inches. So you can guess my squares looked a little like a Gees Bend product! I choose a red fabric for the sashing (because red is neutral, right?) and a plaid red, white and black flannel for the backing. I didn’t know what to do with all the fabric and batting left at the bottom of the quilt. It never occurred to me to cut it off. That would be a waste. (I was raised by a mom who was born during the depression.) So I just folded it up a few times to make kind of like a pillow at the end of the quilt. It was close to queen size and I just put that at the end of the bed and used it on my bed during the winter for the next 20 years. Other issues occurred as I used the only cotton batting I could find and it was not scrimmed. It became very lumpy with washing.

I would like to say it did get a face lift after I learned a lot more about quilting! And that roll of fabric and batting at the end? It became a nice border! It received new scrimmed cotton batting and a proper bias binding!

 

How did you come up with your company name?

I was sewing curtains for friends during the early 1990’s when swags and jabots were in style. That was the name I choose as that time.

How did you get started with making purses?

I had made my own purses for some time but they were the traditional rectangle. They kept tipping over in the car (I am sure it had NOTHING to do with my driving!) and all the contents falling out. The Two Hour Tulip purse is square on the bottom so it doesn’t tip over. One of my friends wanted me to make it into a pattern so she could make one. That is how the pattern business got started. (Here is a link to all the patterns: http://anythingbutboring.com/patterns/)

What other jobs have you had in the quilting industry?

For about 10 years I repaired quilts, mostly by hand. Many of those quilts needed new binding, but more about that later. I also worked at a quilt store, and managed the same quilt store. That has helped me to know what quilt stores are looking for in patterns, as well as fabrics.

 

How would you describe your style?

Anything But Boring, of course!!

I love color, and I love pattern. I like to mix things in unexpected ways. I truly love the old antique quilts that have lots of white in them. I like using black as a background instead so the colors stand out!

What inspires you to create a new design?

Fabric! Fabric is always the start of inspiration for me. I love to use fabrics that are large print and many of my patterns take advantage of that by having large setting blocks so the prints are shown off. I like to use large, medium and small prints as well as different values to make the quilt interesting. I like for the quilting to be another element of design as well.

Do you use technology when you develop new designs? If so, how?

No, I am old school. I may use EQ when trying to do something specific, but I have already developed the idea using graph paper and pencil and color pencil where necessary.

Do you participate in other activities related to quilting?

I enjoy teaching, writing, blogging, going to bee (I am member of several bees, but am limited as to how often I get to go recently.)

What are some of your interests outside the quilting world?

I enjoy reading, traveling and spending time with my grandchildren. We love to bird watch and it thrills me to teach my grandsons to recognize the birds in our backyard.

Anything else you would like people to know about you?

I am currently working as a fabric representative for Blank Quilting. I have always been drawn to Blank fabrics as they fit my style of large prints and bold colors. I enjoy traveling so I don’t mind getting in the car to drive for hours to call on stores around my state of North Carolina, as well as parts of Virginia, West Virginia and South Carolina. I have the dual joy of getting to share my patterns with shops and assisting them to be successful.

I also have a ruler out with Creative Grids to help anyone who has trouble with binding a quilt. (http://creativegridsusa.com/products.cfm?item_num=CGRABB1&ref=c)

The video which is available right on the ruler, as well as the Creative Grids website and my website (www.anythingbutboring.com) explains how fabric is made and when to use straight of grain binding and when to use bias binding and why. It also shows how to cut it using a rectangle instead of a square so there is no waste of fabric, as well as how to sew it onto the quilt, how to turn the corners and how to sew the final seam together. I am rather passionate about binding! 

 

Thanks so much for answering the interview questions, Janice. You are one BUSY LADY!!

 

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Would you like to learn more about another quilting professional?  Leave me a comment  and I'll see what I can do.

 

 

 

 

 

Designer Interviews

Meet Sue Jensen, from Quilter's Escapes

When did you start quilting and how did that happen?

I purchased my first Quilt Frame when I was 18 from the Mary Maxim catalogue back in the 70’s.  No one in our family quilted, I didn’t know anyone who quilted, but the art of  Quilting just fascinated me.  My husband and I moved from Ontario to BC in 1984 packing my treasured quilting frame along with us!  Growing up my Dad made it a tradition that you had to make everyone in the family their Christmas gift, and when June came around there were more secrets in the household that you can imagine!  There were 6 of us in total and it took 6 months to get all our gifts completed (though most of us were up to the wee hours on Christmas morning finishing off the last of the gifts). One year my sister-in-law gave me a small log cabin wall hanging for Christmas and I remembered my quilting frame.  But it wasn’t until 1990 when I met my now long time friend Jordana who happened to be a quilter.  I was so excited and I told her about my frame and she offered to show me how to quilt! And as they say the rest is history!   I still have my Mary Maxim quilt frame that I bought that many years ago, but to this day I have never used it!

 

How did you come up with your company name, Quilted Escapes?    

I had been quilting for a couple of years and joined a small group who loved to do stitchery.  I was playing around with a design idea during one of our group get together when someone asked if they could purchase my design once I was finished it!  I looked over to my friend Annemarie and she smiled!  I answered with an “Okay”! The design I was working on I called “Little Escapes” because it was something you could take along to Dr’s offices, soccer practices, ferry lineups and work on the project. 

I told my husband what had happened he said, “You need to have a company name” and he asked me what quilting meant to me.  I was working 50 hours as week at the time so quilting was an escape for me so he suggested “Quilted Escapes”! 

How would you describe your style?
I’m a romantic at heart, so my quilts reflect that.  Machine appliqué and embellishing is my favorite. I like to incorporate beading, crystals, embroidery, buttons...to name just a few.

What inspires you to create a new design? 

Life, my family, a joke, a fabric, threads, nature, I absorb what life has to offer and then run with it!

 

Do you use technology when you develop new designs? If so, how?

It’s amazing what technology can do.  I’m an Electric Quilt user, I’m able to down load the material I plan to use so I can see a completed virtual project before sewing one stitch!  Microsoft publisher and my trusted digital camera help me with writing up my patterns and pattern covers. 

Do you participate in other activities related to quilting? 

Yes I do,

·         I teach and lecture at guilds, trade shows.  

·         I am on the Editorial Advisory Committee for Quilters’ Connection magazine, Canada’s only quilting magazine.

·         Organizer of the Quilters’ Connection magazine retreat committee.   

·         A member of the Fraser Valley Modern Quilt Guild

·         Knotty Needlers Quilt group. 

·         I also belong to a small satellite group called the “Quilt Batts”

·         Member of a quilt arts group!

·         I also work a couple of days at “A Great Notion” Quilt shop.

What are some of your interests outside the quilting world? 

Although time is short I like to take day trips when time allows looking for inspiration and gardening ideas.  Of course I always have my camera by my side!   

Anything else you would like people to know about you? 

I’ve been designing patterns for new fabric collections by Northcott for the last 4 years.  Designing patterns and teaching for the last 7 years.   

My patterns are on my website, www.quiltedescapes.net    You can also join me on facebook and read my blog

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Here is one of Sue's recent designs: Under the Tuscan Sun. For her bedrunner, she used the 'Heard it on the Grapevine' collection by Sue Beevers.

 

Designer Interviews

Meet Lisa Amundson of Around the Bobbin

 

 

When did you start quilting and how did that happen?

 

I started quilting around 1993 when a friend invited me to a quilting retreat. I had sewn quite a bit of clothing, drapes and home-dec projects, but at that point I hadn't tried quilting. For drapes, I tend to use patterns and books as a loose guide or starting point so I took a similar approach with quilting. In my ignorance, I picked up a clearance-rack quilting book from somewhere that had all the really old, complicated quilts in it that people made by hand around the turn of the century. I was drawn to the beauty of the quilts pictured in the book, but the book was almost completely void of any instructions and most of the quilts had a ton of little pieces.  I chose one of the "easier" quilts, a quilt made up of baskets, with triangles and appliqued handles. I had to adjust the size of the quilt for a queen size bed, and I carefully cut out most of the pieces with my scissors using the templates in the book . No rotary cutter. No cutting mat. Just some old scissors from my junior-high home-ec class 12 years earlier, a fabric pen, and a school ruler.

I drove to the retreat with my friend Pam, and I told her about my quilt prep. She was too kind to say anything, but she gently came beside me at the retreat and asked how much fabric I had left (answer: a lot as I overpurchased). To make a long story short, she and the other ladies at the retreat gave me a Quilting 101 lesson, and I re-cut everything and started over. I worked on that quilt only once a year at those retreats. During that time, I had 3 kids and I was working full-time so I had very little time for hobbies. But almost 10 years later I had a lot of great retreat stories and a finished queen sized quilt! These days, I always have a quilt or two I'm working on, even though I spend most of my sewing time on purses.

I started designing purses after a friend complimented me on my hand-sewn purse. I hadn't sewn the one she saw, but I told her we could try sewing our own purses. We did, and then I got hooked and couldn't stop!

How did you come up with your company name, Around the Bobbin?

 

I learned so much at those retreats that I can't think about quilting without the picture of the old quilting bee in my head. I learned everything from those ladies, as we gathered around our sewing machines (or "Around the Bobbin") and talked about techniques for this and that.

 

How would you describe your style?

 

I design purse patterns with a contemporary feel, often with unique shapes or texture to them. I'm pretty experimental. I'd like to get into quilt design at some point, but I'm having so much fun with the purses, I haven't had time to do both.

 

What inspires you to create a new design?

 

Well, really anything, but sometimes, it will be a technique I want to try. In the Annalise Bag, I wanted to try putting in a zipper for fun. Sometimes, it's a shape, like the Sassy Swing Bag mimics an upside-down bucket hat. I think that's one of the things I enjoy most about the process - the inspiration can come from anything, and then you play with an idea, and it ends up as something completely different from where you start.

 

Do you use technology when you develop new designs? If so, how?

 

Sometimes I'll play around on the computer. Often, though, I cut out paper shapes so that I can see the finished size and shape in front of me. When I make the templates, I find it easier to create those on the computer.

 

Do you participate in other activities related to quilting?

 

I still enjoy go to a quilt retreat each spring with friends. 

 

What are some of your interests outside the quilting world?

 

I love reading a good book, hiking, spending time with my family.

 

One unique thing about my family is that we all learned how to unicycle about 5 years ago, (except our youngest son-he learned to ride his bike during that time). Our oldest son even rode in a few parades and we all had a great time learning how to just "let go" and ride. The Twin Cities Unicycle Club led the classes in the local elementary school gym and it took most of us about 5-6 weeks of the weekly classes to ride unaided around the gym. It was a blast. Even though I haven't kept it up as much as I would have liked, we had so much fun just encouraging each other and learning together.

 

Anything else you would like people to know about you?

 

I dunno . . . I'd like to encourage people to just play with fabric. Go to your stash (or the fabric store) and pick out a couple of favorites and try a new technique or project!

Here are some of Lisa's designs:

 

Sassy Swing Tote

 

Cappuccino Bag

 

Saffron Bucket Bag

Designer Interview - Chris Hoover

Meet Chris Hoover of Whirligig Designs.

When did you start quilting and how did that happen?

1989 – a friend showed me a quilt she had made in a beginning quilt class and I thought “I can do that!”

How did you come up with your company name, Whirligig Designs?

I never sit still, am constantly working on something – either quilting, knitting or reading and it’s a nickname of sorts.

How would you describe your style?

Eclectic – I love traditional designs but try to make them a little more contemporary.

What inspires you to create a new design?

Anything and everything!  Sometimes it’s the fabric, sometimes it’s a word, nature, architecture, you name it!

Do you use technology when you develop new designs? If so, how?

I sketch designs out on graph paper when something comes to me and I’m not at the computer.  If I’m at my computer I use Electric Quilt.

Do you participate in other activities related to quilting?

I belong to my local quilt guild and an offshoot group of contemporary quilters.

What are some of your interests outside the quilting world?

Reading, knitting, bike riding

Anything else you would like people to know about you?

Picking fabrics and drawing up the design is probably my favorite part of the quilting process.

Here are a couple of Chris's patterns using Stonehenge Stone Strips. Chris has more new designs coming using other Stonehenge fabrics - stay tuned!

Smokey River



Blueberry Hill

Designer Interview

Continuing my series of interviews with Northcott designers, meet Sue Harvey, one half of Pine Tree Country Quilts.

When did you start quilting and how did that happen?

I began quilting in the late 1980s. I worked for many years as the financial director at a local hospital... about as uncreative a job as you can imagine (unless you are doing slightly illegal financial management!). I worked more than full time, had a small child, and was going to school for my Masters ... I burned out! When I became a woman of "leisure", I began to cross-stitch. Loved it. I did lots of home projects (repainting the outside, refinishing wood floors, etc.) that had been waiting for spare time, and I cross-stitched like crazy. Eventually I ran out of wall space and friends and relatives to give stitched pieces to. Fortunately a Georgia Bonesteel quilting show on public television caught my attention and our local high school offered a quilting class. Like lots of quilters, I learned to quilt with an Eleanor Burns Log Cabin pattern, except I reduced the width of my logs to 1" finished and changed the layout to the Barn Raising design. Right from the beginning, I loved the designing and "puzzle" part of quilting. Perhaps the math part came from my previous job, but it was certainly a far more creative way to use math!

You have a business partner, right? Do you design together or do you create separate designs?

Sandy Boobar and I have been business partners in Pine Tree Country Quilts since 2005. We design and make quilts for magazines, books, and fabric companies. We collaborate on all of our designs.

How would you describe your style? 

Eclectic. We don't think we have a recognizable style though people tell us they can always tell which are our quilts in the magazines that they get. Funny though, when we've asked how they can tell, what is it that gives us away, they can never pinpoint anything. Our main goal for most designs is a pieced quilt that is easy enough for an experienced beginning quilter, but a quilt that looks more complicated than it is.

What inspires you to create a new design? 

Nothing romantic here ... a fabric collection and a deadline. Since we are usually designing specifically for an assignment, we are using a requested fabric collection and working up a design to best showcase that collection.

Do you use technology when you develop new designs? If so, how? 

Yes. We use Electric Quilt for our designs and import the actual fabric images into the design. We sometimes begin with a graph paper sketch and then draw it in EQ. We never have fabric on hand before we design a quilt. We use fabric images only. We sometimes wait 3 months for the fabric to actually arrive to make the quilt.

Do you participate in other activities related to quilting? 

I have been a freelance editor and technical proofreader for quilting publications since 1994. I work with several fabric companies writing and proofing instructions for their free patterns. I work with several publishers as a technical editor.

What are some of your interests outside the quilting world? 

Reading (at least 2 to 3 books a week), gardening (another thing I got very involved in after I quit my "real" job), and lake conservation.

Anything else you would like people to know about you? 

I am married (37 years, OMG, I feel old!), have a married son, and an 8-year-old grandson. My husband and I have lived on a pristine lake in central Maine for 33 years. We have been volunteer lake monitors for 16 years, and I was an officer of our lake association for 14 years. I was a half-hearted fisherman (fisherwoman?) for many years when my son was young, but gave it up when I realized that since I hate fish (eating them), the smell of fish, and frigid, rainy days in a boat (the only "good" type of fishing weather) ... what was I thinking!! My grandson now wishes that I still would try to like it. He already has fish stories about the one that got away! Life is good!!

Check out Sue and Sandy's designs on their website.

Inteview with Cindy's Threadworks

I was recently interviewed by Cindy Scraba of Cindy's Threadworks. Read the interview here:
http://www.cindysthreadworks.com/blog/2012/05/15/focus-fibreartists-daphne-greig-10-profile-series/comment/

Designer Interviews

Many well-known designers are partnering with Northcott fabrics to create patterns with their new fabric lines.  I thought it would be interesting to learn a bit more about these designers.

My first interviewee is Jean Boyd from Brockville, Ontario.

I first met Jean at International Quilt Market in Houston many years ago when we both had booths to showcase our pattern designs to shops and distributors.

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When did you start quilting and how did that happen?

I started quilting in the late 1970s. That was the time of the great resurgence of interest in quilting in the US. I had done lots of sewing and other crafts and thought I should give quilting a try too. There were no quilt shops or teachers in my area, so I was self-taught for many years. I bought all the available books and magazines and that was how I learned about quilting.

You were named "Canadian Teacher of the Year" in 2003 by the Canadian Quilters' Association. How did you start teaching quilting? Tell us about a couple of the places or events where you have taught.

By 1981, I thought I knew enough about quilting to teach some classes. I was hired by the local school board to teach night school classes and 2 years later I was hired by St Lawrence Community College in Brockville. I helped initiate the Fibre Arts Certificate Program in Quilting at the College and wrote all the course outlines for the program. I taught many quilting classes there over the next 15 years. I have also taught at 7 Quilt Canada Conferences across Canada and at several US events.

How would you describe your teaching style?

I try to be very thorough in my classes, making sure that students understand all the steps involved. I also try to use a relaxed style of teaching and always encourage students to strive for excellence.

How would you describe your quilting style?

My work is almost always based on traditional designs. Although I have experimented with other design techniques, I usually come back to the traditional look.

What inspires you to create a new design?

New designs are often inspired by the fabric I have to work with. I am also inspired by other quiltmakers and teachers that I have had the pleasure of knowing and working with

Do you use technology when you develop new designs? If so, how?

I use a combination of computer programs when designing: Electric Quilt, Photoshop Elements and Microsoft Publisher. Each program is used for something specific during the designing process. The final step is always making the quilt to test all the measurements and instructions.

Do you participate in other activities related to quilting?

I have been a member of my Quilt Guild (Thousand Islands Quilters’ Guild in Brockville) since it started 25 years ago and have been on the executive of the Guild for several years. I have also been a member of the Canadian Quilters’ Association since the early 1980s. I am presently on the Editorial Advisory Committee for Quilters’ Connection magazine, Canada’s only quilting magazine.

What are some of your interests outside the quilting world?

I am a volunteer for a few organizations in Brockville, Ontario. I am a docent and tour guide at Fulford Place Museum, a wonderful Edwardian Mansion in Brockville. I am also a volunteer at the Brockville Arts Centre, another historic building in town with wonderful theatre productions year round. I am a member and have been on the executive of the Brockville Women’s Network, a women’s support and networking group.

Anything else you would like people to know about you?

For the past 3 years I have been designing patterns for new fabric collections by Northcott. This experience has also given me the opportunity to work with fabrics that I might not have otherwise chosen for my work, so it has been a learning experience for me as well. It has been a pleasure to work with the wonderful people in this company.

All of my patterns can be seen on my website, PatternsByJeanBoyd.com. I self-publish all of my patterns, so nothing is ever out of stock! There is also a link on my website that will take you to my Blog, where you can get quilting tips and sneak previews of my new patterns.

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More designer interviews coming soon.