Pattern Series Workshop - Round Table - Panel Introduction

There is no right way or wrong way to write a quilt pattern, so to help give other perspectives and ways of writing quilt patterns a number of wonderful pattern designers will be joining me for round table discussions and additional posts.

With me will be (in alphabetic order) Amy of 13 Spools, Anne of Springleaf Studios, Christa of Christa Quilts, Lorna of Sew Fresh Quilts, Soma of Whims and Fancies, and Yvonne of Quilting Jetgirl.

Here is a little about each designer...

My name is Amy Garro and I’m a stay at home mom and quilter. I graduated from Notre Dame in 2009 with a Theology degree and do some light writing, but for the most part, I fill my time with giggles and stitches. My three sons (Charlie, Johnny, and Gus) are all under four. They keep me busy, but my husband (John) does a great job making sure I have some crafty time.

I started crafting at age 4 and sewing at age 7. I mostly sewed garments, but jumped fully into quilting in 2011 and haven’t looked back since! I love both modern and traditional quilts, but focus on designing and creating modern quilts. My style is structured, striking, mathematical, and geometric. I lean heavily on the use of strong lines when creating compositions, and draw inspiration from architecture. I have book entitled PaperPieced Modern, patterns available in my Craftsy and Etsy shops, and a new block club called the Tribal Block Club.

Hi, I'm Anne Deister of SpringLeaf Studios. I have a degree in graphic design and worked for many years doing corporate design. After having my second child, I left to be a stay-at-home mom, doing some design work from home. During that time, I also sewed for my children and home and eventually started quilting. 

I was drawn to quilting as a means of pairing my design skills with the fabrics and colors I love to create beautiful things. My passion is mixing bright prints and colors in relatively simple ways to produce bold graphic compositions. My work comes from a place of graphic design first with a foundation in traditional quilt making. In my patterns, I love exploring how the repetition of a unique block, plus simple shifts in the placement of color, can produce a wide variety of different designs, all within a single quilt pattern. 

In addition to block based patterns, I also enjoy designing quilts from what I call a whole composition approach where the entire quilt is my canvas as opposed to the individual block. This approach often employs asymmetrical design, negative space, and use of an alternative grid which are more commonly seen in modern quilts.

Discovering the online quilting community a few years ago led to starting my blog, SpringLeaf Studios, and eventually publishing quilt patterns so I could share my design explorations with other quilters. My hope is they will take a pattern and make it their own. SpringLeaf Studios patterns are currently available through Etsy and Craftsy. 

Christa Watson of ChristaQuilts.com is a quiltmaker, pattern designer, quilting instructor, and author of two books: Machine Quilting With Style, and The Ultimate Guide to Machine Quilting. After making quilts and searching for her “artistic voice” for nearly two decades, she finally found it within the modern quilting community.

Meet Lorna McMahon, modern quilter, pattern designer and the author of the Sew Fresh Quilts blog. Lorna's use of eye-catching colour and minimalist design has taken modern quilting in an entirely new direction, as traditional piecing methods are used to create a menagerie of animals and entirely new blocks. A few of her signature items are her “Elephant Parade” and “Dog Gone Cute” quilt patterns, which are offered as free quilt alongs. On her website you can learn from her creative processes as she shares her love of quilting, tips and clever tutorials.  Lorna's patterns are available on her PayHip shop.

I am a software engineer by trade. Aside from math and science, I have loved painting and photography since I was a child. I started quilting in 2012. Within a couple months of that, I started writing quilt patterns.  Soma blogs at Whims and Fancies and her patterns are available through her Etsy and Craftsy shops.

An intuitive introvert who is passionate about hometown and online quilting community, I believe that quilts can cover the world with care and love. I use my blogging platform to cultivate a community with which I share my passion for quilt making and quilt pattern design. Yvonne blogs at Quilting Jetgirl and her patterns are available through her Etsy, Payhip, and Craftsy shops.


I hope that you are as excited for this series to start as I am! The next post will be on Monday, January 25th all about quilt design.