About Us

 

Laura Nownes’s passion for making quilts is an extension of her love of sewing. She began as a child with doll clothes and then moved on to making her own garments and often worked on sewing projects for neighbors. After taking her first sampler quilt class in Berkeley, CA in 1979, she knew she had found a lifelong interest. In 1980, she visited a new quilt shop where she connected with Diana McClun. Thus began a friendship which led to the creation of five landmark books on quiltmaking, and which continues to this day. Laura is best known for her first book, Quilts! Quilts!! Quilts!!!, which is often referred to as “the bible” of quiltmaking. She teaches both locally and internationally and continues to design patterns under the name From Me to You. To see her complete collection, visit www.lauranownes.com.

Pati Fried studied Graphic Design in college, but always found her favorite classes to be in the textile department. After years of corporate publication, trade show design and marketing; she was introduced to quilting. One class was all it took to discover her love of quilting. She has been an avid quilter ever since. Mixing colors, designs and textures finds a natural path in her life. She loves to share this with others by designing quilt patterns and fabric, and teaching in local shops and guilds. Self-described as a Modern Traditionalist, Pati takes full advantage of “all things social media” to keep her inspired and creative. When she is not busy with quilting, blogging, posting, or pinning, she can be found gardening and cooking, or just enjoying her family. Visit her website and blog at www.patifried.com.

Blogger Emeritus

Jennifer Rounds learned to sew as a child at her local sewing-machine shop where she giggled with her girlfriends more than she sewed.  Something must have imprinted, because when she rediscovered the craft as a young mother-to-be, she actually sewed her own maternity clothes.  Turns out that her burst of garment making was a freakish start, because Jennifer hasn’t made clothing since, but she has sewn many, many other things, from custom home décor goods to quilts.  Sewing has also delivered opportunities to write about textile arts for national and regional publications and to both edit and author instructional books. To see Jennifer’s complete works visit her website www.rosiequilters.com.

Darra (Duffy) Williamson, in her “substantial” career as a quilter, has won awards for both her quilts and her teaching; in 1989, she was named Professional Quilt Teacher of the Year. She has lectured, taught, and judged for guilds and at conferences all over the US, the UK, and on numerous quilting cruises; written a best-selling book on scrap quilts, another on (gasp!) Sunbonnet Sue (with her friend, Christine Porter), and countless magazine articles; and worked as editorial director for a major quilt-book publisher.  She is currently a freelance editorial consultant, working with publishers, book packagers, authors, pattern designers, and fabric manufacturers to produce quality written materials for the quilting community.  When not engaged in quilting, Darra can be found haunting independent book stores, volunteering with the library’s adult literacy program, enjoying Northern California’s beautiful coastline, obsessing over baseball and college hoops, and sporting the latest in her collection of outrageous socks

Christie Batterman has a passion for sewing inspired by a lifelong love of fabric and art.  She started at age seven by making doll clothes, and–as a teenager—progressed to sewing her own garments.  Christie continued to sew while in college, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology.  Upon entering the corporate world, she traded her sewing machine for a computer, as her career took an unplanned turn into the technical field. In 2003, Christie said good-by to corporate America.  She went to work part-time in a local quilt shop, where she pursued a new passion…quilting.  She started teaching classes and developing original quilt designs.  Christie is partial to colorful, modern quilts, and her work has been featured in three popular books published by C&T Publishing.  In 2008, Christie launched her own pattern company, Artichoke Collection, which features contemporary designs featuring simple techniques for every style.  To see the complete collection of her patterns, visit her website www.artichokecollection.com.