Quilter's Meet and Greet

Benita of Victoriana Quilts is hosting a Quilter's Meet and Greet. If you landed here from there, welcome! If you landed here from elsewhere, welcome to you as well.

Canada 150 by Canuck Quilter Designs.  2017

I am Joanne, a Canadian quilter and pattern designer currently living in Iowa. The quilt above was my little celebration of Canada's 150th anniversary last summer, down here in Iowa.

I have been quilting since the turn of this century.  Wait.  That makes me sound ancient!  I started quilting in 2000 when I needed a wedding gift for my brother's wedding in spring 2001.  I used the gift budget to buy quilting tools instead. Don't worry.  I gave the happy couple a quilt.  It was a little late (2002?) but it was my first effort and I underestimated the time required.  I'm sure you're familiar with this sort of thing.  I'm very familiar with this still. You can see my latest example in my previous post.

Eclipse Sky by Canuck Quilter Designs. 2017

I'm still not the speediest quilter, but I manage more than one quilt every two years now.  My kids are in their late teens, the oldest in university and the youngest in her last year of high school, and as they have grown up my sewing time has increased.  My sewing space has grown too.  Pop over here to see how that progressed!

My quilting style has changed over time.  While my earlier quilts were very traditional, I gradually began using traditional elements in more modern settings and colours.  How about some flying geese?

Wandering Geese by Canuck Quilter Designs. 2017

 Asymmetry and negative space snuck in as well.

Sparkling Trail by Canuck Quilter Designs. 2016

Starfall by Canuck Quilter Designs. 2018

Then out of the blue, every now and then I swerve back to more traditional designs.  How about this version of Starlight Wishes in progress? I am re-writing this pattern to include multiple sizes.  Stay tuned!

Starlight Wishes by Canuck Quilter Designs. 2018

Playing with color and fabric is my favourite part of quilting. I enjoy seeing how different fabric and color choices change a design.  Here are two versions of Fundy Skies (pattern coming very soon!).  The small stars pop in the first and are more subtle in the second, all due to how the fabrics play together.  Neither one is right or wrong, just different!

Fundy Skies by Canuck Quilter Designs. 2016

Fundy Skies by Canuck Quilter Designs. 2018

Look at what else color can do:

Lucky Bugger by Joanne Kerton. 2016

The background is entirely composed of a traditional ocean waves block.  Color placement makes the stars appear and marks the boundary between water and sky.

Snowdreams, my bestselling pattern

I started writing patterns for some of my designs in 2013, inspired by frustrating patterns.  My goal has been to write clear, accurate, well-laid out and easy to follow patterns, tested by quilters of various skill levels.  So far the feedback has been very positive on that front!

If you have made or ever make a quilt from any of my patterns, I would love to see pictures!  You can email me (joanne@canuckquilter.com), or tag me in posts on FB (Canuck Quilter Designs) or Instagram (@canuckquilter) or use the hashtag #canuckquilterdesigns in your posts.  And if you thought the pattern was well-written, I would really, really appreciate you spreading the word to your quilting community!  Patterns are available as PDF downloads or your favourite quilt shop can order printed patterns.

I hope you will take some time to browse this site.  You'll find tutorials for techniques as well as a few projects under the tutorial tab.  Let me know if there is a topic you'd like me to address in future tutorials.

Next up at Canuck Quilter, some small prairie point projects and re-imagining older designs.  Longer term, snowflakes will return (and not just because winter comes around every year). and butterflies will get quilted.  I hope you will visit again to see what else I come up with!

Please pop over to Victoriana Quilt Design to meet more quilting bloggers, and to enter their giveaway.