Joyce's lifelong love affair with sewing began when she was four years old. She told her mother she knew why the sewing machine was called a Singer–because it hummed! She took sewing in home economics but didn't really begin to love sewing clothes until she was in her early twenties. Joyce began her sewing career tailoring men's suits in the Portland, Oregon, area.
After a move to Waco, Texas, she found a quilt shop inside a converted carriage house. It was love at first sight! Several moves (to California and Florida) and two children later, Joyce's love affair with quilts was firmly planted.
One of the greatest joys of quiltmaking for Joyce is helping students recognize their talent and instilling in them a love of quilting. Her favorite times are when students, of any age, insist they cannot be successful. The more skeptical, the better. She hasn't met a student yet who couldn't be successful given enough different ways to sew the same unit.
Joyce has been teaching quilting for more than fifteen years and designing quilt patterns nearly as long. She began teaching by volunteering at a local alternative school and taught teen moms to make quilts for their babies. Joyce was honored to be the featured quilter in her adopted hometown of Hillsboro, Oregon, in 2010 and again in 2015. Joyce and her husband, Mike, are the proud parents of two adult children and a lovely daughter-in-law.
This is Joyce's second book. The first, Then and Now Quilts, was published in 2014. If you'd like to keep up with Joyce's current design projects, you can find her on her blog at quilterchickdesigns.com or on her Quilterchick Designs Facebook page.
By the author:
Fantastic Stash Quilts
