I create inspirational and lively designs for quilts and stitcheries that combine my unique jointed appliqué templates and free motion machine drawing technique. Much of my work is inspired by children and their purity of thought, their innocence and the joy they find in the mundane.
As an experienced speaker and teacher, I regularly host talks and workshops focusing on the design process and the creative techniques I use. So far I have written five books – and I have no plans to stop! They are: Freya and Fred – Hearty Good Wishes – A Field Guide – Home Quilt Home – and The Wordsmith.
Origami & Henry… - From Janet Clare… ‘Flowers open and heaven reveals it’s essence’- selvedge quote Jump to Leave us a Comment
It’s National Pet Day: Prepare to Smile - Get ready for cuteness overload as we celebrate National Pet Day with Moda designers’ favorite critters. And please note the nearly equal division of dogs and cats (along with chickens and goats); we love them all! Janet Clare: My lovely pet is the best dog in the world—Betty! She’s eight years old and comes to work every single day. Here she is overseeing the recent photoshoot of my ‘Emi’ quilt made in my ‘origami’ fabric, which should be reaching shops […]
Share the Love! - Cards, flowers, quilting tutorials? Let’s see how Moda designers share their feelings on Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s Day has a long history. The first card was sent in 1415 under dramatic conditions—Charles, the Duke of Orleans was a prisoner in the Tower of London when he sent a missive to his wife. By the mid-to-late 1700s, sending cards began in earnest, though they were mostly hand-delivered due to the high cost of postage. Esther Howland, known as the Mother of the […]
Janet Clare – Special Exhibit - One of our favorite exhibits at International Quilt Festival in Houston, is Janet Clare – My Story So Far. Jump to Leave us a Comment
Lovely weather is permitted… - ‘We’ll weather the weather, whether we like it or not’ Jump to Leave us a Comment
What I Did on My Summer Vacation—Part 1 - Now that school’s back in session, students are writing essays on just this topic. We thought we’d ask Moda designers how they spent June, July, and August. Did they lounge on the screened porch, dig in the garden, or travel to exotic locales? Read on! (And make sure to check in for more adventures tomorrow, too!) Debbie Maddy: I spent a week as a student at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, North Carolina, studying under Gasali Adeyamo. […]
Spring Quilt Market – Part 1 - Happy Wednesday! It’s not Block Heads Wednesday yet but there’s still plenty to share! The crew from Dallas is home, the crates are being unpacked and we’re getting ready for a lovely long weekend. But first – greetings from Spring Quilt Market! Jump to Leave us a Comment
Labels are for Quilts - Even though we know they’re important, lots of us don’t label our quilts. The reasons range from being too busy to already having moved on to the next project. Here’s some labeling inspiration. Jump to Leave us a Comment
Thursday plans… - Menu? Check. Grocery list? Check. Guest list? Check. Stretchy pants? Done. Jump to Leave us a Comment
Found Objects… - New. I don’t know if it’s the excitement of unwrapping a package or just trying something different, early November always brings a treasure trove of new products debuting at Quilt Market and the arrival of “we’ve been waiting for these to get here!” Jump to Leave us a Comment
Fall Quilt Market 2017 – Part 1 - Fall International Quilt Market 2017 is in the books. And it was a pretty book. Jump to Leave us a Comment
Spring Quilt Market ~ Part 2 - Happy Sunday from Quilt Market in St. Louis! Jump to Leave us a Comment
The Whirlwind of Market Prep - Now that it’s May, we can say that Quilt Market is THIS MONTH! And that brings delight (and maybe a little bit of fear and trembling) to the hearts of Moda designers, as they work on the goodies that show their new fabric collections to best advantage. Jump to Leave us a Comment
In Honor of National Pet Day: Moda Designers Introduce Their “Special Helpers” - When you work at home, it’s sometimes nice to have someone to talk to, someone who never complains about the podcast you’re listening to or the music on the radio. It’s especially nice if that someone appreciates your work, even if that appreciation is expressed by rolling in blocks you’ve carefully positioned on the floor or stretching out on your ironing board, rendering it unusable. Jump to Leave us a Comment
Aprons: Keeping It Clean and Creative - While we may think of aprons as a relatively recent invention, something to keep spaghetti sauce and bacon grease from splashing on our best shirts, they’ve been around a long time. Jump to Leave us a Comment
Day 1.5 ~ More from the City… - Because you’ve only seen part of the show and I didn’t want to make you wait… Jump to Leave us a Comment
Camp Moda ~ Part 3 - Three days. Three parts. Thirty-one designers – but a total of thirty-six women. (If I counted that correctly.) Jump to Leave us a Comment
More Great (and Free) Ideas and Inspiration from Moda Designers - Last week I perused the blogs of some of Moda’s designers and found great information, patterns, and inspiration. (And if you’re following along on the All in a Row blog hop you’ve probably encountered more.) This week I checked out a few of the designers’ websites and the goodies available there. Jump to Leave us a Comment
Moda Designers Share New Year’s Resolutions - Not everyone likes New Year’s resolutions. But others appreciate the opportunity to start the year anew, with bright eyes and a clean slate. We asked Moda designers to share their resolutions with us, and with you. We’d also love to hear YOUR resolutions—let us hear about them in the Comment section. (And I don’t know about you, but my idea of a great New Year’s Eve/Day includes at least a little bit of time with fabric, needles, and thread. Wishing you a Happy […]
What I Sewed Last Summer - Carrie’s post yesterday alluded to going back to school, and one of those things you always had to tell when you returned to the classroom was “What I Did on My Summer Vacation.” Unfortunately, in grown-up land, summer isn’t all vacation time. Still, there’s time for a little sewing, and while I was thinking ahead about National Sewing Month and what I might whip up in September, I also thought about how I spent my summer sewing time. While I love to quilt, there’s so […]
How do Moda Designers’ Gardens Grow? - When I talk with quilters, I find that in addition to fabric, they frequently love gardening. There’s something very similar about putting together a quilt—taking into account color, scale, texture, and pattern—and combining plants in a flowerbed. I’ve asked some Moda designers to share their gardens with you and you’ll see what I mean. (You’ll also see that their gardens are as diverse as their designs!) First up is Pat Sloan.I started to garden as a teenager when I lived […]
And it’s almost ready… - Thursday is a busy day – finishing the booth, Schoolhouse and Sample Spree… so instead of lots of text, how about lots of pictures. Jump to Leave us a Comment
To Market, To Market… - Hi: It’s Linzee, here. I’m getting ready to head to Quilt Market in Minneapolis next week and thought I’d share some of my thoughts about the big event. Since I’m not “in-house” at Moda, my Market prep is different than Carrie’s and ModaLissa’s, but I’m sure we’re all having some sleepless nights. First, let me introduce myself: I’ve been a behind-the-scenes writer for Moda since 2010 and currently assist Carrie with Cutting Table duties. I love getting to talk with Moda’s […]
More holiday sewing from Moda’s designers - On Monday we peeked at some wonderful projects Moda designers were sewing for the holidays (and beyond). Here are a few more: Vanessa Christensen is stitching gifts for her children’s teachers. “During this season I always want to make gifts for the special individuals who spend a lot of time with my children, helping them grow intellectually, but because this is also the season to be super-crazy with Christmas parties and family and all other things we try to cram into one month, […]
Moda Love Blog Tour – Day 1 - Join our Designers in a Blog Tour as they share the things they LOVE. Each Designer even has a special giveaway in store for you. Today in the Blog Tour… Janet Clare Designs – http://janetclare.co.uk/blog/ Kate Spain – http://katespaindesigns.blogspot.com/ Camille Roskelley with Thimbleblossoms – http://www.camilleroskelley.typepad.com/ Let the fun begin… Share the Moda Love! #modablogtour LayerCake®, JellyRoll®, HoneyBun®,TurnOver® are registered trademarks of Moda Fabrics Jump to Leave us a Comment
Atlantic Waves quilt - We are super excited to show you a sneak peek of an upcoming quilt available on newstands April 1st. The quilt titled Atlantic Waves uses fabric from Janet Clare’s debut collection, Hearty Good Wishes. The quilt was made and quilted by Cindy Sharp of Tops to Treasures. Great job, Cindy! The quilt pattern is available in the May June issue of McCall’s Quilting. Subscription issues began shipping March 18, 2014. By April 1, 2014, the issue will be available on newsstands, […]
Quilt Market Book Signing’s - Thought everyone would like to see the book signing schedule for the United Notions booth at market. Our booth number is 1858. We begin on Saturday at 11:00AM with Barb Groves & Mary Jacobson of Me & My Sister fame. Great new book with some wonderful easy quilts. Hence the title Simple Quilts – Easy as 1, 2, 3 B1188 Retail $14.99 Next up at Noon on Saturday – Jen Eskridge. Her book Hexagons Made Easymakes you want to […]
What’s on Your Quilting Bucket List? - Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE One of the first quilts I found myself drawn to was a log cabin quilt. As a non-quilter I didn’t know it was a log cabin—I just knew there was something about the variety of lights and darks stacked upon one another that I loved—it was orderly, yet yielded surprising results depending on the setting. So you’d think the first quilt I stitched would […]
Welcome, Janet Clare! - Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE We’re pleased to welcome Janet Clare to Moda. Her line, Hearty Good Wishes, will be in stores in February: in the meantime, you can enjoy getting to know her. Because Janet lives in England, our interview was conducted via email and she kindly provided numerous blog links to illustrate her answers. Be sure to click through and check them out! Tell us about how you got started in quilting and sewing. I have always […]
- Moda Blockheads 3It’s my turn to design our Blockheads 3 block again! This time I’ve chosen string blocks as they’re so quick, fun and using up all those little strips of fabric makes them thrifty too. I like to cut my strings with scissors to give me a more spontaneous and lively… Read more »
- Zig-ZagsIt’s my turn to be Head Blockhead this week! And we’re going to be making zig-zag blocks. I’ve kept the pieces small because it’s important to have a variety of sizes and scales in a sampler quilt so it’s interesting to make and also to look at. Our zig-zag blocks… Read more »
- SpoondriftMy quilt ‘Spoondrift’ as featured in current block of the month ‘Today’s Quilter’ has been really enjoyable to design, but a challenge in terms of calculating fabric requirements when we are not that many blocks further ahead than you. We are currently up to month 7 of 12 and we… Read more »
- DrawingIt’s Spring here in the UK and working from home these last few strange weeks has given me the opportunity to spend more time in our garden. We are not gardeners by any stretch- so there are weeds, patchy grass and bare fences and poppies, wisteria and a few beautiful… Read more »
- Block Heads 3Block 12 – ‘Hampshire Star’ Welcome Block Headers! Let me introduce myself; I’m Janet and live in Hampshire, England with my husband, Tony, our teenage sons and a dog called Betty. Tony runs our quilting design business and is affectionately known as ‘Chief of Everything’ because that’s what he does!… Read more »
- All in a Row AgainOnce again, the Moda designers and Martingale have combined creative forces to bring you ‘All in a Row’ volume 2- a book packed with original and fun ideas for row- by- row quilts! My row was inspired… Read more »
- And the winner is…I so enjoyed reading all your comments about the amazing Splendid Sampler learning curve! The winner (as chosen by the random number generator website) of the Aubade charm squares is comment 76 from Erika. Congratulations Erika! Read more »
- Aurifil Designer ChallengeThe Aurifil designer for February is Maureen Cracknell, pop over to Auribuzz to hear all about her and to download your free copy of this lovely tulip block ‘Dutch Treat’. This year all the designers are being given a colour from the colour wheel rainbow to be… Read more »
- The Splendid SamplerHappy Splendid Sampler Day! Exactly a year ago today we all started on a splendidly challenging patchwork adventure. Where ever did that year go? It’s not every year you get two presents a week, but that is exactly what happened during our Splendid Sampler year! I have… Read more »
- Aurifil Designer of the monthHello and welcome! I am pleased to tell you that I am Aurifil’s designer of the month for January 2017. The year is off to a great start! Every year Aurifil and Pat Sloan invite twelve designers to create a special, unique block for you and host a quilt-a- long… Read more »