About Me
My name is Wendy Russell and I have been a quiltmaker since my very first class in 1981. That class was about learning how to hand quilt. I had put together some squares (aka blocks) for a baby quilt, and wanted to know what to do next.
My first real quilt -- a "Lone Star"-- was made long before the invention of the rotary cutter, so templates were made with cardboard and then each was traced around with pencil onto the fabric pieces. Too late, I learned that this quilt is not recommended for beginners. However, I was undaunted.
I still have this quilt and often bring it to beginner classes that I am teaching to show just how bad a first quilt can be -- cut off points, mismatched seams and terrible quilting. Yet, I look on this quilt with pride as my first "masterpiece". Since that time I have created many completed quilts, unfinished quilt tops, blocks with no homes yet and taught new quilters the basics, or how to move on to more advanced techniques.
The Patchwork Square website will be a work in progress for several years. One of the many things you will learn as a quilter, is that for the most part, it is all about the journey -- not the finished product. I plan to help you in your journey by offering these free quilt block patterns, so that you too, can develop a love of colour, technique and the feel of the fabric in your hands. Your creation will be different than anyone else's so get ready to put your own personal "stamp" on your future heirloom.
Now, why not brew your favourite coffee or tea blend and check out the website on a regular basis to see what is new? (My favourite cup reads "Before I learned how to quilt ... I could cook".)
P.S. Don't say that I didn't warn you that quiltmaking is an addiction!