Notes from the Beginning

It’s early days for these mid-month letters—just a small space, a pause in the bustle, where I can share a little more about the process behind the quilts. Not always tied to a specific release. Sometimes just a thought, a story, or a quiet check-in.

This first mid-month entry felt like the right time to explain the 100 Quilt Project.

I’ve been quilting for nearly 20 years. I’ve dabbled in other creativity: drawing, painting, fabric dyeing. But I always return to quilting. It’s geometry, rhythm, and color. It’s structure. And, for me, it’s peace and calm in a sometimes chaotic world.

So why 100? Honestly? Because I grew up in metric. I teach and work in metric. My day job lives in a world of milligrams and Celsius. Even though quilting taught me to think in inches, yards, and quarter-inch seams, my internal compass still gravitates to round metric milestones. One hundred just felt right.

When I launched the 100 Quilt Project, I’d just wrapped up a big professional milestone—one of those large, multi-year things that finally clicked into place. Suddenly, I had mental space again. And in that quiet, I wanted to return for focus and energy to something that had been an anchor - making quilts.

I’d written and posted a pattern on Etsy years earlier and mostly let it float. It did okay. But now I had new tools, better workflows, and a strong desire to do more. So I made a goal: one new quilt pattern a month. One hundred quilts, one at a time. A personal challenge, but one rooted in the kind of structured creativity I know how to manage. It’s the same kind of SMART goal I teach in my day job: stretching but achievable, broken into manageable parts.

What I’ve learned from goals like this is that progress often comes in waves. Not rollercoasters—more like gentle swells. There are phases where everything flows easily, and phases where it doesn’t. Those hard stretches? They teach me the most. That’s where the long-term strategies take root. Sometimes the best lesson is simply: done is done.

Right now, I’m a little ahead of schedule in the 100 Quilt Project. It’s still flowing. I know the harder parts will come, and weirdly, I’m looking forward to them. There’s something reassuring about learning how to meet yourself there, to find your rhythm again when the tide goes out.

I hope you’ll stick with me for the ride.

Here’s a photo of the quilt that started it all: Ripple. This quilt hangs on a wall in my home and I still love it.

And, if you’ve seen her in any of my quilt photos, allow me to officially introduce the head of the Happy Kiwi operation: Gracie.

Gracie came to me through Vizsla rescue at around 18 months old, after a bit of a rocky start to life. Within days, she had claimed the role of studio supervisor, head of squirrel security, and primary quilt model. She’s clever (especially if snacks are involved), fast on her feet, and has concluded that deer-chasing is, in fact, not worth the effort. She’s also very good at reminding me when it’s time to stop working and prepare her dinner. A dog’s internal dinner clock is a thing of wonder!

Thanks for reading. And thanks, truly, for being here.

—Jo