QuiltInk Blog

Meet the Fabric Shops – The Nerdy Quilter

January is here, and we’re excited to meet another Fabric Shop on QuiltInk — one that beautifully blends design, science, and modern quilting.

This month’s Meet the Fabric Shops interview features The Nerdy Quilter, a designer and fabric shop on QuiltInk known for bold color choices, modern fabrics, and foundation paper piecing designs. Based in central Indiana, she brings a unique perspective to quilting, combining a scientific background with a deep love for color, precision, and creative problem-solving.

In this interview, she shares her journey from designing patterns to running a fabric shop, and how offering kits, custom options, and digital mock-ups helps her customers confidently plan their quilts.

Discover her story, her passion for fabrics, and how QuiltInk helps her visualize quilt kits and inspire her customers.

Personal Background

Could you tell us a bit about yourself? (location, age, educational background, …) Who is behind The Nerdy Quilter?

I’m the owner of The Nerdy Quilter located in central Indiana. I grew up with a passion for science and crafts and have a Masters degree in Biology. I used to run the Microbiology department at the veterinary diagnostics lab at Purdue, but loved quilting and my husband encouraged me to start a small quilt shop in 2018.

Quilting Journey

How did you first get into quilting? When did you decide to turn this passion into a business by opening your shop?

My mother in law is an avid quilter and took me shopping to make my first quilt in 2016. I then discovered foundation paper piecing and began drafting my own patterns. When I created Spectrum, I had hundreds of inquiries for the pattern and spent 6 months turning it into my first pattern. We opened the shop originally to sell my patterns and offer kits to accompany them.

Shop Story and Style

What’s the story behind The Nerdy Quilter? When did it start, and how would you describe its personality, style, and size?

We were originally called Knowltons Notions, but I have always been on the nerdy side and our logo features the silouette of my glasses. We started in 2018 with just enough funds to buy Giucy Giuce Spectrastatic 1 and 2. It was originally in my sewing room, but quickly grew to large and moved to our guest room. After two years we were bursting at the seams either fabric and refinished our 1300 square foot basement to be our shop.

Product Offerings

What types of fabrics do you focus on? How do you offer them to customers—by the yard, as kits, or with custom options?

I offer modern fabrics. We sell bundles, yardage, kits and custom options.

Special Collections and Products

Are there any collections, brands, or unique products you’re especially proud to carry?

We proudly carry Charley Harper by Birch fabrics, a smattering of Liberty of London and many new modern designers such as Giucy Giuce, Tula Pink, Libs Elliott and Alison Glass.

Inspiration and Trends

Are there any collections, brands, or unique products you’re especially proud to carry?

I typically select fabrics that feature the full spectrum of color.

Additional Services

Do you offer any other quilting-related services, like pattern design, long-arming, or classes?

I offer Edge to Edge and Custom longarming services with our Gammill Statler computerized machine. Our quilts have been featured by Legit Kits, Robert Kaufman and Andover.

Online Presence

Where can people find your shop online? (Website, social media handles, online marketplaces). How do you use online platforms to connect with your audience and fellow quilters?

Our website is www.TheNerdyQuilter.com. We are also in Facebook (The Nerdy Quilter), Instagram (@NerdyQuilter and @thenerdyquiltershop) I feature new collections, host contests and giveaways and post updates for new collection launches.

Upcoming News and Projects

Are there any exciting new projects, events, or collaborations coming up that you’d like to share with the community

We are very excited for the new Alison Glass Color Camp Collection arriving next fall featuring 84 rainbow prints! We will be running a BOM with a pattern by Nancy Rink Designs called Color Compass and will offer a bundle of the month club

QuiltInk Experience

How has QuiltInk been useful for your shop or customers? Any favorite tools or ways it’s made things easier?

I use it to create new kits featuring favorite designers patterns

I love that I can add fabrics from my shop so members can color patterns and request custom kits! Our customers love having a wide kit selection featuring modern fabrics

Designer Spotlight – Eudaimonia Studio

This month’s January Designer Spotlight brings us to Salt Lake City, Utah, where we’re happy to introduce Brooke, the designer behind Eudaimonia Studio.

Brooke’s work blends modern quilt design with thoughtful inspiration drawn from philosophy. Her patterns are bold and large in scale, often featuring half-rectangle triangles, and guided by a careful approach to color that brings depth and balance to each design.

Keep reading to discover Brooke’s quilting journey, what inspires her patterns, and how she uses QuiltInk to help quilters explore color with confidence.

Personal Background

Brooke, as we dive into your story, could you provide a snapshot of who you are and take us on the journey that led you to where you are today?

I currently live in Salt Lake City, Utah with my husband and dog (a Border Collie mix). We moved to Utah from Chicago, Illinois to enjoy all the amazing outdoor recreation the mountains have to offer (skiing, camping, hiking, etc.).

Quilting Journey

When and how did you start quilting? What drew you to quilting as a form of expression?

I began quilting in 2018 after having picked up crochet – and when searching for new patterns, I continued to stumble across quilt designs, which completely drew me in. There is something about the number of possibilities with sewing – and even within patchwork quilting – that forever inspires me.

Pattern Designing

What inspired you to start designing quilt patterns? How do you approach the creative process of designing a new pattern?

I’ve always been one to try and figure things out for myself, and so when I wanted to create a design inspired by my philosophical studies, I sought to figure out a pattern for myself. I realized how much I enjoy the creative aspect of sketching a design, paired with the mathematical and logical aspect of determining the construction to bring that design to life. And the ability to create designs symbolizing the various philosophies that inspire my musings–well, I can’t think of much else I would enjoy more.

Style and Aesthetics

How would you define your pattern style? Are there specific themes or elements that consistently appear in your designs?

“Eudaimonia” is the Greek term for “human flourishing,” and so each Eudaimonia Studio design is inspired by inspired by my search to answer the ancient question of what it means to live well and make the most of life. My designs tend to be quite modern and large in scale, and I especially love designing with half-rectangle triangles (HRTs) for their versatility and modern look.

Color

How does color play a role in your pattern designing? Do you have a favorite color? Are there certain color combinations you find particularly appealing?

I am always on the lookout for eye-catching color palettes – whether that be out in the “real world” or simply scrolling through Pinterest. While my overall color preferences seem to constantly evolve, I notice that so many of my quilts have a golden brown (Kona: Roasted Pecan; AGF: Raw Gold). I think I gravitate toward this color for its grounding effect, and its ability to add more depth to so many different color ways.

Business Activities

Apart from designing patterns, what other activities are integral to your quilting business?

(Membership, notions, courses, etc)

Hand + Soul Block of the Month

On-demand workshops

In-person workshops and lectures for guilds, shops and conferences

Online Presence

Where can people find your work online? (Website, social media handles, online marketplaces). How do you use online platforms to connect with your audience and fellow quilters?

EudaimoniaStudio.com (join the newsletter to stay in the know!)

IG: @EudaimoniaStudioUS

QuiltInk Experience

How has QuiltInk contributed to your quilt pattern design business? Could you share your experience with the platform and how it has influenced your creative process and connected you with fellow quilters?

QuiltInk has provided an amazing way for quilters to be able to see designs in their own color style. Knowing the time, fabric, and other investment involved in making a quilt, it is wonderful to provide makers with confidence in their project by simply directing them to a QuiltInk coloring page.

QuiltInk Challenge Jan26

A new year begins, and with it comes a fresh QuiltInk Challenge to spark creativity and color exploration. For the January QuiltInk Challenge, we’re excited to feature Celestial Garden, the newest fabric collection by Alexandra Bordallo for Andover Fabrics — a release that invites quilters to start the year inspired and curious.

This challenge is an invitation to explore the QuiltInk Wall, experiment with a new palette, and create mock-ups that reflect your own creative voice. Every entry helps keep designers visible, supported, and encouraged to continue sharing their work with the quilting community.

Before we begin, let’s celebrate the close of the December Challenge. Congratulations to chirosc, the winner of our Canyon Challenge in collaboration with Tara Faughnan! With 254 mock-ups shared on the QuiltInk Wall, December was a wonderful example of how active and engaged this community continues to be.

Now, it’s time to turn the page and welcome January’s challenge.

MEET CELESTIAL GARDEN

Celestial Garden is a whimsical and imaginative fabric collection. This printed quilting cotton range blends elements of nature with celestial themes, bringing together motifs like dreamy florals, moonlit details, and constellation-inspired accents that feel both magical and grounded. The palette combines soft pastels with rich jewel tones, offering quilters a versatile set of fabrics perfect for projects that evoke wonder, serenity, and creative expression. Celestial Garden delivers an enchanting visual story that fuels your creative journey.

MEET ALEXANDRA BORDALLO

Meet Alexandra Bordallo, the talented designer behind the Flourish palette for this month’s QuiltInk Challenge!

Hailing from Vic, near Barcelona, Alexandra is a passionate quilter, fabric designer for Andover Fabrics, and quilt pattern creator. Her quilting journey began with inspiration from her grandmother and grew through sewing blogs, magazines, and tutorials. Today, she blends traditional elements with a modern twist, often incorporating flying geese and geometric designs into her work.

For Alexandra, color is the heart of every quilt, and her love for greens, purples, and yellows—drawn from sunsets and summer meadows—shines through in her fabric collections. When she’s not designing, she’s connecting with the quilting community through her website and social media, sharing her creative process and upcoming projects.

We’re thrilled to have Alexandra as part of this challenge, bringing her nature-inspired Flourish collection to QuiltInk!

HOW TO PARTICIPATE

1. Access to www.quiltink.com, sign in or create your free account.

2. Choose a pattern from the main page.

3. Color the pattern using the challenge palette, it’s the first palette in solid palettes list.

4. Share your mock-up on our #quiltinkwall.

5. Boost your chances creating a post or story on Instagram, mentioning @quilt_ink , @alexandrabordallo , and tagging #QuiltInkChallengeJan26. It counts as 2 entries in the giveaway.

PRIZE!
A 12 Fat Quarter bundle from the Celestial Garden fabric collection by Alexandra Bordallo

Selection: On February 1st, we will randomly pick 2 mock-up chosen between all the mock-ups in the Wall made with the QuiltInk Challenge Jan26 palette (the ones with the gift icon).

The more mock-ups you create, the higher your chances of winning! Start coloring now!

This giveaway is open internationally. You must be at least 18 years old. This giveaway is not sponsored by Instagram. Participants release Instagram of any responsibility and agree to IG terms of use.

Here are some examples of quilt patterns mock-ups using the FLourish palette in QuiltInk! Don’t you love them all?

Patterns featured are (click to color):
1. Mosaïque by Namaju Quilt Studio

2. Afterglow 2.0 by Sewspicious

3. Libs Elliott – Rebel

Remember by clicking on the gift icon in the QuitlInk Wall you will be able to see all the mock-ups for the Challenge alive.

Curious about how to find the palette to participate. Follow these steps and start coloring!!

Here you can see a detailed list of the fabrics in the Celestial Garden palette with their names.

We can’t wait to see all your mock-ups!

Happy coloring and quilting to you all!

QuiltInk Challenge Dec25 Winner

The December QuiltInk Challenge wrapped up with an incredible wave of color exploration, and the QuiltInk Wall truly reflected the spirit of the season. Using Canyon, the rich and expressive palette featured in collaboration with Tara Faughnan, quilters created 254 mock-ups filled with warmth, contrast, and thoughtful color play.

A heartfelt congratulations to chirosc, the randomly selected winner of the December Challenge! Her participation stood out among a vibrant collection of entries that showcased how versatile and inspiring the Canyon palette can be across a wide range of quilt patterns.

This challenge was all about celebrating color confidence and creative curiosity. Canyon invited quilters to move beyond expected holiday combinations and experiment with layered tones, earthy depth, and luminous accents — a perfect reflection of Tara Faughnan’s approach to color and design.

Thank you to everyone who took part this month. Every mock-up shared on the QuiltInk Wall helps strengthen our community and supports designers and educators like Tara in continuing to inspire quilters around the world. If you haven’t yet explored the December Challenge gallery, it’s well worth a visit — the ideas and color combinations are truly inspiring.

Check out the November’s challenge because it’s really fun and you won’t want to miss it!

Mock-up Monday #161 Nov25 Challenge

Visit our Instagram account to see a beautiful continuous carousel with the mock-up Monday #161 specially dedicated to the December QuiltInk Challenge with nearly 200 amazing mock-ups from the more than 250 made with the Canyon palette curated by Tara Faughnan shared during the last weeks in our QuiltInk Wall.

The last days to participate in the December QuiltInk Challenge!

This is #qink_mockupmonday 161, and the QuiltInk Wall is overflowing with inspiration — more than 200 quilt pattern mock-ups already created! I couldn’t fit them all in this carousel, but every single one shows how powerful this challenge has been.

This month we’re celebrating color with @tarafaughnan and her stunning Canyon palette — rich, warm, and perfect for exploring contrast and depth. If you’ve been thinking about joining, now is the moment.

Pick a pattern, color it with the December palette, share it on the QuiltInk Wall, and join this incredible creative energy. You might also win access to Tara’s on-demand lecture on creating color palettes — the perfect way to close the year inspired.

Don’t miss it. Let’s finish the year strong, together.

New Pattern: Maximal Star BOM

Looking for a quilt project that’s meant to be sewn together, not alone? The Maximal Star Block of the Month by Lindlee of @plainsandpine is one you’ll want to check out.

This Block of the Month features eight different diamond-style star blocks, starting simple and building in complexity month by month. Each month you sew six blocks, guided by the designer, while watching a bold, modern star quilt come together.

Sign-ups are open now, and it’s a wonderful way to commit to a big quilt project with the best company — a supportive group of quilters and Lindlee leading the way. Head to her profile to learn more and join.

New Pattern: Confetti

Today we welcome a brand-new designer to QuiltInk — say hello to Clare from @blissquiltco . 🎉
And she’s arriving with a just-released quilt pattern that truly lives up to its name: Confetti.

Confetti is all about color play. With sixteen colors in the quilt top, this pattern invites you to experiment, mix palettes, and explore movement and rhythm while keeping a clear, repeatable structure. Bold or subtle, coordinated or unexpected — every color choice creates a completely different feel.

Confetti is now ready to color digitally on QuiltInk. Browse the mock-ups, test your own color ideas, and see just how many personalities this quilt can take on before you ever cut fabric.

Supporting new designers matters. They bring fresh ideas, new perspectives, and exciting designs to the quilting world. Coloring their patterns, sharing mock-ups, and sewing their quilts is one of the best ways we can support their work and help their creativity grow.

Mock-up Monday #160

Visit our Instagram account to see a beautiful continuous carousel with the mock-up Monday #160 with more than 100 amazing mock-ups.

More than 100 mock-ups coming together for #qink_mockupmonday 160 💛
Different quilt patterns, different color stories — and every single one is unique and beautiful in its own way.

Slow down, swipe, and enjoy them one by one. This is pure quilt inspiration.

COTY 2026 from Kona Cotton Solids now on QuiltInk

As I promised in my last newsletter, I share more about the new COTY 2026 from Kona Cotton Solids by Robert Kaufman, now added to QuiltInk to help you plan your quilts with confidence.

This rich green feels grounded, calming, and full of life — a color strongly connected to growth, balance, and natural harmony. It works beautifully in modern quilts and adds depth to both bold and softer designs.

To explore it further, I’ve created three color palettes — monochromatic, analogous, and complementary — showing different ways to combine this color with Kona Cottons.

You’ll also see 8 quilt mock-ups, all colored in QuiltInk, using patterns by:
Urbe by @kellifox_designs
Dancing Geese by @alexandrabordallo
Grow Wild by @eudaimoniastudious
Sweet Serenade by @a_stitch_is_a_stitch
Spruce by @bookendsquilting
Pressed in Pine by @craftymoose_quilts
Checked Out by @jessirash
Tilt and Twirl by @duenorthhandmade

Swipe, get inspired, and start planning your next quilt before cutting any fabric 💚

New Pattern: Northern Glow

Are you looking for a last-minute Christmas quilt pattern to make a truly special gift? The just-released Northern Glow Quilt Pattern by @shadowvalleyquilts Quilts is a perfect choice. It’s a quick, one-block quilt with bold, generous pieces and so much room to play with color.

At first glance it may look simple, but don’t skip the coloring step. Once you start exploring palettes, you’ll see how dramatically each version can change. Every mock-up feels different, and every one works. The large center diamond is ideal for fussy cutting, statement quilting, or adding your own creative touch.

Northern Glow is easy to sew, incredibly versatile, and available in sizes from mini to king. Plan your colorway on QuiltInk, test your ideas before cutting, and create a quilt that truly glows.