This month, our Designer Spotlight takes us across the globe — from Europe in our last feature to the Southern Highlands of Australia — a beautiful reminder of how wonderfully international the QuiltInk community has become.
We’re delighted to introduce Jo Wright, the creative voice behind Jo Wright Makes.
With a background in fine art and design, Jo creates quilt patterns rooted in geometry, structure, and thoughtful colour relationships. Her work explores repetition, transparency, and weaving, resulting in designs that feel both visually rich and structurally strong.
Keep reading to discover her journey from oil painting to quilting, and how she uses QuiltInk to experiment with colour and see her patterns reimagined by makers around the world. 💛
Personal Background
Jo, 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’m Jo Wright – a Creative Director, quilt designer, and lifelong lover of textiles. I grew up in Sydney, and studied design and fine art. I have always worked in the design industry.
I live in the Southern Highlands (south of Sydney) in Australia, with my husband and our three kids. It’s a beautiful regional area and home life is full and noisy and creative – there’s nearly always fabric on the dining table, and someone in my studio asking for a snack!
In many ways, My work and private life are layered together. It’s always a juggle.
Quilting Journey
When and how did you start quilting? What drew you to quilting as a form of expression?
I have an MFA, where my focus was oil painting and research around social issues affecting young women. This work was large-scale, materially heavy, and conceptually driven – requiring physical space, uninterrupted time, and a certain intensity.
On having kids, it became obvious that this kind of painting wasn’t especially complementary to mum life.
About eight years ago, I inherited my grandmother’s 1947 Singer sewing machine. It pulled me back toward an early love of sewing – and unexpectedly opened a new chapter. Sewing was different. It was pick-up-and-put-down-able with the kids. It didn’t require a studio sealed off from the world – it could live on the dining table. And when I was doing mindless chores, I could easily spend time in my head inventing colour combinations and patterns.
Quilting, in particular, brought together my love of graphic design, colour relationships, structure, and repetition. It satisfied the same conceptual part of my brain as painting – but in a form that felt more integrated with the life I was actually living. Stepping into a local fabric store was also a revelation – shelves of colour and print I didn’t know existed. And YouTube became my technical tutor.
Plus, it’s deeply satisfying to make something that would be used. My kids sleep under my quilts every night. That feels like such an honour.
Pattern Designing
What inspired you to start designing quilt patterns? How do you approach the creative process of designing a new pattern?
I have far too many ideas in my head – and the only way to quiet them is to make them. Once I’ve tested something and it works, it feels natural to share it and make it available to others.
I get enormous joy from making other designers’ patterns, and I deeply value the creativity in this community. At the same time, I have a fairly specific aesthetic – and I don’t always see that particular combination of geometry, colour, and structure reflected elsewhere. Designing my own patterns allows me to explore that fully.
Most designs being in my sketchbook. I draw first – exploring proportion, rhythm, and repeat. Then I move to the computer, where I test scale, forms, colour, and contrast. That part tends to come together quite quickly. It’s the pattern writing and the maths that takes the most time.
Style and Aesthetics
How would you define your pattern style? Are there specific themes or elements that consistently appear in your designs?
I’m drawn to geometry — to simple, repeatable forms that can be layered into complexity through thoughtful colour relationships. Transparency effects and weaving are fascinating to me.
I love when a design is structurally clear but visually rich, where the interest comes from interplay and interaction of colour.
Some people have described my work as mid-century modern, which I take as a great compliment. There’s something enduring about that balance of restraint, optimism, and strong graphic form.
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’m drawn to rich colour and the visual language of the 1970s. I like combinations that feel slightly unexpected – colours that sit a little awkwardly together at first. Sometimes it’s about pushing toward something almost ‘ugly’, and then finding the beauty in that tension.
I don’t have a favourite colour. My kids have learned to ask, “What’s your favourite colour… today?” because it genuinely changes. I’m non-committal – drawn to different palettes at different times, depending on mood, light, and context.
But that’s just my aesthetic.
In my mind, a pattern only truly works if it can hold its own across a wide range of colour palettes and fabric styles. It needs to be structurally strong enough to survive interpretation. The bones have to be solid.
A soft, pastel, scrappy ‘pretty’ approach isn’t something I gravitate towards – but I believe my patterns should work beautifully in that language too. The design has to be generous and leave room for the maker’s voice, not just mine.
Business Activities
Apart from designing patterns, what other activities are integral to your quilting business?
(Membership, notions, courses, etc)
Pattern writing is something I run alongside my full-time role as Creative Director at Take Two Art, which is a substantial and creative job in its own right. I help to shape art courses, guide the brand, and host interview podcasts, working closely with artists and community.
I feel very lucky that my professional work and my own creative practice are so closely aligned. There’s a shared language, constant inspiration, and each job feeds the other.
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?
My website is https://jowrightmakes.com and my Instagram is @jowrightmakes .
I keep my channels pretty simple as I don’t have a lot of time. I’m working more on my email newsletter this year – which is a space I can talk openly about my life and quilt practice. You can subscribe to this at https://jowrightmakes.com/signup
Upcoming Projects
Can you provide a sneak peek into any upcoming projects or designs you’re working on? Any exciting collaborations or events?
As always, I have a few in mind. I’d really like to do something more complex with transparency. I’ve just launched my Weavery pattern, and find myself leaning back into curves, because that design was so linear!
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 been an absolute joy. It’s genuinely the best tool I’ve found for testing colour during the design process – being able to experiment quickly and see how different palettes shift the feel of a pattern is invaluable.
And Catalina is a delight to work with – so generous, helpful, and supportive. I don’t have a huge audience or an enormous network of quilty friends, so connections like that really matter to me.
And of course it’s absolutely delightful to see people on QuiltInk experimenting with my patterns and coming up with combinations I could have never imagined!
