How long I've been quilting... Since 1989 – It is a passion and I do something quilt related almost every day.

I began quilting because... A friend brought a quilt to work one day and I thought it was beautiful. I said to myself, “You can do that!” and I went home, drafted a pattern and made a wallhanging that weekend.

My quilting style is... Traditional with a contemporary flair.

People who inspired me... My aunt and my grandmother were phenomenal seamstresses (both maternal side of the family). And I used to watch my other grandmother (fraternal) hand piece 9-patch blocks together for her church. She would randomly select squares to sew and I loved watching the blocks come together.

I draw my inspiration from... Everywhere! A lot of my designs come from architecture – I love tile and brick work. Color inspiration comes mostly from nature. I am constantly looking for design possibilities.

My Favorite techniques... Most everything I do is rotary cut and pieced. I love the look of appliqué, but don’t have the time or patience to do it by hand. If I want appliqué it’s fused and blanket stitched or stitched with an invisible hem stitch.

Colors or fabrics I'm attracted to... I love brights (oranges, greens, purples) or quilts with a dark background (black, brown or navy).

My fabric stash... The only real stash I have is batiks. I try to use up any leftover fabrics from a quilt for the back of the same quilt because I know that I won’t use them again.

My quilting community... I belong to my local quilt guild (St Cloud Heritage Quilters) and a contemporary group called “Crossing Borders”. When I first joined the guild I participated in almost every small group they offered, and I began designing quilts to use all the blocks I accumulated from those challenges. Crossing Borders has been a big inspiration to me because they have monthly challenges which encourage quilters to think outside the
box.

My other hobbies and interests... I am an avid reader and knitter and enjoy bike riding and traveling.

I entered Quilt Design Star™ 2012 because... I love to have a challenge to work with when I design and who doesn’t want a new sewing machine?

Links... Business website: www.whirligigdesigns.com

What you should know about me… I strongly encourage quilters to look at my designs and then imagine what they can do to make them their own – whether it’s using different fabrics and colors, making it smaller or larger, substituting blocks for ones I might have used.

My publishing history... Market Square was published in Quiltmania (and on the cover) in their Autumn Special Edition 2007. Happy Days was published in QNM’s Best Fat Quarter Quilts Fall 2011. French Twist was published in Quilts from Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks, Spring 2012. Sunday Rose was published in Quiltmaker’s 100 Blocks, Vol. 4. The River Project – Quilt #1 was published in "The Complete Photo Guide to Art Quilting" by Susan Stein, Copyright 2012. A Journal Quilt published in “Creative Quilting, The Journal Quilt Project” by Karey Patterson Bresenhan,, Copyright 2006.

Taos (below) is Chris's Quilt Design Star™ 2012 Professional Category entry quilt.

Storm Warning (below) is Chris's Quilt Design Star™ 2012 Professional Category Challenge 1 quilt top.

Renewal (below) is Chris's Quilt Design Star™ 2012 Professional Category Challenge 2 quilt top.

Kaleidoscope (below) is Chris's Quilt Design Star™ 2012 Professional Category Challenge 3 quilt.