Meet the Maker: Rachelle Craig

Rachelle is known for her beautiful, bright quilts – many of which have graced the pages of Make Modern.

She is a self-taught quilter, taking up the hobby in school. “One summer as a bored teenager, I taught myself how to quilt using library books and have not looked back since,” she explains.

While she worked as a construction engineer for many years, she now combines the family farming business with a quilting career. “I’m now pursuing a long-time dream of designing quilt patterns. My husband and I also farm his family’s 180+ year-old homestead in rural Wisconsin. We currently have a cow-calf beef operation and some chickens, with other animals on our bucket list.”

Quilt pictured is Tavera Quilt by Rachelle Craig from Make Modern Issue 62

Rachelle’s quilting style has evolved over the years. “I started quilting in the early ‘90s when modern quilting wasn’t widespread, so my style was naturally traditional. I made quilts to match my décor and didn’t experiment much. Nowadays, my style is about 85% modern with touches of traditional design,” she explains.

While known for her bold use of color, her style is eclectic, and she enjoys trying new things. As a farmer, she’s resourceful and thrifty, often repurposing fabrics. She doesn’t have a single niche, instead using techniques that best bring her ideas to life—whether it’s scrappy improv piecing, precision foundation paper piecing, or hand-stitching a Kawandi-inspired design. She also enjoys creating art quilts and challenging herself—and others—to try new things.

Pictured is Rachelle’s Viroqua Quilt from Make Modern Issue 59

Last year, she held a series of ‘Creative Play’ prompts on her blog with themes like nature, icons, transition, and comforting to stretch her creativity and encourage others to do the same. She loves adding depth to her designs with hand-stitching embellishments.

When it comes to fabric choices, Rachelle prioritizes color over pattern. “My three favorite color combos to use are ‘Moody Rainbow’ (dark purple, magenta, burnt orange, mustard, olive green, and dark teal) with a light or dark background; cool colors; and warm/autumn colors. I prefer to use solids and buy Kona Black by the bolt! I save larger prints for quilt backings,” she says.

Quilt pictured is Maribel Mill Quilt by Rachelle from Make Modern Issue 57

Rachelle’s business revolves around designing quilt patterns, which she sells at www.rachellehandmade.com, and teaching. She loves to travel to teach her quilt patterns and showcase her work at guild trunk shows.

She enjoys the entire quilt-making process, from the spark of inspiration to seeing a design come to life—except for basting quilts larger than a lap size! “If I could, I’d happily pay someone to baste my larger quilts,” she jokes.

Quilt pictured is Sister Bay Quilt by Rachelle from Make Modern Issue 55

Like all of us, Rachelle finds herself in creative ruts. When that happens, she picks a small, simple, deadline-free project for instant gratification. “It usually doesn’t take much to get me in the mood to sew,” she says.

Even after decades of quilting, Rachelle is still learning. “I realized my fear of being video recorded isn’t warranted, and I’ve published a couple of online on-demand courses.”

For Rachelle, quilting is a part of her identity. “Quilting has taught me that I am more creative and determined than I ever imagined,” she says—and she loves sharing that passion through her patterns.

Quilt pictured is Crackerjack Quilt by Rachelle from Make Modern Issue 51.