THE SHORT STORY:
I’m a quilter who lives in Michigan.
I like cheerful things and awesome people.
I write quilt patterns.
I teach quilting.
I dye fabric.
I can be contacted by emailing rossiecrafts@gmail.com
I can be hired to make commission quilts; read this page to begin that process.
THE LONG STORY:
Hello, my name is Rossie Hutchinson. Yep, it says Rossie on my birth certificate. Why? Because my parents are awesome. Also, Ross is a family name on my mom’s side of the family and Rasi is a family name on my dad’s side. They gave me the middle name Marie because, as my mom says, “it sounds nice with Rossie, but also I figured that you might not want to be a Rossie, and the type of person who doesn’t want to be called Rossie, would probably want to be called Marie.” I love my mom.
My mom is from England, she met my dad when she was on a student exchange at the University of Wisconsin. They were at a football game with the same group of friends. He thought she looked greasy, she thought he ate popcorn like a pig. Typical love at first sight kind of story, huh?
My parents have always lived in Wisconsin together because my dad cannot survive long outside of Wisconsin. He gets a headache and can’t remember the rules. He’s very cute when we do go to England though, taking pride in knowing how to order a beer, “a pint of bitter, please” and trying to mind his manners. My brothers and I have dual citizenship and can put on quite nice fake English accents if you’d like to hear them.
My dad grew up in Wisconsin, but his mom grew up in Michigan, which is where I live now. I came to Ann Arbor, Michigan for graduate school at the University of Michigan; after completing my PhD, I started teaching full time at the University. After trying to balance home/work/quilting for a few years, I left the University in 2014 in order to focus on my art full time. While I miss being in the classroom regularly, I do getting my teaching fix in quilt classes on a regular basis! For my teaching offerings check my teaching page; I will travel to teach, hire me!
Jon and I were married in 2013 (you can read about that here). In the fall of 2014, we bought our dream home in the countryside outside Ann Arbor (you can read about that here). We have a dog named Vin (you can read about her here). And we have two amazing goats, Bea, and Cupcake (you can read about our first two goats, Bea and Gracie, here, I’ll get around to writing about Cupcake soon, too!) Our child, Simon, was born in 2017 (I posted a few baby photos here).
Funny story: I met Jon through quilting. He’s good friends with Brenda and Jason (those two own Pink Castle Fabrics, a local fabric store that closed in 2020). Brenda introduced us at her birthday party and we’ve been a couple ever since!
I’ve been quilting since 2002, though I made only a few quilts in my first five years, and now I make a few quilts a month! It all started from a love of fabric and a desire to have a quilt with a modern aesthetic (which I couldn’t find to buy anywhere, so I set about making.) I am sometimes referred to as a leader in the “modern quilt movement” because I started Fresh Modern Quilts on Flickr back in January of 2008; I started the group out of an interest in being a part of a group where I could regularly see pictures of other non-traditional quilts, not finding a group to join, I made one. Fresh Modern Quilts became the first great online meeting place for a modern quilters, and the popularity and activity on Fresh Modern Quilts was an important precursor to the founding of the Modern Quilt Guild.
Speaking of the Modern Quilt Guild, you should see if there’s a guild near you! I’m an active member of the Ann Arbor Modern Quilt Guild In the past, I have served as an officer and have also been active as a member of the nominating committee for the Modern Quilt Guild. I’ve also proudly and excitedly attended the first Quilt Con (the MQG’s national conference and show). I was honored to teach at the second and third Quilt Cons, and plan to attend as many as my schedule and budget will allow in the future!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Who took that amazing photo on your home page?
That photo is by Amy Diebold Photography. Pretty much all other photos on this website were taken by me.
Are you on other social media?
Yes, I’m pretty active on Instagram. I’m rossiecrafts.
I also enjoy Pinterest! rossiecrafts.
What do you blog about?
Quilting, mostly. I’ll occasionally throw in some personal stuff, but I mostly stick to the quilts. I’m really interested in the process of making quilts, especially when designs or fabrics have been personalized on any level.