About Judy B

I started sewing, making rag dolls and dolls clothes sometime early on using a treadle sewing machine which is now in my hallway, and I watched as Mum made clothes for herself and all of us kids.

After I got married I made rag dolls, soft toys and Christmas decorations for sale, then in 1984 a friend wanted to start a patchwork class. I agreed to go along to make up the numbers, and make some cushions for Christmas presents. By lesson three I was hooked!

The next term, the friend left town and left me teaching her next class. I was about three stitches ahead of the class!

I haven’t stopped making quilts since, but also still made dolls, some bears, lots of Christmas decorations. After selling work through shops and at craft fairs for a long time, I found having to mass produce items was hard work, parting with quilts heartbreaking, and there was little time to play with new ideas.

I’m not good at following directions and always had to try something a bit different, and I started designing quilts in a small way almost as soon as I made my first block. I began teaching patchwork and quilting before I had made a quilt even, then started designing dolls from scratch instead of severely altering pattern, and conducting doll workshops.

Now I spend time playing with designs, for quilts, dolls and Christmas decorations, and sometimes even making some of them.

The Virtual Quilter

The quilts featured on this site are virtual quilts, designed on Electric Quilt.

I can design heaps of quilts in just a few hours, but I can’t make quilts that quickly, so I pick out the ones I like best, and because I quilt by hand, I only finish two or three a year.

The rest have been stored in my computer, unseen even by me unless I open a project file looking for inspiration for more designs.

This site is a chance to show the designs to others, and occasionally share designs

You may send me an email message at

virtualquilter at gmail dot com