About
Hello and welcome. I am so glad you’re here. For some of you I may be a familiar face but for those of you new to me and my designs, welcome. I’m Janelle, or Nellie to my friends and family.
A little bit about me.
I began my patchwork journey back in 1995 during my second of year of Primary School teaching. I was living and teaching in Melbourne, Australia at the time and stumbled upon a tiny patchwork shop in my local shopping centre. Having always dreamed learning how to make quilts from a very young age, I signed up on the spot for my very first class.
This class was the very foundation of hand piecing and I learned so much in that tiny shop. I quickly signed up for every class I possibly could, between my full-time job. I was hooked. Fast forward to 1998 when I was pregnant with my first child and now living back in my home town in country NSW. I had been making as many quilts as I could throughout the previous years and attending as many classes as possible as well. I lived and breathed quilts. I remember travelling about 45 minutes to patchwork classes when I was heavily pregnant, bringing my mother along just in case I went into early labour. Quilting was my passion.
When my daughter was about 6 months old, and with the encouragement of the local fabric store owner, I designed and made my very first quilt pattern, Country at Heart. It was a pieced table runner with appliqué hearts that was very much the style in patchwork at that time. I bravely taught my first classes and that is where my pattern and teaching years began. I went on to launch my first pattern business, Simply Homespun.
It was during my years of running Simply Homespun that my dear parents helped collate, fold and send every pattern that I sold, either through patchwork stores or quilt fairs. The quilts, runners, bags, pillows, stitcheries and more that I designed through these years were all designed with someone or a need that I saw. My designs were always heart based, I couldn’t design any other way.
It was when my father first got a cancer diagnosis that my desire to produce patterns took a back seat. My priority was my family and my heart was with them. I took a small break from designing and when I felt ready to return, I relaunched under the name The Janelle Wind Collection. A new beginning needed a new name.
With the changing internet and patchwork world, my designs evolved and my signature style was a mix of bright and happy colours. I also shared my love of thrifting, family, latest releases and more through my blog for many years. In 2010 I released my book, Pieces of Me. It was through the pages of this book that I shared many brand new designs, from small wall art to bags, cushions a table runner and more.
It was throughout these years of quilt designing that I was fortunate enough to have my work in many Australian craft magazines from Country Threads, to Australian Homespun, Quilters Companion and more. I was also invited to travel to teach large quilting groups to places such as Nundle, Nowra, Adelaide and more. I was also teaching weekly classes in my own home studio as well, with many of these students staying with me from my very first class.
This is just one example of the many magazines I was published in throughout my years as a designer. In this issue of Australian Homespun, I designed a quilt and matching cushion, pictured on the cover.
In 2014 life changed dramatically for me when my marriage of 20 years ended. With this end, came the realisation that I very much needed to take a break from quilting and teaching. I needed to once again focus on my family and take the time needed to heal and find where I fit once again.
It took me more years that I anticipated but at the beginning of 2022 I worked on a new quilt pattern, in the hope that maybe one day I would re enter the patchwork pattern world once again. I was more nervous than ever before, not sure where I fit or if there was still a place for my designs and me personally. Don’t get me wrong, my knowledge of how to write a good pattern still remained but my confidence had taken a dive. With this in mind, I began making quilts again, and the first of these was Ivy Quilt.
I love this quilt, more than I can say. Quilts have always told stories for me and I do believe that some are also healing and this was very much that for me. To gain my confidence back and know that I can still design beautiful quilts was just the remedy I needed. Having spent time studying Interior and Graphic design since over the previous years, I knew I had even more to bring to the table. I was excited but also terrified. Instead of launching my pattern, I folded it up and put it in my quilt cupboard. I focussed on making more samples, for the time that launching felt right.
In 2023 I joined an amazing online class by Georgia Draws a House called Become and Artist from Home, where she helped artistic women launch their side hustle. It was during one of the first live Q & A sessions that the new name for my pattern business was created - My Nanna Does That. I was sharing the story that as a young patchwork designer, when asked what I did for a living, the most common response was, my Nanna does that. So rather than ‘fight’ it, I embraced it. Nanna’s are cool and quilting is cool. To piece something together that not only keeps your loved ones warm but also makes you feel happy, what could be better than that. I needed a new name for this relaunch and I couldn’t love this name more. It feels perfect for me.
Here we are today, at the beginning of a new chapter in my quilt design journey. I am not sure where this journey will go, but I am glad you are here and I hope along the way that you feel inspired to create your own versions of my quilts and that you capture as many memories as possible too. I’m glad you’re here.