Hello!  My name is Joanne Hillestad and I have been sewing for years and years. As a very small girl growing up in Duluth, Minnesota, my sister and I were always making something. Fabric is just one medium I love to play with. As a teen, clothes were #1. When I married and later a baby was on the way, I switched to baby blankets, clothes and home decor. Once it was determined I wasn't going to be blessed with a baby girl (which is not a sad thing at all), I had to find a way to express my creative side.  I made fancy bags with a thousand pockets for little cars and a play mat with a road on it to drive them around, tried to solve the Lego storage issues, sleeping bags for stuffed animals, etc.  Then one day my Mom-in-law, Nancy, told me about the quilts she was making. Bam! Shazam! Zippity Doo Dah... I was hooked!

 

I worked for 22 years as a database analyst in the direct mail industry.  But I always wanted to do something different.  On my birthday in 2013, I woke up knowing that I had to follow my dreams.  That was the day The Fat Quarter Gypsy was born.  I started out designing quilts, which I still love to do.  But then in April of 2015, I had this idea for a springy thread catcher.  Once the Fat Quarter Pop Up came to life everything changed and my business took a design turn towards dimensional products.

 

In the fall of 2018, Swirly Girls Design was added to my quilty family.  This was a great acquisition.  It gave me the perfect way to revive my love of quilt design.  

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In 2019, I decided to change the name of Fat Quarter Gypsy to something that better represented where my designs have evolved.  Part of the change was a merge of my two pattern lines into our family business Nu Design, Inc.  Nu Design is a wire-forming business.  Now you can see why I design patterns that use wire frames, springs and the like! 

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In 2020, I settled on the name Sew Organized Design.  The official switch over is set for the Fall of 2021.  

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Now in 2026, I have sold the business to my sister, Diane. She will create new patterns and ensure the business will continue into the future. The springs will still be made at my husband and son's shop, Nu Design, but all other operations have moved to Duluth, MN. She was standing next to me in Washington DC when I came up with the idea of the Pop-Up and she has been my test sew and tech editor on all of my patterns. The business will be left in good hands. 

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I, Diane, am happy to carry on the business that my sister has created. I will continue to create fun and exciting products and will be out in the community sharing my love of sewing and quilting.