Whimsicals

Jackie Conaway and Terri Degenkolb

Having grown up in rural Indiana, Terri learned to sew on her Mom’s lap. She has always loved to create things with her hands, including crocheting, drawing, and painting. One of her favorite memories is stitching by candlelight during power outages, pretending to be an early pioneer. When her Mom, Jackie, retired and Terri left her CAD drafting job to stay at home with her two boys, they both found that they had lots of free time to create together. So, in 1997, they started Whimsicals, combining their different skills and styles to self-publish their first set of patterns.

Jackie and Terri’s patterns combine traditional quilting with a primitive, folk art style. Their love of all things old and the use of simple appliqué shapes, muted tones, and darker fabrics in their quilts, give their patterns a comfortable, homey look. Their books include a variety of techniques and have projects ranging from quilts to hooked rugs, wool penny rugs, and embroidery. Although Jackie has retired (again) as of December 2005, Terri continues to publish books and patterns.

Whimsical’s latest line for Red Rooster is Bread and Butter, a collection of small designs in Terri’s favorite neutral colors. These neutrals coordinate perfectly with the fabrics in all her current lines. The Bread and Butter collection is featured in three of her new patterns, My Catch-all Bag, and two pretty quilts, Bloomin’ Spools and Flutterbys. Check out all of Terri’s books and patterns at: www.whimsicalquilts.com