Life and Work with Jackie Kunkel

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jackie Kunkel.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Jackie. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I began sewing in my 6th grade Home Economics class making garments and doing hand embroidery. That began my love affair with a sewing machine. I enjoyed making garments but then as I grew up and off to college, it slipped away from me. Then, fast forward to post-college, 1993, I was expecting my first child. So, I took out the sewing machine and began to make baby clothes. It was so much fun to revisit my sewing machine. My husband and I agreed that once the baby was born, that instead of daycare, I would stay home and raise the kids. He then suggested that I also may want to get a hobby. I took him up on that and took a quilting class at House of Fabrics. Guess what…? I did not like it!!! I never finished that project. But I ended up taking the second class at a local quilt shop and immediately fell in love. From there, it was full speed ahead… I continued to take classes honing my skills, learning new techniques and eventually teaching my first quilting class.

In 2000, when both my children were in school, I began my new business Canton Village Quilt Works as a long arm quilting business. I purchased a long arm quilting machine and started to take customers quilts to finish their quilts for them. I continued to quilt customer quilts for 12 years. Then, during that time period, I began to design quilt patterns for quilt magazines and fabric companies. Opening a full-fledged online quilt shop with 2,500 bolts of fabric in my home was also in the cards around 2010. It was definitely a fun time with lots of changes happening. I became a Certified Instructor for Judy Niemeyer Quilting/Quiltworx.com and started to travel around the country to quilt shops, quilt guilds, and major quilt shows to teach her method of piecing quilts together. But that wasn’t enough, I decided to write a book as I loved designing quilts so much. My first book was published in 2015 and is called Splash of Color A Rainbow of Brilliant Black and White Quilts. When that book was released, I also filmed my first online quilting class with Craftsy. Then shortly thereafter, I filmed the second class with them.

In 2016, my husband and I moved from Connecticut to Mesa, AZ. This was a long time coming as we have been visiting the valley of the sun since the early 70s as I have family here. I had already been teaching here for several years, flying in and out of the valley and we could not wait. Since our move here, I no longer sell 2,500 bolts of fabric. But during the past 2-3 years, I have been publishing my own quilt pattern line and currently have 36 patterns with more on the way. I also have been designing fabric for Island Batik. Island Batik creates gorgeous hand-dyed batiks and distributes all over the world. I am one of their designers with fabric collections that are currently on the market. I have designs coming out with them through Spring, 2020 and more to come! In addition, I work with a fabulous thread company from Italy, Aurifil, and curate thread collections that coordinate with my fabric collections.

And one last thing, I am a Brand Ambassador for Husqvarna/Viking Sewing Machines. I have owned these fabulous machines since 1995. Yes, I have come a long way and I have lots more that I want to accomplish. So, who knows what the future holds. I am so grateful for all the opportunity that has come my way! In addition to quilting as a business, I am a mom to two grown children, a wife, and I love to work out with my boot camp family 5 days a week. My husband and I are avid hikers and LOVE a great hiking challenge. You can often find us somewhere in the desert hiking some mountain. And when we travel, we look for those hikes too!

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It certainly has not been smooth sailing. There are some big learning curves when you are learning how to quilt and then to make it into a business. You need to stay on top of new techniques and continue to take classes yourself. And you must be willing to put yourself out there and risk-taking no as an answer and then learning from that. I have received no as an answer on many occasions. But I go back and ask what I can do to tweak my ideas, what are they looking for, and learn from that. Come back with your idea, but make it better. Learn from those people that have been in the industry longer than you have and do your research! Don’t turn down a challenge and keep your mind open.

Please tell us about Canton Village Quilt Works.
My work is colorful! I am all about color. When I design my fabric lines, I make designs that mean something to me and then colorize them to be bright and bold. Then I translate that into quilt patterns. Designing quilts with my own fabric is a fantastic feeling. Doing something that I love with my own fabrics, is a feeling that you just don’t get tired of. But even better than that, people seem to really love what I do. When I design new quilt patterns, nothing makes me happier than to teach them to new quilters. I travel all over to do that and it always floors me when I see others take delight in making something that I have designed. On my social media channels, I also try to provide my followers with some special things. Every Wednesday on my Canton Village Quilt Works Facebook Page, I present my Watch Me Wednesday Live feature. During those live shows, I pass along tips, techniques, and so much more! I also do Quilt Alongs with a new one beginning in July. The quilters can join in at any time as they are videos. Once I do the live version, they are saved to my FB page and then also uploaded to my YouTube Channel. Then they join the Facebook Group, Quilt Alongs with Canton Village Quilt Works. In this group, the members share the fabrics they have chosen, tips, techniques, process on the project and so much more with each other. It is truly a great community. And I love guiding them through the process of making the quilt that we have all voted on to make. It is so much fun to do.

Who have you been inspired by?
First and foremost, my paternal grandmother, Nana Mary. She was so inspirational to me and was a HUGE part of my life growing up. She came over to the U.S. from Italy when she was about 9 years old and made a new life with her family. She was a proud and stubborn lady. Nana was deeply religious and attended church daily. She was a homemaker, who loved and cared for her family more than anything. As a young child, I was able to go to her house for lunch almost daily as my school was just a block away. Nana was very old fashioned and I loved it. She was a force to be reckoned with and I think about and miss her daily. As far as who inspires me when it comes to my work life, well that would be Judy Niemeyer. She is not only a talented designer but a keen businesswoman. From the first time, I saw one of her quilt patterns, I knew there was something special going on. Fast forward to today and how she has changed things is amazing. Judy has come along way and I continue to admire her and am inspired.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.cvquiltworks.com
• Phone: 480-454-3891
• Email: jackie@cvquiltworks.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quilter623/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cantonvillagequiltworks/
• Other: https://www.youtube.com/user/CVQuiltworks/videos

Image Credit:
Quilt Magazine

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