Celeste Akre

About Me

My aunt taught me a bit of sewing when I was 12, and I did little projects throughout the years, but I didn't seriously start quilting until about 18 years ago. My daughter told me that I would enjoy quilting because it involved math and beautiful colors, so I took the beginning quilting class at Pieceful Heart Fabrics with her, and I was thus sucked into the happy vortex of the quilting world.

After that I explored a lot of different types of quilting. My favorite technique is paper piecing because of the ease of construction and the easy precision, all I have to do is sew on the line, kind of like paint by number. My favorite quilter is Judy Niemeyer. I admire her creative process and her organizational methods so much I became a Certified Instructor for her techniques.

I have a very long quilting "bucket list" (hence the very long UFO list). One of the quilts I want to do someday is a Baltimore album quilt. My favorite completed project is the Circle of Life (by Jaqueline DeJong) mostly because I made it as a gift for my husband.

I teach hand embroidery, Quiltworx paper piecing patterns, Kimberbell machine embroidery, BERNINA Mastery, and a class called finishing school. My favorite part of teaching is interacting with all the different people from different backgrounds. It is so fun when a student really gets it. My favorite part of working at QQ is seeing all the customers' quilts being finished. I really enjoy the social aspect of the quilting community, so I belong to Faithful Circle Quilters Guild and Riverwalk Quilters Guild.

Outside of quilting, I also enjoy gardening and cycling. My husband and I ride a tandem and we take a few trips a year to find new trails to explore. I am originally from Elwood, just south of Joliet. I graduated from the University of Illinois with a degree in Engineering. I have 4 wonderful children and 3 grandchildren.