Chris Moline

About Me

I love appliqué! And I love hand piecing, quilting, embroidery. I love my featherweight, my Singer 201, 301, 319, serger, Pfaff 7570, Brother mid-arm and Tin Lizzie in a table! Okay, I just love everything there is about making quilts of all kinds from art to garments to bed quilts to wall hangings and minis. And I love all styles, including Art, Modern, Traditional, Reproduction; you name it!

I was born and raised in Sioux City, Iowa and graduated from Iowa State University. I then went to work in the computer industry for 40 years. But I always had fabric, needles and plenty of UFOs. I don't think I know how to sleep under anything but a quilt.

After moving to Naperville, Illinois in the 1980s, I joined two quilt guilds, Faithful Circle in Downers Grove and Pride of the Prairie in Plainfield. Then a group of us decided to form Riverwalk Quilters in Naperville so more quilters could experience the conviviality we so enjoyed. Somewhere along the line, I met two great ladies, Jean S. Lyle and Edie Idleman, who convinced me to become a certified appraiser of quilted textiles.

Now, nearly twenty years later, I have enjoyed appraising thousands of quilts and meeting quilters and collectors and many individuals who have purchased and/or inherited quilts. Along with appraising comes the responsibility to educate. I have been blessed with many students who have learned the tricks I learned from my grandmothers, quilt teachers, wonderful authors and many years of personal experience.

I started designing my own patterns because I got tired of the basic designs I continue to see in books and magazines. I love a challenge. My designs are mostly based on antique quilts I have seen through the years. This also led me to co-author two books on English Paper Piecing (EPP) with JoAnne Louis of Paper Pieces in Paducah, Kentucky. I was working on a fifteen year EPP queen sized project (did I tell you I was a little crazy), when we decided to challenge quilters with unique EPP designs.

In addition to quilting, I also card and spin wool, weave, refinish furniture, and research genealogy and family history. I’m an antique quilt dealer and a certified quilt appraiser. Appraising is always an exciting and memorable experience because you never know what it going to walk in the door. Old or new, each one is memorable in some way.