The inspiration for Corey Yoder’s fabric lines is always flowers and her newest collection, Beautiful Day, is no exception.  

The rose print from Beautiful Day - arriving in shops now.

“I wanted to do roses,” says Corey, who takes pen to paper to draw her fabric designs by hand before tweaking them on her computer. “I’ll start sketching and sometimes the designs go in a different direction than I imagined, but not this one—it is very similar to the roses I imagined.” 

Corey Yoder and Beautiful Day - this is the cover image for Moda Piece No. 49 - July 2021.

Beautiful Day is Corey’s 15^th floral-infused line for Moda since her first, Prairie, debuted in 2015.

“I kept the colors in this line simple, so quilters could make an all-gray quilt, with just a bit of pink and coral, or a red-and-white quilt,” she says. In keeping with her love of florals, she originally dubbed the line Farmhouse Rose, but then changed it. “It just didn’t feel  right—sometimes it takes a while to name them."

Star Twist - CQ184.  Made with Beautiful Day, this 63" x 78" fat-quarter-friendly quilt does not require y-seams.

Getting it right is important to Corey, who is also known for the patterns she designs under the clever name of Coriander Quilts.  Say it slowly–Corey and her quilts.

Her design expertise grew from the tutorials she did for the Moda Bake Shop, as well as patterns she created for magazines and books. These helped her become confident about diving into her own patterns.

A sketch Corey drew for her Lulu Lane collection.

“I had to learn how to do quilt math and illustrations, and to use Illustrator and InDesign,” she says. “I wanted it to be perfect before I put out my own patterns.” Corey has since designed over 100 quilts.

A career in quilting was not a foregone conclusion for Corey. Though there are quilters on both sides of her family, it wasn’t until she was in her 20s and married that quilting appealed to her.

Blossomville - QD183.  This is one block from Corey's fat-eighth-friendly quilt that finishes at 72" x 84".

It started, as it does for many of us, with a fondness for fabric. “I’d go into a fabric store and fall in love with some fabric and buy it without knowing what I’d do with it,” she says. Her mom, an avid quilter, encouraged Corey to give quilting a try and while Corey enjoyed it, it wasn’t until after her second daughter was born in 2008 that she began making quilts in earnest.

Beautiful Day Panel Blocks - there are two 36" x 60" printed panels in the collection.  Each of the twenty-four printed blocks measures 7½", designed to finish as an 8" block.  There are two color options - Red and Green on Ivory (29130 11) and Ivory on Red (29130 32).

She started a blog, got involved with the online quilting community, and participated in numerous quilt-alongs and Bees. Around the time she wrote her first book, Playful Petals, she started thinking about designing fabric and in 2014 submitted a collection to Moda.

Corey selected these Bella Solid (9900s), Grunge (30150s), and Thatched (48626) fabrics to coordinate with Beautiful Day.

“Working for Moda has been so much fun,” says Corey, who appreciates the variety it entails. “There are so many things we get to do over the course of the year—it’s not all sewing or all pattern design. That keeps things interesting.”

If that isn't enough to keep her busy, Corey also has a new book coming in May.

Oh, Happy Day by Corey Yoder.  (B1539 from Martingale - available May 2, 2022.)

When she’s not stitching or creating new patterns, you might find Corey running or reading. Her husband is a big runner and Corey joins him on shorter runs and races—they ran a 5K together on both Thanksgiving and Christmas in 2020. As for reading, Corey loves it but has to be careful. “Once I sit down, I don’t want to stop!” she says.

Corey and her family.

And with her love of flowers, you might presume that Corey is a master horticulturalist. “I’m a horrible gardener!” she says with a laugh. “I can look at them all day long. Just don’t ask me to keep them alive.”

More of the blocks from the Beautiful Day printed panel.

Luckily, for Corey and for us, that’s not a problem with fabric. No need to water or weed the roses in Beautiful Day—just stitch and enjoy.

.....................................................

For more with Corey:

• Website - www.corianderquilts.com
• Instagram - @corianderquilts
• Facebook - CorianderQuilts
• Pinterest - Corey Yoder @coreyy