Who is Cheryl Malkowski?
A lifelong seamstress with a background in floral design, quilting is a natural choice for Cheryl Malkowski. She began quilting in 1993 and works exclusively by machine. Every genre of quilts appeals to her, but for her own work, she particularly enjoys portraying flowers in some form. Her work has been displayed in galleries and juried quilt shows including the AQS show in Paducah.
In 2002, she developed a technique for drawing with chenille color sticks which led to designing some patterns for cheryl rose creations and to writing the book Easy Chenille Appliqué, with C&T Publishing in 2005.
Not one to get stuck in any kind of quilting rut, that book was followed by Fun With One Block Quilts, which features 12 projects, some in multiple sizes, all made from one simple block. Excellent for beginning quilters, it also offers a jumping-off place for more advanced quilters looking for a format where the block becomes secondary to the color play. Next came Quilt-O-Grams, which is all about fast, fused and quilted cards--all just for fun!
In 2008, Cheryl started designing quilts for fabric companies, specifically for Timeless Treasures, where she works with their Tonga Batik lines, and Paintbrush Studio. 2010 brought the introduction of her first line of fabrics, with Paintbrush Studio called Dahlia Dreams.
Teaching has become one of her favorite parts of life. Cheryl keeps her classes relaxed, fun and informative while opening her students' minds to new possibilities. She loves to travel and teach.
In 2010, Blocks to Diamonds was realeased with C&T Publishing, featuring 12 projects that take traditional blocks, skew them into diamonds and then use them as one arm of a Radiant Lone Star-style quilt. The results are breathtaking, and surprisingly simple. Nearly all the quilts in the book were made by quilters new to the technique.
Her latest book, Doodle Quilting, was written in response to hearing so many quilters proclaim their complete lack of artistic ability. She developed a class to go along with her machine quilting class so that her students could conquer the biggest hurdle in machine quilting---knowing where to go next! The book shows and tells how to make common quilting motifs and how to put them together to make a great all over pattern.
Cheryl lives in Roseburg, Oregon, with her husband, Tom, where she operates her pattern company; cheryl rose creations, and teaches quilting classes. She has two grown children and two grandchildren.
