Who is Gyleen Fitzgerald?
“I want children to be do-ers of life and not just watch-ers. I hope my writing inspires them to laugh and read out loud; one day it may lead to art and creative thinking.”
Gyleen was born in Philadelphia, PA but grew up in Taiwan and Japan. Those formative years in the Far East developed her love for simplistic artistry. She began needlework at the very young age of four and has since pursued artistic expression in drawing and quilt making. Her quilts blend color, pattern and texture to provide a contemporary essence to traditional quilting. Her strength as a quilter is demonstrated by the infusion of engineering tools and techniques to simplify visually complex quilts. She shares her enthusiasm for quilting through interactive lectures and workshops. Her written works center around haiku poetry, quilt project books, patterns and magazine articles and of course the crème de la crème, children’s books.
She obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering at Drexel University and opened Colourful Stitches in 1999. Her first subsidiary, FPI Publishing, was launched in 2005 with the publication of her first two books. Her second subsidiary, Tools by Gyleen, launched in 2010 with the Pineapple Tool. In 2011, she obtained her first Trademark for the Butterfly Seam.
Gyleen has appeared on The Quilt Show and Lifetime TV promoting finishing antique quilts and the new spirit of traditional quilting. Gyleen has an active social media presence on three Facebook group pages and in the Forum of The Quilt Show’s website. For Gyleen, dreams hold no limits. Ray, her husband is her shining light and quilting is her passion; together it is what colors her world.
