Week 48: Joanna Martinez (crafty_jojo)

Hi everyone! I'm so thrilled to be taking over week 48 of 52 Quilters. Here is a bit more about me!

My name is Joanna and I live in the Columbus, Ohio area with my three dogs. I moved to Columbus 3.5 years ago for work. I used to live in Florida, and I still get asked if I mind the snow (the answer is no, I actually love it).
I have been a baker and a cross stitcher since I was a child. I learned to bake from my grandmother and to cross stitch from my aunt. I dabbled in sewing briefly in middle and high school, but it never really appealed to me back then. Then, in 2012, my sister told me she took a sewing class and loved it, and I thought- why not? So, I bought a sewing machine, took a "learn to sew" class at a local studio, and I was hooked! My third class was a mug rug class taught by Vanessa from Crafty Gemini, and I loved it! I was hooked on quilting and next thing you know, I was singing up for a BOM class on Craftsy. And the rest, as they say, is history.

My first "quilt", on the right. I've always loved quilting rainbows.

I love to quilt because it gives me a creative outlet after I leave my fairly uninteresting day job (insurance) and because it's not quite as messy as my other creative outlet, which is cake and cookie decorating. I also love to learn new things and challenge myself, so I rarely make the same thing twice. That's another appeal to quilting- there are so many patterns and techniques to learn!
Of course, one thing I didn't have to learn is how to procrastinate... remember that BOM from Craftsy that I signed up for in 2012? Well, I finally finished it earlier this year! You can see up close photos of all the blocks on my IG account, but here is a photo of the whole finished quilt:

2012 Craftsy BOM taught by Amy Gibson

This quilt is actually a pretty good representation of my style- I am somewhere in the middle of vintage and modern although I tend to lean a bit more to the modern side for fabrics. Although I love all colors, my favorite colors are red and yellow. And I don't like white backgrounds on quilts! In fact, the quilt pictured below is the only non-mini quilt I've made with a white background, and I cheated a bit because the white actually has a very subtle blue print :)

Mom's birthday present. Made from a Moda Bakeshop pattern, Renaissance Waves

I am lucky because the company where I work sponsors activity groups, including a quilt group that meets twice a month during lunch. It's so fun to meet and hang out with people who are just as obsessed as I am with fabric! It was also a great way to get involved in charity work- earlier this year I finished a couple of quilts for Project Linus and I hope to finish more in the future. I also do charity work for my other hobby, through a charity called Icing Smiles. Here is an example of my work for them, just for fun:

This week, I will be sharing a bit about my new sewing space and how I organize, as well as a project to make with your tiny scraps (also charity friendly!) and hopefully a few of my other works in progress. I will also share some pics of the Thanksgiving holiday around Columbus. If you've read this far, thank you for following my ramblings, and if you'd like to find me after this week, my Instagram ID is crafty_jojo. I look forward to interacting with all of you this week!