Pack River Quilts | Patterns, Kits, Art Quilts

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The Pack River is a small winding river in North Idaho near Sandpoint. This is where the Pack River Trading Company was born. The beautiful mountains and wildlife are a source of constant creative inspiration for quilt artist Colleen Ankersmit.

Colleen is self-taught in the fiber arts and began with knitting when she was a small child. That progressed to the inevitable macrame, sewing, various foms of handwork and inevitably quilting. But don’t be fooled by thinking these quilts are something to spread on your bed or snuggle up with when the weather gets chilly! Colleen’s quilts are generally wall art quilts. Oh, yes, she does rarely venture into the realm of the bed quilt, but only when inspired by something special. (Look for the new pattern book coming soon for one of her rare bed quilt patterns “Starry Garden”!)

Colleen has moved around a bit and has found inspiration from the great golden Canadian prairie to the crystal blue Hawaiian oceans, from the fog shrouded San Francisco Bay to the deeply forested mountains of North Idaho; all have been an impressive motivator for creative ideas.

When not designing, teaching, writing patterns or quilting, Colleen likes to feel the wind in her face – on her Harley Davidson! She and her husband Bob travel together on two wheels all over the west.

“It’s good to have more than one outlet for your energy. Riding gives me time to think, relax, and have a thrill all at once! It’s always amusing to see the reactions when people learn I like to do these two very different things.”