Joan Phelps, Creative Director

To the outsider, it might look as if I’m completely immune to quilting. Not true! I come from a long line of quilters, at least three generations back, and made my first quilt when I was seven. But having so many quilters in the family was intimidating so I became the black sheep and went to art school instead. Now I’m a graphic artist and I get my creative fix in a different way, but I still like sewing and embroidery when time allows.

Here’s my secret though: After more than 25 years as a graphic artist I’ve often found been drawn to fabric for inspiration. Now, working with this group of insanely addicted sewists at GenQ, I know I’ve found my playmates!

I was born in Central California, but have lived in Arizona, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Northern California. But once I found the love of my life, an award-winning newspaper photographer, I happily moved to Southern California. We have two daughters, one married with two kids of her own and the other in college studying art (no big surprise there). Oh and there’s this cranky old pug dog I adore. When I’m not working I love spending time with our girls and grandkids, walking/hiking, yoga, motorcycles and good wine, but not necessarily in that order.

Contact Joan at joan@generationqmagazine.com.