Pursuing her dream to make
a career out of her artwork and illustrations,
Kathy Schmitz took her
quilt-themed greeting cards
to Quilt Market in 2002.
That’s where she was discovered
by Moda Fabrics. 
Her first collection,
Cozy Comforts, debuted later that year.

The youngest of three girls,
Kathy was always drawing and painting,
often illustrating the stories
she wrote with her artwork.
With accomplished seamstresses
and quilters in the family,
she made her first quilt
when she was 13 years old
using her grandmother’s
old treadle sewing machine.
It was only natural
that she studied graphic design
and painting in college.

The style of illustration
that has become her signature
came about when she wanted
something new to hang over the mantle
of her home at Christmas.
  After digging out the three tubes of paint
she had leftover from collection,
she painted a picture of her house
in a snow scene and promptly
fell in love with the type of artwork.
  Having only one house of her own,
she began to paint pictures
of other people’s homes.

Kathy added embroidery
to her repertoire in 2007 –
picking up a hobby that
she’d first learned to do in 2nd grade.
  The line drawings of embroidery
were so well-suited to her artwork
that she began designing embroidery
to coordinate with her fabrics.
  Designing quilts –
including many that incorporated
her embroidery designs – came less than a year later.

A little cottage in Portland, Oregon
that she shares with her
husband and best friend,
Steve is the house in Kathy’s latest drawings.
  Her two grown boys visit often
– she’s a doting Mom who beams
with pride when asked about them,
happily saying that they’re always in her heart.