About Me

My name is Julia McLeod. Welcome to my website!

I’m an international award-winning quilt maker living and working in Northern California, just east of San Francisco. I am available (in person and via Zoom) to present lectures, teach workshops and judge quilt shows.

Born and raised in England, I worked as a textile designer in the woolen and worsted mills of Yorkshire and Scotland before taking a job with a luxury tailoring company on London’s Savile Row. A design position at a menswear company in New York City brought me to the US, and I’ve been here ever since. I discovered quilt making on travels through the small Amish towns of Pennsylvania. Some of the first quilts I made were for my young children.

Since 2016 I have specialized in making silk quilts, sourcing my fabrics from neckties, clothing and furnishing fabrics. I have a passion for reuse and recycling, which leads me to rescue vintage blocks and textiles. These reclaimed fabrics become the starting point for my quilt designs.

My book, Patchwork Luxe: Quilts from Neckties, Kimonos and Sari Silks is published by C&T Publishing

I feature on TheQuiltShow.com‘s episode #2902. I am on the teaching faculty of Mancuso Show Management’s Quilt Fest and Quilt Festival Houston . I blog regularly on a collaborative sewing blog, See How We Sew.

My on-demand class ‘How to Use Silks in Your Quilt Making’ is available at Creative Spark.

My quilt ‘Viva la Vida’ showed in art galleries and museums around the US, and ‘Dreaming of Margilan’ featured in issue 152 of Quiltmania magazine.

I am an active member of San Francisco Quilters Guild and East Bay Heritage Quilters.

Look around my website and you’ll find out about the lectures and workshops I offer. The Gallery page shows examples of my work, and if you’d like a quilt made just for you, read about how to commission a quilt.