About Me


Hi. I'm Julie Herman of Jaybird Quilts. I'm a bestselling author, speaker, quilt pattern and ruler designer. I'm known for my quilting rulers, the Hex N More and Sidekick rulers, that are used to make my quilt designs, such as Night Sky, Northern Lights, Rock Candy, Gravity Nebula, and many others. I'm recognized in the quilting community for bringing simplified design and clarity to geometrically inspired patterns. 

Where did the name "Jaybird" come from? It is a childhood nickname given to me by my brother. I was a very crafty kid. I’ve worked with clay, beads, embroidery, photography, oil & acrylic painting and more! When I was in college, I borrowed my mom's sewing machine to try it out and learn something new, and then I never returned it! Of all of my crafting, what has become a constant for me is fabric and sewing. I started Jaybird Quilts as a blog in 2009 to share my quilts & have a journal of my progress. I'm a girl who loves fabric and loves to design & sew quilts!

My superpower is geometry & design. I'm energized by the beauty of math in modernizing traditional quilt designs. I designed my first patterns on my home computer, late into the evenings and on weekends. I worked part time in a local quilt shop to learn more about what customers like and what it takes to keep a shop going. When I released the first Jaybird Quilts patterns I asked shop owners, the people who taught me about quilting, if they would carry my patterns in their shops and they still do today.

I'm one girl on a mission to make life better with fabric. Jaybird Quilts is a one woman operation fueled with lots of help and support from close friends and family. I love doing what I do because I'm one of those people who has a passion for saying things like, “Look what I made." I haven’t learned how to knit or crochet yet... so maybe I’ll pick those up, too, one day!

My husband, Lawrence, & I call Southern California home along with our sons, Nathan & William.


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Since starting my blog, I've been published in many magazines.

I've written some Block of the Month books: NebulaSweet ToothGravityPark Bench & Toes in the Sand.

I wrote Skip the Borders and contributed to Fun-Size Quilts & Rock Solid, all published by Martingale. You can find them in local quilt shops & bookstores. I also have done many free online tutorials. Check out my available sew alongs, too. Some of my patterns are available in my PDF Pattern Shop.

Learn more & get some of your questions answered at my FAQ page.

In the spring of 2023, I acquired the Lazy Girl Designs brand & product line. Learn more about that here.
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You might notice that most of my older posts as well as many of my casual posts lack the use of capital letters and proper grammar. I have a personal dislike of capital letters but I know they help readability so I'm working on it!

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Email is the best way to contact me. The best way to find my patterns, books, and rulers is to ask for them at your local quilt shop or favorite independent online quilt shop. I am not currently traveling to teach, but you can find me teaching online through many sew alongs.

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