Piecing Together Family & Creativity: Welcoming Quilter's JEM & Design STORM Back to The Handmade Collective 💎🧵

September 27, 2026
Posted by Erick Solis
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Some of our favorite Handmade Collective moments come from makers we already know and love, back with something brand new to share. This September, Kim Dietrich of Quilter's JEM returns, this time bringing her daughter Emma's pattern company, Design STORM, along with her.

Who Is Kim Dietrich?

Kim is the owner of Quilter's JEM in East Grand Forks, Minnesota, and a lifelong maker who believes there's always something new to learn, and even more fun to be had learning it together. Beyond the quilt shop, Kim is a wife, mom, grandmother, registered dietitian, and Master Gardener. Whether she's working with fabric, experimenting in the kitchen, digging in the garden, or spending time with family, creating with her hands is a constant thread through her life.

Who Is Design STORM?

Design STORM is Kim's daughter Emma's pattern company, born out of an unexpected place: architecture school. As Emma studied architecture, she started noticing design everywhere, in kitchen tile, concrete texture, carpet repetition, and the lines within a building. That habit of seeing pattern in everyday things became the foundation for Design STORM, which now creates quilt patterns inspired by the structure and shapes Emma sees in the world around her. Having grown up surrounded by Kim's quilting and sewing, fabric and pattern have always felt like home to Emma, and Design STORM is her way of inviting others to see the world a little differently too.

What Kim & Design STORM Are Bringing to The Handmade Collective 💎

Kim is joining us live to share foundation paper-piecing techniques using the CutterPillar system, working through two Design STORM projects together: Starlume and Starburst. She'll show how the right tools can make paper piecing easier, more accurate, and a whole lot of fun, whether it's your first foundation-pieced block or your fiftieth.

Follow Quilter's JEM & Design STORM

Website: quiltersjem.com
Instagram: @quiltersjem
Facebook: Quilter's JEM, LLC

Join Us at The Handmade Collective

Kim and Design STORM's session is part of our free 3-day virtual event, September 17 to 19. Register for the free Essentials Pass for live access, or grab the free VIP Pass for on-demand replays, exclusive giveaways, downloadable guides, and 10% off CutterPillar products.