Pickles & Charlie began with a love of quilting, a house full of personality, and the belief that making something beautiful should leave room for an active imagination.

I’m Marisa—or Ris, like Miss—the designer, quilter, animal watcher, and occasional referee of the assorted creatures who call my yard home.

For years, quilting has been one of the ways I love people. I make quilts for my family, for friends and neighbors, and sometimes for people I may never meet. There is something extraordinary about taking ordinary pieces of fabric and turning them into something that can comfort someone, celebrate them, or simply make them smile.

But I’ve never been especially interested in telling another quilter exactly what her quilt should look like—and I’m not particularly good at following patterns myself. My brain takes it elsewhere.

And that eventually became the idea behind The Framework Method.

A framework, not a formula.

Instead of traditional patterns designed to produce one finished quilt, I create collections of characters, templates, techniques, layouts, and ideas that you can combine in your own way.

Choose a character. Change his clothes. Turn his head. Give him ridiculous shoes. Put him somewhere he probably shouldn't be.

Make my version—or make something I never would have thought of.

The framework gives you somewhere to begin. What happens next belongs to you.

That philosophy is at the heart of our first collection, Front Yard Friends, inspired by the very real cast of characters outside our home: ducks, rabbits, squirrels, woodpeckers, and the other neighbors who wander through and provide considerably more entertainment than they realize.

Some have acquired names.

Some have acquired personalities.

And a few have acquired rather strong opinions.

Why Pickles & Charlie?

Pickles and Charlie are two of our cats—and like most good family stories, the explanation is both simple and slightly ridiculous.

Pickles is my devoted, rather cranky to everyone else, shadow. Charlie arrived unexpectedly, started purring—which, naturally, compelled me to bring her into the house—and promptly behaved as though she had always belonged here.

Together, their names became the perfect home for a studio built around the things I love most: creativity, character, home, family, and making things with our hands.

Above all, I believe creativity is a gift from God, a small echo of the Master Creator Himself, and one of the loveliest things we can do with that gift is use it generously.

So whether your finished quilt ends up on your own bed, wrapped around someone you love, or given to someone who simply needs to know that somebody cared enough to make something especially for them—I hope these pages help you make something that feels unmistakably yours.

I’ll provide the framework.
You tell the story.

— Ris
Pickles & Charlie