From her youth, she had always sewn clothes. As an adult, she was involved in a craft group at her local church when she was asked to teach a quilting class. “Sure!” she said—despite never having really quilted or even designed a project before.

Well, her by-the-seat-of-her-pants class went over extremely well. And word got around.

“Other churches called me wanting me to teach the class, and pretty soon I was teaching it all over the place!” she says today. “And I honestly had no idea what I was doing! I didn’t know about quilt shops and thought I was reinventing quilting. I was totally out of the loop!”

In 1996, Finley entered her first completed quilt in a contest celebrating the centennial of Utah’s statehood. She was shocked when she won first place, and soon there was interest in a pattern. But first, she had to create it. “It was written in the weirdest way ever!” she laughs. It was the start of something.

That something today is her business, Jillily Studio. That’s where she sells the patterns, fabrics, kits, and notions she’s designed, along with offering classes and tutorials. Jillily Studio will have a booth at the upcoming International Quilt Festival in Salt Lake City, July 21-23.

That business began in 2008, though she had made her first splash in a different pattern business with her sister. Attending her first Quilt Market trade show in 2001 was nothing if not an eye opener.

“It was crazy. We sold everything and I was shocked. I met a lot of good vendors and it’s a fabulous industry to be involved in. And I still love it so much!” she says. Today, those basic lessons have stuck with her.

“I have to show a shop that there is value in my product versus someone else’s, and a retail customer just has to see it and love it and want to buy it. You just have to build a rapport with everyone.”

When asked what’s the #1 thing she knows today that she wished she had knowledge of when she started, Finley flips the script.

“I am probably glad that I didn’t know anything, because I wouldn’t have done it!” she laughs. “I was very naive and thought ‘Oh, well, I can do this!’ I didn’t have a business plan or money, I just wanted to see where it goes. So, I would say [to those who want to enter the business] just jump in there and do it. And then you can see what path it will take you on. Don’t think about it too much. Just go for it.”

At Jillily, Finley says she wears about “100 different hats,” and even says good news can come with a challenge. “You can be glad that a purchase order came in for $6,000, but then you have to fill it and ship it and produce all that product,” she says. “Everything is me putting patterns in the bags. It’s a luxury to have time to design, much less sew! But If I don’t have a deadline, I don’t do it. I get sidetracked a lot!”

During the past two years, of course, the pandemic has upended how businesses operate—in the quilting industry and all others. Finley says that she had a loss of income with the cancellation of live shows and retreats.

She and her husband had even purchased a new home with a large space for to hold retreats and moved in during the start of the pandemic in March 2020. They’ve had to since sell the property. There was a pivot, and she was able to increase her online orders and social media presence.

But for Jill Finley, opportunities keep coming. She is currently a Master Designer for Aurifil Thread and a Bernina Ambassador. And she has a new children’s quilt book coming out (Quilted Hugs) with an accompanying fabric line from Riley Blake (On the Wind). Both will be available at the Salt Lake City Festival. Now, she’s just got to get even busier.

“In order to sell the fabric I design, I need to produce patterns that show it off. And then I’m an appliquér and I want tools to do that!” she says. “All of the [aspects] of my business kind of support each other. I just wish I had more time!”

For more in Jill Finley and Jillily Studio, visit JillilyStudio.com