Laureen Smith is a recovering corporate director, who is embracing her creative drive by picking up her needles again. Her mother and grandmother fostered her artistic talents with needlepoint, cross stitch, sewing, crocheting, and quilting from a very early age. She has combined her formal engineering education with her artistic passion to create new quilt patterns. She enjoys trying new techniques to express her ideas.
Laureen started quilting in earnest when she graduated from college. Never one to start slow, she machine-pieced and hand-quilted a king-sized quilt for her sister’s wedding present. Since then, she has attended workshops from several quilting idols such as Paul Nadelstern and Carol Doak. Most importantly, she has learned from fellow quilters and artisans including Pat Pauly and Patty Cline of Chestnut Bay Quilting. Laureen uses EQ8 to design most of her quilts. She has earned her Longarm Certification from APQS.
She is often asked about her company name – Tourmaline & Thyme Quilts. Tourmaline means “gemstones of many colors” in Sinhalese (Sri Lanka where many are found) and they symbolize creativity and energy. Thyme symbolizes courage. Laureen encourages people to have courage and play with color in their quilts.
In addition to needlework, Laureen loves spending time with her family, playing with her two crazy dogs and demanding cat, gardening, hiking with friends, baking up a storm, reading historical fiction, and sipping a good wine. She is blessed to have a supportive husband, two amazing sons, a wonderful daughter, two adorable grandchildren. Laureen currently resides in Dover, DE.
Currently, she has designed patterns for several different fabric manufacturers. They are either available on the website or free from the manufacturers. She enjoys the challenge of receiving the fabrics, making new designs for their approval, and then developing the patterns to accompany them. Laureen also enjoys making quilts for charity quilt alongs.
Laureen has been published in QuiltWorld, McCalls Quilting, Fons and Porter Love of Quilting, and Quick + Easy Quilts magazines.
PTN3415 - Une Cage
PTN3399 - Convocation
PTN3412 - Solanum
PTN6040 - Down Dilly
PTN3389 - Wild Herd
PTNP101 - Toss Up
PTN3401 - Stretch
PTN3377 - Harvest Runner
PTN3343 - Seasons & Serenity
PTN3328 - Barn Owl
PTN3339 - Accentuate the Positive
PTNP088 - Windflower
PTN3323 - Building Code
PTN3348 - Lancaster Trail
PTNB0431 - Glimpses
PTNB0445 - Faux Weaving
PTNB0444 - Corbels
PTNB0441 - Nature's Echoes
PTN5133 - Spectral Sensation
PTNP5123 - Color Ring
Grace in Movement - PTN3308
Frosty Crossing - PTN5112
Bespectacled - PTNB0427
Five Gables - PTN6031
Flight Around the Lake - PTN3219
Fantastic Fairway - PTN3259
Classical Jazz - PTNP054
North Star - PTN3236
Starry Sky - PTN3225
Luna Moth - PTNB0402
Scattered Diamonds - PTNB0421
Color Me Happy - PTNB0405
Ripples in the Sand - PTNB0425
Subduction - PTNB0408
Candy Corners - PTNB0416
Frosted Windows - PTNB0423
Point of View - PTNB0414
Moroccan Star - PTNP045
Counting Stars - PTN3194
Forest Frame - PTN3165
Ginkgo Leaf Frame - PTN3192
Lily Frame - PTN3196
Maple Tracks - PTN3169
Cedar Log Cabin - PTN3204
Vestibule - PTN3187
Puzzling Plains - PTNB0375
Pansy Time - PTNB0387
Spice Mill - PTNB0384
Summer Cactus Blooms - PTNP5085
Cosmopolitan Runner - PTNB0370
Rohan Rouge - PTNB0363
In The Groove - PTNB0372
Star Light, Star Bright - PTN5067
Tons of Tartan (Canada) - PTN3158
Tons of Tartan - PTN3158
Parade Ground - PTN3124
Safely Sailing Away - PTN3145
Wolf Pack - PTN3126
Explosion of Poppies - PTN3117
Happy Patches - PTN3135
Striped Queen - PTN3121
Chromatic Carpenter - PTN3116
Wildwood Fringes - PTN3085
Charleston Frame - PTN3101
Framed With Love - PTN3082
Santa's Edge - PTN3111
Jolly Jig Jog - PTN3096
Cats & Bats - PTN3098
Dutch Diamonds - PTNB0341
Pearls of Wisdom - PTNB0337
Venetian Fanfare - PTN5046
Preservation - PTNB0313
Botanical Eyelet - PTNB0298
Speck in the Eye - PTNB0300
Prairie Daisy Chain - PTNB0306
Girls' Weekend - PTN3059
Bangles and Beads - PTNB0315
Flawed Diamonds - PTNB0314
Fractured Falcon - PTN3056
San Marco - PTN3039
Be One - PTN6024
Wings Outside my Window - PTN3049
Let me be your Light/Break in the Storm - PTN3052
High Notes, Low Notes - PTN6018
City Flowers - PTN6019
Tons of Tartan - PTN3007
Jacks and Jive - PTN2995
Framed In Lace - PTN3005
Paper Flowers - PTN3020
Dahlia Daze - PTN2993
Lattice of Avalon - PTN2976
Unchained Melody - PTNB0286
Hedge Rows - PTNB0283
Home By The Hearth - PTNB0282
Darling Delphanus - PTNB0280
Cufe - PTN2967
Seven Stars - PTN2947
Starlit Stable - PTN2929
Peppermint Parfait - PTN2931
Santa's Tree Lot - PTN2958
Enchanted Evening - PTN2925
Starlight Garland - PTN2906
Plaid Picnic - PTN2962
Star Light, Star Bright - PTN5041
Circling Hawks - PTN2896
Creature Craft - PTN2887
Categorical - PTN2886
Prismatic - PTN2882
Tempers - PTN6007
Garden Steps - PTN6004
Tempers - PTN6007
Pinwheel & Puzzle - PTN5006
Rustic Refuge - PTN2761
