QuILter to Quilter, Meet Rona the Ribbiter

Let me introduce my good friend Rona

Rona Herman, AKA, “Rona the Ribbiter” is the Traveling Quilter. She is a quilt pattern designer, author, vlogger, teacher, retreat organiser, Quilt Babble host and tour guide, with so much energy and passion for everything that she does - I can’t keep up with her.

Rona and I met online in a Facebook group in 2023. I had read that she was coming over to the UK and was filming for her YouTube series, Stitching the Globe. I messaged her saying “you don’t know me - but would you like to come and see The Little Boat, my floating studio?” I thought the worst she can say is no……. She wrote back straight away and said yes. I was over the moon. We arranged for a date in the September and then bumped into each other at Festival of Quilts. There was a small group of people, and I was chatting to one of them, and I noticed someone with a frog tattooed on her arm, I thought surely that is Rona the Ribbiter - so me being me, I introduced myself and thankfully it was Rona.

Rona the Ribbiter

Rona came to The Little Boat on a sweltering day in September after she had been touring around England and Scotland. She said she would be with me for a couple of hours, so I went and bought something for lunch and thought she has got to try my local dish, the Melton Mowbray pork pie. We were moored in a pretty remote spot, the dogs introduced themselves to her, we did the filming for her episode called Stitching on the Cut, and then had a spot of lunch. We sat on the towpath under the trees with the dogs, and chatted for a further 4 or 5 hours. I don’t think that I had ever felt so inspired and fired up about quilting, it was really one of the best days that I had had in a very long time.

Since then, Rona and I have kept in touch, we meet online once a month and I have been on Quilt Babble with Rona and Lisa Baker from SewEndipitous

Fast forward onto June 2024 and Rona was back over in the UK. We were supposed to meet up for dinner before she flew out of Heathrow on her last day. I emailed her saying where do you want to meet up, and she said, why not come up to Edinburgh were she was staying, her Airbnb was big enough for me to stay. So a few days later, I got the train up to Edinburgh and we had 4 days roaming around the city, looking at castles, going on a whisky tour, taking photos and videos for some of Rona’s new projects coming up.

It was just what I needed to get out and hang out with my quilty friend.

Tracy and Rona at Edinburgh Castle.

I wanted to interview Rona, because she has got a fabulous story to tell of her quilting and travelling.

So let’s get to the questions.

How did you become known as the Ribbiter?  Can you tell the story behind it?

I have always loved frogs. So much that I have 2 of them tattooed on me. So, my husband’s motorcycle club nicknamed me “Ribbit”. Also, my great grandmother, Zorah Nichols, was A “Rosie the Riveter” during WWII. She worked at the base in San Diego, California. So, the name “Rona the Ribbiter” is kind of an homage to her and all the amazing women from that era.

Being a traveller and a quilter is both time consuming.  How do you balance your time between exploring new places and creating beautiful quilts and patterns?

It really is a balancing act. It also depends on where I’m traveling and how I’m getting there. For instance, on airplanes I can draw in a graph notebook or work on my laptop. If I’m driving somewhere I’ll take my sewing machine with me to work on samples in hotel rooms after a day of exploring/filming/teaching. Basically, anywhere and anytime I can work on designing, writing or sewing, I do.

Inspiration can come from anywhere, what is the most unexpected source of inspiration you have encountered from your travels.

Honestly, this one just happened very recently. I finally got to visit Graceland in Memphis, TN. It’s been a dream since I was a kid. And, very unexpectedly, one of the rooms in the basement of the mansion is literally lined floor to ceiling with fabric. And, the same fabric was used to cover the couch. The only thing not covered in fabric was the carpet floor. The walls were pleated and the ceiling all came together in a large button cover at the center. Between 350 – 400 yards of fabric was used. It was AMAZING! And now I want to recreate it in my own studio.

Can you share a quilting technique that you have discovered on your travels, where was it from in the world and who taught it to you?

One of my favorite techniques I’ve learned was on our Quilt Tour in Ireland. Master Quilter Mark Sherman taught us 3 ‘mini’ workshops along the route. One of them was how to use gold leaf. We were making an Irish Catholic Cross using turned edge applique, fabric painting and gold leaf. It’s much easier than I thought it would be and the end result is just stunning!

Every quilt has a story.  Tell us about a quilt that holds a special place in your heart and the journey behind it.

My favorite quilt is “Bipolar.” In 2019 I took a class with Kaffe Fassett. We were making his Green Diamonds quilt from the Burano book. As a huge Kaffe fan, I brought a bunch of his fabrics in pastel color ways. As I was cutting my pieces, he flipped through my stack and asked, “Where is your contrast? Where is your ‘WOW’?”

He walked me over to the fabric table and picked out a bolt of chocolate brown fabric with giant green leaves, a bolt of mustard yellow fabric with large purple flowers and a bolt of yellow and black ‘Charlie Brown’ chevron and said, “Start here.” I was HORRIFIED. I brought pastels. None of those fabrics matched! But I was there to learn so I trusted his judgement and started putting them up on the design wall. I nearly had a panic attack with the chevron fabric. It was so bold and out of place. Once I had them all up (1 row of each with the pastels) he said, “Now, do it again.”

 After placing the next rows of each fabric, the quilt started to come together. I realized that by adding the 2nd row of each, they balanced each other. And just because they didn’t match, didn’t mean they didn’t belong. Finishing that quilt taught me to think ‘outside the box’ and not to be afraid to experiment. Just because I don’t like something by itself, doesn’t mean it doesn’t belong.

The quilting community is vast and diverse, how has interacting with quilters from different backgrounds influenced your work?

I always say that I learn more from my students than I teach. One of the biggest inspirations I’ve found is how to view quilting in different ways and through different lenses. We all see the designs from different perspectives. And I’ve tried to use those different viewpoints to see my own work from different angles. Which way my eye flows across the design. How the color placement can make you feel. So many influences!

Can you share any future plans you have?  What projects or destinations are you looking forward to in the near future?

I’ve always got multiple projects going at once. But right now, I'm focusing on a series of new quilt patterns coming out over the next few months. They are all quilts inspired by my travels throughout the United Kingdom.

I’m also putting together my first Quilt Tour completely self-organized. We’ll be traveling to Scotland in 2025 and it’s going to be a tour like no other!

 As for destinations, my sister and I are planning a trip back to Ireland for St. Brigid’s Day. Ireland feels like home to me so I’m super excited to visit again!

Let's take a Quilt Tour!

Rona’s quilt tour for Scotland September 2025 sold out in 10 hours, yes just 10 hours. She now has a waiting list for the next tour that she is planning, so if you want to be the first to know, then click on the picture above, which will take you straight to her website, and she has a waiting list for the Scottish Tour in June 2026.

For quilters who wish to combine their love for quilting and travel, what advice would you give them?

Find a spot on the map and go. Quilting is in every country and nearly every town. Once I was in a hotel in the middle of nowhere USA and working on some hand quilting in the lobby. Out of nowhere a wonderful woman walks up and tells me she’s a quilter too. We had a lovely chat and she told me about a fantastic quilt shop just 2 towns over. No matter which way you go, you’re bound to run into a fellow quilter.

How many quilt shops have you been to around the world?  Do you know? 

I have no idea how many I’ve visited. But I can say that I’ve visited quilt shops in 5 countries outside the United States and at least 1 quilt shop in 42 out of 50 States. I only have Alaska, Hawaii and the ‘little’ New England states left to visit.

I know that you love Scotland – where is your favourite place to visit in Scotland.

Anywhere in the Highlands. No question. The first time I crossed into the Highlands and saw the sign that literally said, “Welcome to the Highlands”, I had to pull over because I got a little teary eyed. All my life I’ve never really known where I come from - my family history. After visiting my family clan’s castle in Strathpeffer (Castle Leod), meeting the Clan Chieftain, and talking with so many Scots in the North, I’d never felt closer to my heritage. Something about that land is magical to me.

Having travelled with you for a few days this year in Edinburgh I am blown away by the huge amount of history knowledge that you have.  When did this love of history begin?

When I was about 12 years old. My 7th grade History teacher was Mr. King. He made history come alive. We did re-enactments and wrote stories as if we were living in the times we were studying. He made me love history. Plus, something about not really knowing where I came from made me want to learn more about everyone else’s past. 😊

Rona at Edinburgh Castle.

If you head over to Rona’s website your will find lot more info and great tips on travelling, she has some fab travel tips, along with travel journals for you to buy. Rona also has an extensive list of major quilt shows to visit around the world, the best quilt museums to visit and a full list of all the States Shop Hops.

And finally, here are some of Rona’s quilt patterns. There are more on her website, and as we mentioned earlier don’t forget to look out for her new patterns coming out soon.

If you want to know more about Rona’s adventures then follow her by signing up to her newsletter, watch her YouTube channel or find her on Facebook:-