Meet Debra Coffman

Happy New Year!

To kick off the new year, we are featuring our passionate and multitalented Road Warrior, Debra Coffman, and like our other reps, she feels so fortunate to be part of the Moda family and the quilting industry.

Fabric has been part of her life well before moving to Denver over 20 years ago. Working on the design team at MacKenzie-Childs in New York, Debra was exposed to textiles, ceramics, and furniture and worked with some of the most amazing artisans. Her painting background allowed her to paint murals in NYC, spearhead paper designs, and design furniture prototypes. She thought that her move to Colorado would only be for a year but then she found a job working for Schumacher Fabrics and being surrounded by every possible type of textile. Debra says she fell in love with the designs and patterns of fabric. From there, she worked for another fabric company, but says, “To be honest, I followed Melody (the previous Moda rep) for years, putting the bug out there that I wanted to be the Moda rep when she retired. It paid off!”

“I love seeing my shop owners! It’s like family away from home, and that is very helpful since I am on the road so much. The shop owners are always so wonderful and nice when I see them. I love catching up with them and seeing their excitement when they show me what they have created since I saw them last.”

Debra’s territory is quite large, having Colorado and parts of Wyoming, South Dakota, Kansas, Nebraska, and a tiny portion of Utah. She says, “I have a beautiful territory, and the scenery can be just magical, even in winter. Since I have such a vast territory, I have bought a camera so that I can take pictures of all of the spectacular views and different birds I see on my travels. My other love is for birds, and I volunteer for Denver Audubon on their fundraising committee and help with their yearly Hootenanny event doing arts and crafts with children.” 

Debra’s other passion is gardening. She says, “I am always planting native flowers and grasses to help the pollinators!”

And even with all of her travels, Debra and her husband, Brock, who owns a coffee tavern, try to find time to travel and explore new places. Last year they celebrated their 20-year anniversary in Costa Rica!  

Through it all – Debra’s work travels and Brock’s long hours at his business – she says, “We somehow make taking care of our dog and cat work – us, and a pet sitter.”

Even in her little bit of down time, Debra loves to be around fabric, saying, “Fabric is such an amazing medium to work with. Right before the pandemic, I took a class with Barbara Yates Beasley on learning more about the fabric collage technique. I finished a fabric collage of Luna, our little pupper, and I am working on one of our cat, Oscar.”

“I couldn’t imagine working in any other industry. My shop owners are such hardworking, talented, giving individuals that is hard not to love everything about the quilting world. Every day is different and has its own set of challenges, but at the end of the day, I feel like I’m helping the shop owners make the world a little better place – and definitely more a more colorful place – with our fabrics.”