In March 2025, fans of the popular YouTube quilting channel Jordan Fabrics received the most shocking and heartbreaking news. The channel’s star Donna Jordan had died early that month, and viewers only got to know it through a cut-short tutorial in which Donna’s husband Matt informed her fans what had happened to her.
Amidst the sadness that Donna’s passing caused in her followers and everyone who ever watched her quilting tutorials at least once, the suddenness of it all was also confusing, and brought up many questions regarding not only the cause of her death, but also about her family and the future of the YouTube channel.
So what’s the untold truth about Donna Jordan’s death, and what will happen to the business she worked so hard to build? Keep with us to find out!
What Happened To Donna Jordan?
Donna passed away early on the morning of 14 March 2025. Her husband Matt delivered the heartbreaking news in a video entitled “Celebration Of Life: Donna Jordan – Drop Diamonds!”, which was shared just four days after her passing.
In it, Donna’s husband appeared visibly sad as he interrupted the Drop Diamonds Quilt video tutorial to inform his and his late wife’s audience about her passing, which he explained was due to an illness from which she had been suffering for a couple of year, but had taken a turn for the worst in the last three months. He held back his tears, as he finished the video by showing pictures of Donna and her happy moments with her family.
While the Jordan family never explained Donna’s illness, in the video her husband Matt was heartfelt as he described her commitment to her craft, and how it evolved into a business that included their entire family. He also mentioned that Donna was already making quilts when they met, both 16 years old, summing up over 50 years of dedication to the craft.
According to her online obituary, Donna was born in 1958, and passed away in Grants Pass, Oregon, where her home is located.
What Will Happen To Donna’s Channel?
While it would have been understandable for the Jordan family to stop producing YouTube content after Donna’s passing, that won’t be the case. In the video, Matt announced the sad news, but affirmed that they were ‘going to continue’ bringing their audience content ‘of all kinds’.
Now with Matt and his son James in charge of the channel and business, it’s unclear whether they’ll create content themselves, or change the route of the YouTube channel. Either way, they’re doing their best to keep Donna’s legacy alive by sharing some videos that Donna didn’t get to share. A compilation of those filmed projects can be seen in the almost three-hour-long video entitled “FINAL PART! SEASON 2024!” that Jordan Fabrics shared in late March 2025.
Though Matt didn’t mention it, it’s highly likely that the business part of Jordan Fabrics will still function as it has been doing for several years.
The Story of Jordan Fabrics
Long before Donna and Matt reached internet fame with their videos, they were already building a path in the field of quilting and fabrics. Donna’s long-time passion for quilting combined with Matt’s tenacity at cutting fabrics, the married couple started producing their earliest professional quilting projects in their garage and presented them at shows, traveling whenever they needed.
Though the couple’s passion stayed just that for several decades, the internet fame they gained through YouTube brought their business to the next level – Jordan Fabrics had gained viewers from all over the world, pushing them to expand and set up their workshop and offices at their house in Grants Pass, Oregon, where the family has been established for several decades, despite being from California.
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Nowadays, Jordan Fabrics offers a wide variety of quilting resources and fabrics. As seen on their website, they list several fabric packs, such as pre-cut and selected fabrics. Jordan Fabrics also sells digital patterns, quilting bundles, and sewing tools, but as Donna affirmed while talking about the business’s history, it all comes down to her passion and the happiness that it brought her to teach others and bring their skills to a new level.
Rise To Fame
Jordan Fabrics’ YouTube channel’s oldest video was a tutorial on how to sew a ‘jagged edge runner’, shared in October 2015. From then on, the Jordans constantly shared tutorials on varying patterns, taught their viewers about sewing techniques, and how to put together their quilting sets, which were already available on Jordan Fabrics’ website at the time.
Throughout the channel’s history, it was Donna who was always in front of cameras, explaining the tutorials with the kindness and patience that she became known for. Her husband Matt was often behind the camera, either taking care of the business or cutting the fabrics, which he describes as ‘one of his favorite things to do’, as it came naturally to him, but still involved challenge.
Jordan Fabrics’ videos have now been watched almost 140 million times, with the most popular being “Quick and Easy Placemats and Napkins”, uploaded in November 2017 and gaining almost five million views. At least a dozen more videos by Jordan Fabrics have been viewed over a million times.
Regarding the success of the channel, Jordan Fabrics’ website states that neither Donna nor Matt ever dreamed of their work ‘touching the lives’ of as many people as they did, and called it a ‘miraculous ride’.
Legacy
The passing of Donna Jordan shocked and saddened her viewers and beyond. Besides causing reactions and heartfelt tributes from other YouTubers and fans of quilting, the news of her passing made it to big news platforms such as People and the Daily Mail.
Understandably, this type of exposure has caused curiosity in many people who had never stumbled upon Donna and her work before. A huge part of that new audience has filled the comments sections in videos released after her passing, with heartfelt condolences and even admiration over her legacy. This situation also applies to Jordan Fabrics’ fan communities on Facebook, whose members have taken it upon themselves to show the quilting projects they’ve built throughout the years, thanks to Donna’s guidance.
All in all, Donna Jordan’s legacy goes beyond just video tutorials, as she also marked the lives of millions by bringing up their potential while doing the things they loved.
