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Jane Eyes
I began sewing when I was eight and now
dread thinking of the “fine outfits” I created
each Easter. I was introduced to quilting
during the colonial craft revival of the sixties
and made blocks for several Bicentennial
quilts. Over the next twenty-five years I
would make a new bed-sized quilt when
one was needed, identifying a traditional
pattern and choosing appropriate fabrics.
Not particularly satisfied with the results of
a large block, Quilt-in-a-Day project, I would
finish up the piece and put my quilting
supplies away for another five years.
In 2001, I moved to Fairfield Country and
entered a new world of a quilting: rotary
cutters and mats, rulers, rulers and more
rulers, the stash, the design wall, paperpiecing,
stack and whack, Electric Quilt,
Quilt University (on-line quilt classes),
machine quilting, and hundreds of books
and magazines with amazing ideas for new
quilts. Through my re-entry into quilting I
was able to bridge the newcomer gap.
Quilters are a warm and accepting bunch. I
had the great fortune to fall in with a
wonderful group of women at Common
Threads; they encouraged me to show my
work and join Northern Star.
During this return to quilting I took classes in color and machine quilting, dragging bags of fabric on the train and subway
to City Quilter. I drove out to Ohio for a four day class with Jane Sassaman and four years later, back to Ohio for a week
with Nancy Crow. A Karen Stone class helped expand and refine my use of color, and classes with Dianne Hire and Jan
Mullen opened up the world of free form cutting and piecing. Mary Mashuta’s Confetti Quilts is my favorite book for
understanding color, fabric and design.
My quilts start with the fabric. I collect a set of fabrics and then look for a traditional or contemporary pattern to suit the
material. I add lots of incidental fabrics from my stash, and my wall quilts are often made up of 25 to 65 different varieties.
I look forward to sharing some of my creations with NSQG members in May.
Jane Eyes
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