After a varied career in the design world, Jane began to quilt in 1980. She found that these “soft paintings” satisfied the draftsman, the craftsman and the artist in her. Consequently, she is now a dedicated (some say “obsessed”) quilt artist and fabric designer.
Her art quilts have been shown in many national and international exhibits, including Quilt National 1989 through 2005 and Contemporary American Quilts, the first major exhibit of American art quilts in England. Her quilt “Willow” was named as One of the One Hundred Best American Quilts of the Century. Jane is also the author of “The Quilted Garden”. The book includes twenty years of her work and exercises for making nature-inspired quilts.
Jane’s love for historic decorative arts can be seen in all facets of her work, but it is especially evident in the exuberant fabric she is currently designing for FreeSpirit. Her designs are oversized and colorful and have been coined as “William Morris on anti-depressants”. They are created for quilts, wearables and home decorating. Her latest book, Patchwork Sassaman Style, beautifully illustrates her fabric “in action”.
Workshop: Totem of Life
All Levels
Sewing Machine Needed
In this workshop we will stylize some of your favorite characters in nature and arrange them into an interlacing appliquéd fabric collage, a colorful and graphic “Totem of Life”.
Come to class with a chosen “theme” to help organize your ideas. For, example, you could pick “Autumn” as your theme. Your characters could be fall leaves, moths, chrysanthemums and a harvest moon. Or your theme could be Butterflies and Flowers, Ocean Life or even The Planets.
Then you will collect photos and prints of the characters that are candidates for your composition. From these we will stylize (simplify and exaggerate) each object so they can be made as graphic fabric shapes for appliqué. Your composition will evolve as your shapes begin to “play off” one another.
This is a perfect way to learn my appliqué and construction techniques, but also a chance to make a uniquely personal project.