Jessica Quilter

Interviewed by Elizabeth Townsend Gard

Date April 2019

It seems that I have always been on the quest for something crafty to fill my time. I had tried acrylic painting, and finished one painting of a redbud tree from our family farm. I did some cross-stitching and that amounted to nothing. I loved working with paper, but at that time scrapbooking really wasn’t a craft per say. But I have always tried any sort of creative outlet that I could get my hands on.

I remember my Grandma and Mom making quilts together, cutting squares out at the kitchen table, and my Grandma sewing them together at the couch. I guess you could say that it is in my blood. “My first quilt” I made May 3, 2001. It all started with the embroidery blocks I received from a friend. I didn’t quite know where to start. With only a sewing machine and scissors, I began the project. But after a trip to Joann Etc., it wasn’t long before I had a room full of quilting things. And then it began…Once my embroidered blocks were done, I drew a picture with pencil and crayons as to what I wanted it to look like. The next thing I did was cut out and piece all the blocks together. I remember laying this quilt top out on the floor and being so proud of myself, but having absolutely no idea what I was doing. Putting the quilt top together came very easy to me, and I felt like it was a natural thing to do…why had I not done this sooner? I did not have a book to use or any pattern to follow…It was like the quilt just came from somewhere deep within me. Within a couple of days, the quilt was finished as I chose to quilt it by tying (as my grandma had once done) using embroidery floss and doing only a little bit of outline quilting with embroidery floss as well.

This was the beginning…And now I have made almost 450 quilts! I guess you could say it is a passion, an obsession. Either way – I LOVE Quilting!!!