I grew up in rural northern New York State and was trained and worked as a social worker until my retirement in 1995. As a child, I made my doll clothes and as an adult, my own clothes. I jokingly say that I learned to sew because my Mother couldn't even do a hem, and this was my adolescent rebellion to gathered hems! About ten years prior to my retirement I began to plan actively to have a third career as a quilter.
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| I began making traditonal
quilts about 25 years ago, but kept wanting to do landscapes (always with
buildings). A sense of place is important to me, I find. I attend workshops and
conferences to learn and see new ways. I continue to prefer appliqué, hand
embroidery and quilting. Fortunately the fabric industry has discovered what
quilters want and there now is an enormous selection of marvelous fabric
available, especially from vendors at the above-mentioned conferences. And there
are also people who paint and dye fabric so beautifully (skies and oceans) that
I can make unique scenes somewhat more easily now. I do make the traditional
pieced quilts too, as a relaxation because the landscapes are not that easy to
do, nor are they relaxing.
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| I have had no art training and do not draw very well,
so my technique is this; Using a photo for a guide, I cut out small pieces of
cloth and pin them to my wall. Then I arrange the pieces until it looks
right. I don't seem to be able to put it on
paper first, though I do draw the buildings, sort of, and make a pattern, more
or less, to get them on the piece. And if I am lucky, I find fabric nowadays
with doors and windows in the design, so if I want to be very literal, which I
am, I cut them out and appliqué them down.
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| I have strong and deep feelings
about the Isles of Shoals, my spirit's home, and my more successful quilts are
about the islands. Sometimes, the pictures take over and tell me what to do. All
winter when I am working on a piece, I feel as if I were back on the island. We
have been going to Star Island for over 40 years, off and on, and I can't
remember when we first went to Arts, but it might have been in the mid-eighties.
Jane Stockton - email address janequilts@stocktons.com
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