Jane Addams

Fabric is a fascinating medium to me. Formally trained in art, I find the visual dance of color, texture, shape and line very exciting. My quilting designs are spontaneously improvised as I place one shape, one color next to another. Many of my quilts have pictorial images that tell a story, with the machine stitching adding a textural dimension, often manifesting an unexpected connection between pattern and line.

In this quilt about Jane Addams, born in 1860, and raised in a Quaker household, it was important to me to correctly depict this very strong woman, who remained very conservative in her dress and personal beliefs, even as she traveled the world advocating for world peace and women’s rights. Mixing contemporary fabric, old-fashioned patterned fabrics and vintage lace, enabled me to present my portrait of her.

In 1931, Jane Addams was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace. She was the second woman, and the only social worker, to be honored in this way.

New and recycled cotton fabrics, vintage lace, cotton poplin and silk organza printable fabric sheets, cotton batting, Derwent watercolor pencils, DMC embroidery floss, yarn embellishment, cotton and tri-lobal poly threads.