Portrait of my sister
Jeanie is a quilter. We're putting together her website, but since I only know the long, ancient kind of coding and she is prolific, it seems to be taking—well—years. This one, I Think of Merlee, is hand quilted (she can't help herself). Her first class was in 1983, and now she herself teaches. She doesn't have the luxury of doing this full time, but over the years she's created many beautiful quilts from bed size to small wall hangings and pillows.
Often in a large family, each child gets known for a particular skill or talent. I was driven inside to draw and paint as a kid, so everyone called me an artist. Jeanie was accomplished in many areas, and had lightening fingers when it came to typing. After college, she emerged as a star tennis player and coach. Had her own typing business. Her ad said, "People I type for come back." And they did for years, here in this university town. Now she works at a Montessori school.
But inside her there's always been an artist. Always looking and learning and questioning, with ideas to express and no end in sight. And if you are someone who must make what you envision, then most often, somehow, you've got to sell it. For most of us a it is a hideous interference with what we really want to do. Nevermind competition, trying to make shows, become known. Now cheap quilts from China on sale everywhere .
I never stop being amazed at her versatility, her ability to choose from stacks and stacks of fabric, to make the hundreds of decisions required, step by laborious step, to create her vibrant designs in cloth, each with a life of its own. And the diligence needed to quilt endless roads of perfectly uniform stitches. Her quilts bring me joy. She continues to inspire me.
Often in a large family, each child gets known for a particular skill or talent. I was driven inside to draw and paint as a kid, so everyone called me an artist. Jeanie was accomplished in many areas, and had lightening fingers when it came to typing. After college, she emerged as a star tennis player and coach. Had her own typing business. Her ad said, "People I type for come back." And they did for years, here in this university town. Now she works at a Montessori school.
But inside her there's always been an artist. Always looking and learning and questioning, with ideas to express and no end in sight. And if you are someone who must make what you envision, then most often, somehow, you've got to sell it. For most of us a it is a hideous interference with what we really want to do. Nevermind competition, trying to make shows, become known. Now cheap quilts from China on sale everywhere .
I never stop being amazed at her versatility, her ability to choose from stacks and stacks of fabric, to make the hundreds of decisions required, step by laborious step, to create her vibrant designs in cloth, each with a life of its own. And the diligence needed to quilt endless roads of perfectly uniform stitches. Her quilts bring me joy. She continues to inspire me.
posted by Susan at 9:34 AM
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