One of our favorite exhibits at International Quilt Festival in Houston, is Janet Clare - My Story So Far.  

You know Janet as a Moda fabric designer, quilter and creative artist.  The exhibit allows us to walk into Janet's "studio" to see how she works.  From her inspiration boards and sketchbooks, she shares what sparks her creativity, her design process and how she seeks inspiration.  

In Janet's words...

‘My story so far’

I have been fortunate enough to attend many quilt markets as a Moda designer and strolling through the galleries is always one of the most enjoyable parts of my visits. I don’t know about you but I always leave feeling inspired and wanting to stitch!

Thrillingly, this year my quilts and I will be part of the galleries too! Dreams really can come true (thanks to a lot of hard work and the generous support of Moda).

My gallery space will feel like my studio at home in England with a table and chair, my sketchbook and favourite pieces of work all around me and of course, my very special pencil pots!

I can tell you the studio has never been so clean and tidy as the day we took the photos for the backdrop.

Step inside my gallery studio and you’ll see my design process starting with my sketchbooks to my original paintings for my Moda collections, seeing how I slowly develop the glimpse of an idea (that exists only in my head) into something real that others can be inspired to stitch, share and enjoy too.

I am a great believer in creating for the sheer pleasure of it! I love to share my passion for creating by teaching my favourite techniques and encouraging others to create their own unique textile pieces.

I love to work in a soft, natural colour palette combining it with applique, free machine drawing, hand embroidery and hand quilting to create small textile artworks and quilts.

As well as creating just for fun I also design for my own pattern company. Did you know I’d written four books, each packed full of quilts, embroidery and other textile projects?

You can find my patterns and books here:

• Janet's Books & Patterns
• Freya and Fred
• Hearty Good Wishes
• A Field Guide
• The Wordsmith

I love to read and you’ll also see several quilts inspired by words and phrases.

I really liked the idea of sleeping soundly under a poem, don’t you?

My “Welcome Home’ quilt was the free 2017 project for all members of my email club. Each month I’d design and make a block inspired by the notions of home, family, heirlooms and belonging. This year’s quilt is called ‘Honest to Goodness’ and you can join in the fun too!

You’ll be familiar with the quilts displayed on the outside walls of my studio gallery as they’re all made with my Moda fabric collections. These are in my indigo and cream colour palette, which I think is classy, elegant and timeless.

I grew up near the White cliffs of Dover so the coast is a constant source of inspiration for me. So much so that I have already designed three coastal fabric collections for Moda - can you name them?

I’m going to spend as much time as I possibly can in my little studio gallery so please do pop along to say ‘hello’ and stay for a chat about designing, stitching and how to inspire your customers to create special quilts for themselves and their loved ones.

I’m so looking forward to meeting you all.

I’ll be the one in the apron!

Janet

This stunning version of the Dear Jane quilt was made primarily with Janet's The Wordsmith collection.  Two identical quilts were made by over two hundred quilters in an international collaboration organized by Jeltje Van Essen and Kim Caskey.  

Janet Clare - My Story So Far will be on display through Sunday, November 11, 2018.