Jane Sassaman quilt artist, fabric designer, author and teacher

Last week I got to visit one of my favorite cities, Portland, Oregon, for a few days of class with the talented Columbia Stitchery Guild. I love everything about Portland… the weather, the shopping, Powell’s Bookstore, the gardens, the architecture, the galleries and museums. This glorious tree is at the amazing Japanese Gardens.

Portland is, also, the hub of the modern crafting movement and host to many creative events for crafty entrepreneurs. One day after class I was treated to a visit to the Portland Craft Museum. There was a intriguing show about weaving and as we wandered upstairs we notice a great activity in their classroom space. About two dozen people were sewing, either by hand or machine. A group was sitting around a table and all free-style embroidering on a single large table cloth. Others were stitching up quilts. They were all participating in a Craft Party to create quilts to send to Japanese disaster victims. The event was sponsored by Etsy. I felt honored to be a small part of this crafty momentum.

Upon my return, my friend Linda Teufel, editor of Dragon Threads and fellow Bernina Artisan, came for a visit. It’s such a novelty to see your teaching fellows and not be “working”, too. When I picked Linda up from the airport, she was easy to spot because she was dressed in Garden Divas!

She made two of these wonderful shirts… one for herself and one for me, too! The pattern is from Indygo Junction and called Mismatch Medley. It is a perfect way to feature several favorite fabrics at once.

I really like the way she has sprinkled the pink and turquoise throughout with a base of black to hold it all together. The edges are serged, which adds some extra detail and texture.

Even the sleeves are different fabrics. This looks great with a pair of slim black trousers or capris and summer sandals. It looks right at home among the flowers in the garden, too!

She let me choose the fabric combination for my shirt and I decided to stick with a conservative blue, black and green pallet. The results are far from average, though. It even looks wonderful with jeans!

Thanks, Linda! As always, it is delightful to see the fabric put to such good use!

Last week I got to visit one of my favorite cities, Portland, Oregon, for a few days of class with the talented Columbia Stitchery Guild. I love everything about Portland… the weather, the shopping, Powell’s Bookstore, the gardens, the architecture, the galleries and museums. This glorious tree is at the amazing Japanese Gardens.

Portland is, also, the hub of the modern crafting movement and host to many creative events for crafty entrepreneurs. One day after class I was treated to a visit to the Portland Craft Museum. There was a intriguing show about weaving and as we wandered upstairs we notice a great activity in their classroom space. About two dozen people were sewing, either by hand or machine. A group was sitting around a table and all free-style embroidering on a single large table cloth. Others were stitching up quilts. They were all participating in a Craft Party to create quilts to send to Japanese disaster victims. The event was sponsored by Etsy. I felt honored to be a small part of this crafty momentum.

Upon my return, my friend Linda Teufel, editor of Dragon Threads and fellow Bernina Artisan, came for a visit. It’s such a novelty to see your teaching fellows and not be “working”, too. When I picked Linda up from the airport, she was easy to spot because she was dressed in Garden Divas!

She made two of these wonderful shirts… one for herself and one for me, too! The pattern is from Indygo Junction and called Mismatch Medley. It is a perfect way to feature several favorite fabrics at once.

I really like the way she has sprinkled the pink and turquoise throughout with a base of black to hold it all together. The edges are serged, which adds some extra detail and texture.

Even the sleeves are different fabrics. This looks great with a pair of slim black trousers or capris and summer sandals. It looks right at home among the flowers in the garden, too!

She let me choose the fabric combination for my shirt and I decided to stick with a conservative blue, black and green pallet. The results are far from average, though. It even looks wonderful with jeans!

Thanks, Linda! As always, it is delightful to see the fabric put to such good use!

The spring weather is been as unpredictable as always. It was actually too hot here for a few days and I was forced to fold up my winter uniform and switch to some cooler clothes. This is never easy for me, because I am not thrilled to have to take off my protective parka and expose my winter body to the world. So I need to ease into the hot weather gently, uncovering my soft and glow-in-the-dark limbs in gradual steps. So this smock pattern is a perfect piece of transitional clothing. It is light weight, covers almost everything and is colorful and fun to wear.

This is the pattern. I saw it years ago, but never owned it. In the mean time, it went out of print! So I went on Etsy and found it again. I like to find patterns that can be made over and over again, as I tend to have seasonal uniforms … the same pattern in many colors, just makes life easier.

I like everything about this pattern, the square neckline, the double pleats in the back, double pockets and the turned up cuffs. Plus we could use Sassaman fabric, too. I wear them with a complimentary colored shirt underneath. There is something rather old-fashioned about it, that appeals to me, too.

This version is especially nice and a bit more formal, too. These were made by my helper, Susan. She is a whiz at garment sewing. She is also the one who added the wonderful buttons. Black leggings work with all of these and I think a black pencil skirt would be cooler and look good, too. But I’m working up to that!

Here you can see the lining and shoulders done with the Bleeding Heart and Iris fabric. All of the printed fabric is from the Garden Divas line. The solid fabrics balance the fancy fabrics, so they aren’t too overwhelming.

But in this version we let the prints take over and I love it! Exuberant and exciting. It’s right up there with your “rat pack”leopard prints. Kind of retro, in a 1960’s way. If this was oil cloth, it would make a dynamite raincoat, too.

The cheeky blue buttons add some electricity and attitude. So perhaps now I can ease into spring and work up to a cooler summer wardrobe. PS… all these photos were taken in the new studio. The saffron
colored walls look great with everything.

The spring weather is been as unpredictable as always. It was actually too hot here for a few days and I was forced to fold up my winter uniform and switch to some cooler clothes. This is never easy for me, because I am not thrilled to have to take off my protective parka and expose my winter body to the world. So I need to ease into the hot weather gently, uncovering my soft and glow-in-the-dark limbs in gradual steps. So this smock pattern is a perfect piece of transitional clothing. It is light weight, covers almost everything and is colorful and fun to wear.

This is the pattern. I saw it years ago, but never owned it. In the mean time, it went out of print! So I went on Etsy and found it again. I like to find patterns that can be made over and over again, as I tend to have seasonal uniforms … the same pattern in many colors, just makes life easier.

I like everything about this pattern, the square neckline, the double pleats in the back, double pockets and the turned up cuffs. Plus we could use Sassaman fabric, too. I wear them with a complimentary colored shirt underneath. There is something rather old-fashioned about it, that appeals to me, too.

This version is especially nice and a bit more formal, too. These were made by my helper, Susan. She is a whiz at garment sewing. She is also the one who added the wonderful buttons. Black leggings work with all of these and I think a black pencil skirt would be cooler and look good, too. But I’m working up to that!

Here you can see the lining and shoulders done with the Bleeding Heart and Iris fabric. All of the printed fabric is from the Garden Divas line. The solid fabrics balance the fancy fabrics, so they aren’t too overwhelming.

But in this version we let the prints take over and I love it! Exuberant and exciting. It’s right up there with your “rat pack”leopard prints. Kind of retro, in a 1960’s way. If this was oil cloth, it would make a dynamite raincoat, too.

The cheeky blue buttons add some electricity and attitude. So perhaps now I can ease into spring and work up to a cooler summer wardrobe. PS… all these photos were taken in the new studio. The saffron
colored walls look great with everything.