Uncovering Traditional Quilts: Adventures in Piecing - Softcover

Born and educated in Wellington, the capitol of New Zealand, Joyce Jones moved to sunny Nelson 50 years ago. Both Nelson, the city, and Nelson, the province, are located at the top of the Sough Island, in an area of natural scenic beauty with a beautiful coastline, orchards, berry farms, and wineries. The culture of Nelson encourages all the arts, and annually hosts a Wearable Arts event known worldwide. Joyce's varied career experience includes work in the secretarial, legal, and conference planning realms. In addition she has worked in court reporting, broadcasting, copywriting, public relations, fund raising, and charity work. Her special love, though, has been teaching. Joyce has taught ballroom dancing, as well as shorthand and typing. But, for the last ten years, she has taught patchwork and quilting at a local college where there is always a waiting list for her classes. Watching students grow in ability and finding talents of which they were unaware are constant sources of pleasure to her. Joyce never wanted to sew when she was young, in spite of the fact that her mother was an excellent tailoress and dressmaker. It was not until 1973 when she took a trip to San Francisco that Joyce first became aware of patchwork. Her first step into the quilting world was taking a class on how to make templates and do English paper piecing. But the idea of making a quilt was put into her "too hard" basket for a number of years. Later when Joyce wanted to make a quilt for her son Jon, she turned to self-taught quilter Eileen Haycock, who taught her everything needed to make that first quilt. Great nurturing and inspiration have also come from a unique group of quilting friends calling themselves The UnderCover Girls. The group has three rules: "No smoking, no chldren, and no gossip," and a fourth unwritten rule, "No negativity!" This last rule has been a savior for Joyce who came from a background where she was convinced she could not draw and was dreadful at math. It just proves that "Girls can do anything, if they put their minds to it!" Joyce's continuing desire to find easier ways of doing things led her to begin teaching her methods more than ten years ago. Joyce has a daughter and son, and is married to Ted, who is a keen yachtsman, golfer, and quilt critic. Moya, a cheeky, but now rather elderly, Irish terrier is her constant companion.