Sharon Burns, Whittier, NC 
Member since October 2021

What is the lineage of your craft?

My mother could barely sew on a button. When I was 12 or 13 years old I fell in love with textiles, took a sewing class in high school, a quilting workshop in college, and haven’t stopped since. I’ve been quilting with hand appliqué for 30 years. 

When I worked, I’d wake up with all kinds of ideas for quilts, but never had time to commit. I’m recently retired and committed to 2-3 hours a day to my craft and find myself shifting into an art quilting phase.

Where do you draw inspiration from?

I love architecture and am considering a zip code/social justice series based on the idea that the zip code where you grow up can determine your life-long economic status. (I’m an economist by training)

I have a book of Holy Cards by my bed and although I’m not aligned to a particular religion, the author highlights people who were thought to have lived saintly lives. I wonder how I might portray that in my art? For instance, I’m working on a whimsical piece, using very bright colors, of a friend who wears a halo of dominoes (she is the champ of dominoes in my circle).

I believe in the saintliness of nature!

What new techniques are you in search of? 

I work mostly with commercial fabric, and probably won’t get into printing my own fabric for time considerations but this technique sounds fun. I’m currently learning about edge piecing and portrait work in art quilting. 

What’s the last artists’ date you took yourself on? 

Going on a hike in the mountains, or paddling in the kayak, I always come home with a picture of “that would be cool” to portray; such as holes in the base of trees (not for keebler elves) as inspiration for a frame for a quilt. I visited Petra in Jordan a few years back and have kept the image in my mind of various entrances to tombs as a possible framing style for a quilt. 

What is a recent food pleasure?

I made an apple crisp, “gotta” have apples with a crunch, oatmeal crunch topping and added caramel sauce for that extra touch of sweetness.

What does “handmade with love” mean to you?

It’s not just what I portray, or what I want to create, rather, I put thought into what the recipient would appreciate even more than what I like.

Here is the full writeup by interviewer Colleen Troy.