Featured Quilter, Jodi Shelledy
I am so honored to be chosen as the Featured Quilter at this quilt show. I have never won a blue ribbon at one of our quilt shows but do have a few other ribbons that I have received. I dabble in a little of everything when it comes to quilting and the different techniques of the craft. I enjoy piecing, paper piecing, some appliqué, some hand embroidery with wool, and machine embroidery. Recently I have started quilting with templates (rulers). My go-to color palette is earth tones, especially toward the “dark side” as in Kansas Troubles, Kim Diehl, Pam Buda, etc. I have been known to get “out of my box” though and play with brights, 30s prints, and batiks. You will find very little blue in my stash but there is a lot of green!
I made my first quilt in 2002. It was a rag quilt, the ones made from flannel with raw edge seams on the right side of the quilt. I had seen one as several of the women I worked with were making them. There was something about that quilt that looked warm and cozy and caught my eye. I knew that I would be able to make that quilt. I talked to one of my quilting friends who volunteered to help me. We went shopping for fabric. She called me one cold February morning and said it was a good day to quilt. I went to her home and used her Bernina and made the quilt with her help. What an accomplishment! It was so much fun! I made plans to make several more of these quilts but sewing on my old Kenmore wasn’t nearly as nice as the Bernina with its updated features. It wasn’t long before I had a Bernina of my own. I updated a few times over the years but have stayed with the Bernina brand and now sew and embroider on a B880. I have a B590 that I take on retreats. I recently added a sit-down Q20 to my collection. I also have the Singer Featherweight that belonged to my grandmother. She taught me to sew with that machine when I was 7 or 8 years old. I made most of my clothing through my high school years.
I joined EIHQ in 2003. I entered my first quilt in a quilt show in 2005. It was a sampler quilt in which I learned to piece real quilt blocks. There was a group of us who were learning to sew. One of the group “had made all the quilt blocks” but wasn’t much of a teacher. Luckily I had asked a friend, my quilt mentor, to attend. She made it into a class and we all learned to piece several different blocks. I did not have that quilt judged. I have entered quilts into every show since then and have been lucky enough to win a few ribbons.
I love all the processes of quiltmaking. I especially like to quilt with my friends on retreats. Our “sisterhood” retreats two or three times a year. We also get together once a month to sew weighted blankets which we give to local organizations who can use them for their clients. So, comradery is the best part of quiltmaking. If I had to choose one technique that I like the most, today, it would be machine embroidery. I love the magic of watching the machine stitch out a pattern. It’s even more fun when it’s something that I’ve digitized and is mine from idea to stitch out. A close second would be ruler work. I’m just a beginner but it, too, is fascinating to me.
If I’m not sewing you will probably find me with my nose in a good mystery or perhaps watching Hallmark movies!
I live in Lisbon, IA and have a son who lives in Kansas City, MO, and a daughter who lives in Lisbon. I also have two adult granddaughters and a 3-year-old great grandson.
I made my first quilt in 2002. It was a rag quilt, the ones made from flannel with raw edge seams on the right side of the quilt. I had seen one as several of the women I worked with were making them. There was something about that quilt that looked warm and cozy and caught my eye. I knew that I would be able to make that quilt. I talked to one of my quilting friends who volunteered to help me. We went shopping for fabric. She called me one cold February morning and said it was a good day to quilt. I went to her home and used her Bernina and made the quilt with her help. What an accomplishment! It was so much fun! I made plans to make several more of these quilts but sewing on my old Kenmore wasn’t nearly as nice as the Bernina with its updated features. It wasn’t long before I had a Bernina of my own. I updated a few times over the years but have stayed with the Bernina brand and now sew and embroider on a B880. I have a B590 that I take on retreats. I recently added a sit-down Q20 to my collection. I also have the Singer Featherweight that belonged to my grandmother. She taught me to sew with that machine when I was 7 or 8 years old. I made most of my clothing through my high school years.
I joined EIHQ in 2003. I entered my first quilt in a quilt show in 2005. It was a sampler quilt in which I learned to piece real quilt blocks. There was a group of us who were learning to sew. One of the group “had made all the quilt blocks” but wasn’t much of a teacher. Luckily I had asked a friend, my quilt mentor, to attend. She made it into a class and we all learned to piece several different blocks. I did not have that quilt judged. I have entered quilts into every show since then and have been lucky enough to win a few ribbons.
I love all the processes of quiltmaking. I especially like to quilt with my friends on retreats. Our “sisterhood” retreats two or three times a year. We also get together once a month to sew weighted blankets which we give to local organizations who can use them for their clients. So, comradery is the best part of quiltmaking. If I had to choose one technique that I like the most, today, it would be machine embroidery. I love the magic of watching the machine stitch out a pattern. It’s even more fun when it’s something that I’ve digitized and is mine from idea to stitch out. A close second would be ruler work. I’m just a beginner but it, too, is fascinating to me.
If I’m not sewing you will probably find me with my nose in a good mystery or perhaps watching Hallmark movies!
I live in Lisbon, IA and have a son who lives in Kansas City, MO, and a daughter who lives in Lisbon. I also have two adult granddaughters and a 3-year-old great grandson.
