Joen Wolfrom - TheQuiltShow.com

Joen Wolfrom

Joen is a great quilting teacher because she started as a teacher. Joen has been in the elementary classroom, worked with learning-disabled students and as a teacher/consultant for gifted students.

But how did quilting get into the picture? The same way as for many of you—she was invited to a class by a friend and couldn’t figure out how to get out of it politely. The class was once a week for 15 weeks. Each week was a different project. At the end of 15 weeks Joen had one pot holder to show for her efforts. She ended up taking the class 3 times.

Joen was contacted by an acquaintance to tutor her child. Later this person started a fabric store and asked Joen to teach quilting. Of course her answer was—no. At this time Joen was worried she would be just one step ahead of the students. They kept asking and Joen kept saying no. Then she thought of her Dad’s caution, “People often close the door to opportunity before they realize it has been opened for them”.

So she became a quilting teacher. She worked two days a week teaching 3, three hour classes a day. This lasted for 3 years. One day she received an invitation to teach in San Diego, California. Joen was happy in Washington but made the trip. Suddenly she was receiving invitations from all over. Well, why not? Quilting is a small interest and it will surely only last for about 1 year. This was 1984. Since then, Joen has taught all over the world.

Her interest in nature, color and photography has greatly influenced her quilting style. Her books include Color Play, The Visual Dance, Landscapes & Illusions, The Magical Effects of Color, Patchwork Persuasion, and great help for the mathematically challenged Make Any Block Any Size.

JWD Publishing is Joen’s new venture. She brings you great patterns from today’s top quilting artists. You can see Joen in action in Episode 103 “Visualizing Color” or check out her classes next week, October 8-11, at APQ in Des Moines, Iowa.

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