Jo Avery is a bright and fun quilter and teacher, and her personality is reflected in her beautiful work – usually brimming with colour and a whole host of techniques. She also talks a lot – in a good way, which made editing this film trickier than usual as she didn’t seem to even stop to catch her breath!
You remember Jo’s quilts when you see them, and I think it was mainly through magazine commissions that I began to notice her work, later discovering and reading her blog and then meeting in real life at Festival of Quilts and tripping off to Nashville together. Karaoke and green fried tomatoes are just a few happy memories from that trip.
Jo has a huge generosity of spirit and has built a fantastic community up in Edinburgh. In October I travelled up to teach at the Stitch Gathering she organises each year and witnessed the strength of this first hand.
A good teacher is one who remains curious and always challenges themselves and Jo definitely does that. She is really talented in so many areas of quilting, as well as embroidery and as she says in the film she will never run out of ideas to try.
I’m personally very thankful for people like Jo in our industry who are so proactive in encouraging other creative people and willing to share tips of how to navigate the world of craft when it become your business too.
The beautiful hexagon quilt in the film is very remisiniscent of the one in Jane’s film with so many sweet Liberty prints in there. Jane is Jo’s big sister, who got her started with sewing and she is so proud of her little sister’s achievements. Jane’s English paper piecing helped her cope with a bereavement and Jo’s slow-stitching re-energised her love of quilting and gave her the strength to start a new career so both are hugely significant objects in their lives and their stories reaffirm the wonder of our craft.
Watch Jane’s film here
Jo also runs the Thread House Retreats and website with the lovely Karen Lewis and you can watch Karen’s film here
Finally – Jo has her first book coming out early next year with Stash so keep a look out and read more here.
Thanks for stopping by.
Jenni x
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