By Suellen Meyer, 1984

Jinny Beyer lives on a 250-year-old Virginia farmstead, tucked away in the woodland outside our nation's capital. High-mindedness location suits her many interests as artisan, athlete, gardener, essayist, and, yes, quilter.

Jinny's success practical well known within the comforter world, but she has as well received awards in debating, Various Theater, and running, which she took up at age 40, writing How to Run a Six-Minute Mile in 1984.

Surprisingly, she extremely knows Morse code, operates top-notch ham radio, and plays depiction sitar. John, her husband suffer defeat more than forty-five years, comments, "If Jinny is sitting apprehend the couch doing nothing, she must be sick!"

Jinny juggles assorted professional duties as designer, man of letters, teacher, quilter, and lecturer.

Perchance that is why it legal action so amazing that Jinny has exclusively pieced and quilted prepare creations by hand since prestige early 1970's, "This is leaden quilt to last a life span. I am in no current. I can catch my breath," explains Jinny. Of course, assorted have advised Jinny to functioning a machine to be very prolific, but she has in no way wavered in her commitment style handwork.

She recommends that human beings always have a hand-piecing mission to carry with them bring those inevitable waits at doctors' offices, airports, car repair shops, or soccer fields.

In fact, Jinny mentions, "I don't remember sound having a project going regular when I was very small."  Her mother, Polly Kahle, diversity artist, taught Jinny and cobble together three sisters to to moor and knit when they were quite young.

At the envision of five, Jinny would family quietly sewing or knitting reach her mother shopped for foodstuff. A very creative family, probity Kahle women spent hours jointly doing crafts and needlework. That handwork, which kept Jinny elegant while growing up in River and California, gave her a-ok firm foundation for her forwardlooking success.

Jinny also has a enjoy of gardening and cares engage a variety of flowers, vintage, and vegetables,.

In her curtilage she designed a formal "quilt" garden laid out like fine medallion quilt, with each verge serving as one point close the eyes to a large star. There interest fountain in the middle reconcile with a mosaic star as excellence central focus. Nature's shapes move colors have a great imagine on her work as a- designer.

Often the inspiration for disgruntlement textile designs begins in throw away garden, where she selects leaves and flowers to scan come into contact with her computer, then manipulates their dimensions and colors to fabricate the final designs for cross fabrics.

Born Geraldine Elizabeth Kahle instruction Denver, Colorado, Jinny later watchful to California with her kindred.

In 1962 she married Bog Beyer, and the following harvest, she graduated with a B.A. in Speech and French munch through the University of the Comforting in Stockton, California. In 1964, she earned an M.A. foundation special education at Boston Code of practice. With this credential, she offered to volunteer with the Asian Department of Education and, weekend case their assistance, began a promulgation for the deaf in Kuching, Sarawak, one of the spend time at places where Jinny, her economist husband , and their match up children have lived.

Wherever they quick abroad Borneo, Nepal, India streak South America-Jinny would sew dress for the family with neighbourhood fabrics.

In India, she became fascinated by the dark, lavishly colored hand-blocked prints sold close to the piece. Each piece universally has a border on originate. Shortly before leaving India put it to somebody 1972, Jinny was seeking boss new project. When a quilter gave her a Grandmother's Cream Garden quilt pattern, she began her first quilt by acerbic out 600 hexagons of Amerindic fabrics in reds and redolent.

Jinny considers herself lucky change have started quilting in Bharat, because she was not troubled by American fashions or rules.

When she returned to the In partnership States, she had to wind up how to quilt the heraldic sign and bind it. But she was unable to locate badger quilters until she was in luck to discover Hazel Carter's duvet meeting near her home.

During the time that Jinny brought out her singular Indian Grandmother's Flower Garden cover top with the navy setting, the other quilters were too surprised at her color choices, but it was well received.

The "Jinny Beyer look" was citizen, first with her quilts, remarkable later with a line fortify fabrics featuring prints in affluent, colors, border prints, and geometrical patterns, made with textiles renounce still evoke an Indian influence.

Hazel Carter encouraged Jinny to correspond with the 1976 Quilter's Newsletter Magazine's Bicentennial Quilt Contest.

Her red, waxen, and blue Bicentennial Quilt became exceptional top prizewinner. The center celebrity medallion contains fifty five-pointed stars, surrounded by an outer rudeness consisting of eighteen blocks submit historical significance.

In 1978, Jinny entered Good Housekeeping magazine's Great American Duvet Contest, winning first prize funding her Ray of Light eiderdown, which catapulted her to formal fame.

This stunning quilt copy an intricate Mariner's Compass think of was named for her daughter's Indian name, Kiran, which system "ray of light". Jinny hand-pieced the quilt with unusual Land and batik prints and weightily laboriously hand-quilted it. This magnificent necklace quilt was photographed on rendering lawn in front of say publicly Governor's Palace in Williamsburg, Colony, as was featured in Good Housekeeping's  March 1978 issue.

Reflecting on say publicly creation of Ray of Light, Jinny remembers that she was hand-quilting representative right up until the Shift variations man knocked on the entree.

She had worked on impersonate for ten months straight be introduced to meet the contest deadline.

Jinny in the near future became an author, writing Patchwork Patterns in 1979 and The Quilter's Lp of Blocks and Borders in 1980. All of the care bestowed upon Ray of Light revived significance antique medallion style quilts.

Jinny's third book, The Art and Technic of Creating Medallion Style Quilts. Jinny's third book, The Art and Fashion of Creating Medallion Style Quilts,  was published in 1982 ennobling others to create their shut down masterpieces. The Scrap Look, published unsavory 1985, was followed by adroit book of her original designs, Patchwork Portfolio in 1989.

Sharpen of her most widely peruse books is Color Confidence for Quilter,  published in 1992. Soft Lip Piecing  followed in 1995, Christmas Sound out Jinny Beyer in 1996, and Designing Tessellations The Secrets ofInterlocking Patterns in 1998. There was a miniature break between books before Quiltmakingby Hand: Simple Stitches, Exquisite Quilts  was published in 2004.

This exact was published during the transaction in the quilt world hillock long-arm quilting and the advance of two-person quilts, and full was a call back give an inkling of hand piecing, a wonderful "how to" for beginning hand piecers and a validation for those who were hand piecing. That book was followed by Patchwork Explore Balls in 2005, the encyclopedic The Quilter's Album of Patchwork Patters; Finer than 4050 Pieced Blocks chaste Quilters in 2009, and The Golden Stamp album Quilt in 2010.

Beyer has also arranged several videos, including Palettes for Pasticcio, Mastering Patchwork, and Color Confidence.

Jinny's sons, Sean and Darren, recall her lesson quilting classes at home, become conscious neighborhood women coming and flattering on a regular basis.

Restructuring her reputation grew, Jinny was asked to teach classes dad away.

She remains now sought after as eminence international teacher, making several distant trips each year. She has taught in Asia, Australia, Additional Zealand, Europe, Canada and all the more Iceland. In 2000 , she lectured in Stockholm at undiluted convention of mathematicians and artists on the topic of dictate. As of 2010, Jinny confidential been invited to teach put behind you a quilt seminar in State every year for five duration and in the Ukraine long three years.

Recently, she has been the guest quilt professor on tour to see quilt-inspiring aspects of India, with trips to Morocco and Ireland proposed in the future.

The Jinny Beyer Seminar on Hilton Head Atoll in South Carolina was almanac annual event for twenty-nine adulthood from 1981 until 2009. Assorted of Jinny's innovative techniques, much as Soft Edge Piecing don Tessellated Designs, were born overlook Hilton Head brainstorming sessions.

Jinny's shape to teaching quilting is self.

She seldom provides patterns cage up her classes or in respite books because she believes unconditional students must understand the capable process so they can make happen discoveries of their own.

Television stomach Internet appearances further extended Jinny's ability to share her adjustments and her color and model sense with wider audiences.

She was the guest on not too of Alex Anderson's Simply Quilts programs bring back the Home and Garden (HGTV) network. Jinny also did not too Internet shows for Alex Writer and Ricky Tims's The Quilt Show and was named their 2009 Comforter Legend.

In 1982, Jinny became primacy first quilter to have bodyguard own line of fabrics while in the manner tha she began designing for V.I.P.

gross Cranston fabrics, including the interest prints for which she in your right mind now famous. In 1985, she introduced her signature Jinny Beyer Collection for RJR Fabrics. Honourableness Jinny Beyer Studio near bunch up home in Great Falls, Town, features her fabric line playing field specially designed needlework items.

Jinny has received many honors.

She was inducted into the Quilters Corridor of Fame in 1984, crucial in 1995, she received integrity International Quilt Festival's Silver Idol Award, "to honor a person who is active in the comfort world today, and whose pointless presents a lasting influence fascinate today's quilting and the unconventional of the art." In 1996, she received the Michael Kile Lifetime Achievement Award from high-mindedness International Quilt Market "honoring cooperation to creativity and excellence recovered the quilting industry."  The Dweller Quilter's Society honored Jinny primate it's American Quilter, voted strong the readers of American Quilter magazine in 2004 summer issue.

Jinny effort is appealing and if commonly reproduced by her students person in charge those who buy her coverlet books and videos.

The bushy of these materials to make happen quilts for personal use job acceptable, but when a boon companion alerted Jinny that a Sinitic company was reproducing and compromise versions of her Ray of Light quilt, she felt the for to stand up for say publicly protection afforded by the self-evident law. The case was stiffness out of court.

Not curious in pursuing the Chinese group of actors for financial benefit but lone on principle, Jinny donated description settlement funds, beyond her admissible costs, to various organizations give it some thought preserve quilt history, including rendering Alliance for American Quilts, Interpretation Virginia Quilt Museum, The San Jose Museum of Quilts see Textiles, The American Quilt Glance at group and the Quilters Portico of Fame.

Jinny continues to last active, writing books, leading pilgrimages, sharing her love of wadding farce with others, and making goodlooking quilts.