Today, the Californian is a well-known quilter, teacher, author, and expert on free-motion quilting. Her busy teaching schedule will bring her to the International Quilt Festival in Long Beach this July 6-8 where she’ll offer four classes: “Fearless Free-Motion Fills and Frills” (both #1 and #2), “Sheer Bliss!” and “How Do I Quilt That?”

Friends@Festival got together to talk with Lyon about her creative journey, love for quilting education, and whether or not she still lives up to her nickname.

Let’s start at the start. How did you first get exposed to quilting?

I am a fourth-generation quilter, and back in Manitoba they made quilts to keep warm. I wasn’t interested in quilting as a kid because I didn’t like my mom’s colors! I moved to Houston in the mid-‘80s and stumbled into [Quilt Festival founder Karey Bresenhan’s] quilt store Great Expectations. I thought it was so cool! Then I heard about this quilt show and was blown away! I remember this statement quilt with pantyhose exploding out of it.

Then I took a beginner class. It was by hand because rotator cutters were now and people weren’t really machine quilting yet. That interest had to lie fallow when I was raising my children. Then they got old enough where I could do something on my own. I took another class and haven’t stopped since! I got into free-motion because when we moved to California, the home prices were so high I couldn’t afford to pay anyone to quilt my quilts!

It's one thing to be a quilter, and another to make the jump into teaching others to quilt. How did you make that transition?

It’s funny, I have no teaching background or education and just wanted to. I was passionate and wanted to teach. It’s that simple. A fire and a desire within me.

On your website, you talk about taking a “light-hearted” approach to quilting. Why is that important?

This is supposed to be about joy in creating. My students see it’s not intimidating and that they can do it. Frequently students will go rogue on me, doing something different than what I told them to, and I embrace that. That’s what their brain tells them to do. I want them to do their own thing on their own quilts.

To a non-quilter just watching a demo video, free-motion quilting can look like someone is just haphazardly moving fabric under an automated needle with no plan or design. What’s wrong with that assumption?

What I always make clear to my new students is that when you’re piecing, it is about precision and near-perfection. We let that go when it comes to free-motion. And it’s all good. There’s a lot of freedom and forgiveness in free-motion.

You also talk about “plactice”–your word to combine “play” and “practice.” Elaborate!

Ha! To get good at free-motion quilting, you have to practice. And that sounds tedious and boring to a lot of people. I have ideas for students to do that but have fun and play! That’s what they really want.

In your own quilting, what’s your design process like?

It almost always starts with an inspiration, and it’s usually one of two things: a memory or something in nature. I’m not much of a sketcher as a discipline but when I have an idea, I slap it down on paper. I get kind of a basic idea of what I want. I’m very much a “Ready, shoot, aim!” person. I just go in there and do it. I don’t have a tidy answer for that question! It’s such a loose process. I had a plan with the Morning Breeze quilt that a lot of people associate me with. But it kept changing. I would rip out threads and change colors! I guess I learn by seeing it.

What can you tell us about your classes at Long Beach?

“Fills and Frills”–I built those classes to give you more things to work with and have more fun with free-motion quilting. The more ideas, the more personal your quilt can become. And the content does not overlap.

“Sheer Bliss” is like kindergarten. You’re taking hunks of sheer fabrics and layering them to create different effects and colors to create a picture. It’s really fun, and you’ll finish something in class where you don’t have to bind it. Sloppy woppy free-motion quilting is appropriate! It’s a whimsical, Bohemian look.

And for “How Do I Quilt That?” the first 10 students I get pictures of quilts from, I’m going to work with them individually on their quilt plan, possibly with threads and embellishments. It’s a back-and-forth thing. We’re creating on the spot. It’s individual help, but the whole class learns.

Finally, is this whole “quilt skipping” thing a convenient superhero origin story, or did it actually happen?

It really is true! When Diane Met Karen was my personal breakthrough quilt where I thought “I’m kicking ass!” Everything came together and I loved it. I was so intensely dedicated to it I didn’t want to get up, but I know I had to, so I got up and skipped. And I still do! That’s just the way I express myself. When my quilting is going well, I’m going to skip!

For more on Jenny Lyon, visit QuiltSkipper.com