Jane Sassaman’s Information Center
After a varied career in the design world, Jane began to quilt in 1980. She found that these “soft paintings” satisfied the draftsman, the craftsman and the artist in her. Consequently, she is now a dedicated (some say “obsessed”) quilt artist and fabric designer.
Her art quilts have been shown in many national and international exhibits, including Quilt National 1989 through 2005 and Contemporary American Quilts, the first major exhibit of American art quilts in England. Her quilt “Willow” was named as One of the One Hundred Best American Quilts of the Century. Jane is also the author of “The Quilted Garden”. The book includes twenty years of her work and exercises for making nature-inspired quilts.
Jane’s love for historic decorative arts can be seen in all facets of her work, but it is especially evident in the exuberant fabric she is currently designing for FreeSpirit. Her designs are oversized and colorful and have been coined as “William Morris on anti-depressants”. They are created for quilts, wearables and home decorating. Her latest book, Patchwork Sassaman Style, beautifully illustrates her fabric “in action”.
Selected awards & honors
-
FIRST PLACE SMALL APPLIQUE’ for Johnny Jump Ups, awarded by World of Quilts Travel, 2019 International Quilt Festival, Houston, Texas.
-
SECOND PLACE NATURESCAPES for Spring Trio, awarded by Mountain Mist2018 International Quilt Festival, Houston, Texas.
- AWARD FOR INNOVATIVE ARTISTRY for Illinois Album awarded the Baby Lock Award 2013 International Quilt Festival, Houston, Texas.
- Nominated for 2008 TEACHER OF THE YEAR, Professional Quiter’s Magazine.
- AWARD OF EXCELLENCE: Quilt National 2005.
- Nominated for 2004 TEACHER OF THE YEAR, Professional Quiter’s Magazine.
- GREEN QUILT AWARD 2001, Athens, Ohio.
- 2001 ARTISTS FELLOWSHIP AWARD, Illinois Arts Council.
- THE CENTURIES 100 BEST AMERICAN QUILTS (Willow, 1996) International Quilt Festival, Houston, Texas 1999.
- QUILTS JAPAN AWARD, Quilt National, Athens, Ohio 1999.
- JAMES R. THOMPSON AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN CRAFTS, 1999.
- THE FAIRFIELD MASTER AWARD FOR CONTEMPORARY ARTISTRY, 1996 International Quilt Festival, Houston, Texas.
- 1996 DESIGN ACHIEVEMENT AWARD, recognizing outstanding alumni, College of Design, Iowa State University.
- ARTIST AS QUILT MAKER VII, First Prize, Firelands Association for the Visual Arts Gallery, 1996, Oberlin, Ohio.
- THE ART QUILT: CELEBRATING WOMEN'S VISIONS AND ENERGIES, Most Powerful Visual Expression., The Bevier Gallery, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York, 1995.
- AMERICAN QUILTER'S SOCIETY, First Place, Professional Wall Quilt Division, 11th Annual Exhibit and Contest, 1995.
Selected bibliography
- ART QUILTS UNFOLDING: 50 YEARS OF INNOVATION, Studio Art Quilts Associates, Schiffer Publishing, Atglen, Pennsylvania.
- PATCHWORK SASSAMAN STYLE, Jane Sassaman, 2012, Dragon Threads, Ltd., Worthington, Ohio.
- THE QUILTED GARDEN, Jane Sassaman, C & T Publishing, Concord, California, 2000.
- QUILTING WITH A MODERN SLANT, Rachel May, 2014, Storey Publishing, North Adams, Massachusetts.
- ART QUILT PORTFOLIO: THE NATURAL WORLD: PROFILES OF MAJOR ARTISTS, GALLERIES OF INSPIRING WORKS, Martha Sielman, 2012, Lark Crafts, Sterling Publishing, New York, NY.
- 500 ART QUILTS, Karey Petterson Bresenhan, Juror and Ray Hemachandra, Editor, 2009, Lark Books a division of Sterling Publishing, New York, New York.
- MASTERS: ART QUILTS, 2008, Martha Sielman (author and curator), Lark Books, New York, New York.
- QUILT NATIONAL 2001: THE BEST IN CONTEMPORARY QUILTS, Lark Books, Asheville, NC, 2001.
- Author of THE QUILTED GARDEN: DESIGN AND MAKE NATURE INSPIRED QUILTS, ©2000, C & T Pub.
- QUILTS JAPAN, feature article, July 2000.
- AMERICAN CRAFT, October/November, 1999, American Craft Council, New York, New York.
- QUILTS JAPAN, #9, 1999, Nihon Vogue Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan.
- FIBERARTS DESIGN BOOK SIX, Lark Books, Asheville, North Carolina, 1999.
- QUILT NATIONAL 1999: THE BEST IN CONTEMPORARY QUILTS, Lark Books, Asheville, NC, 1999.
- THREADS MAGAZINE, cover and feature article, Oct/Nov, 1999.
- WOMEN OF TASTE: A Collaboration Celebrating Quilt Artists and Chefs, C & T Publishers, 1999.
- LIVING WITH QUILTS, Phyllis George, GT Publishing, New York, 1998.
- NEW ZEALAND QUILTER, feature article, April 1998.
- QUILT MANIA, feature article, May/June 1998, Belgium.
- MARY ENGELBREIT'S HOME COMPANION MAGAZINE, feature article, June/July, 1998.
- QUILTER'S NEWSLETTER MAGAZINE, (cover), March 1997.
- ART/QUILT MAGAZINE, #8, cover and feature article, 1997.
- THE ART QUILT, Robert Shaw, Hugh Lauter Levin Associates, Inc., 1997
Selected shows & exhibits
Solo shows
-
FESTIVAL INTERNACIONAL DE PATCHWORK 2020, Solo Exhibition, Sitges, Spain
-
SOLO EXHIBIT, Dunedin Fine Art Center, Dunedin, Florida, 2019
-
VISIONS MUSEUM, The Nature of Things: Jane Sassaman and Betty Busby. San Diego, California, 2018
Group exhibits
- SIX CONTINENTS OF QUILTS EXHIBITS: The American Craft Museum, USB PaineWebber Gallery New York City. Collection .
- QUILT NATIONAL '89, '91, '93, '95, '97, '99 and judge for 2001. International traveling show of contemporary art quilts originating from The Dairy Barn, Southeastern Ohio Cultural Arts Center, Athens, Ohio.
- ART QUILTS: CONTEMPORARY ART FORMS FROM TRADITIONAL ORIGINS, 2000, Dubuque Museum of Art, Dubuque, Iowa.
- GROSS MCCLEAF GALLERY1S 6th ANNUAL CONTEMPORARY QUILT EXHIBITION, 2000, Philadelphia, PA.
- WOMEN OF TASTE: A Collaboration Celebrating Quilt Artists and Chefs, Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition, beginning 1999.
- THE KISS, San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, San Jose, California 1998.
- ILLINOIS CROSSROADS: QUILTS 1998, Southern Illinois Art Gallery, Whittington, Illinois and The Illinois State Museum, Springfield, Illinois, 1998.
- VISIONS: QUILT EXPRESSIONS, Museum of San Diego History, Balboa Park, San Diego, California,1998.
- INTERNATIONAL QUILT WEEK: YOKOHAMA, Yokohama, Japan 1997.
- ART QUILTS: INNOVATION AND DIVERSITY, Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, New York, 1997.
- VISIONS: ART QUILT, QUILT SAN DIEGO, Museum of San Diego History, San Diego, California, 1996.
Television
- A CENTURY OF QUILTS. 60-minute PBS documentary, shows the beauty and inspiration of America's quilts including the stories from those working to preserve the art and history of American Quilt. Video available as well as shown in many PBS markets. Click here to view PBS site.
- QUILTING ARTS TV, SERIES 1400, Episodes 1403 and 1406, PBS, 2014.
- THE QUILT SHOW, 2008, Episode 301, ARJJ Productions.
- FONS AND PORTER’S LOVE OF QUILTING, Spring 2007, Iowa Public Television.
- THE GREAT AMERICAN QUILT, 1992, syndicated Public Television series, produced by Penny McMorris, WBGU-TV, Bowling Green, Ohio.
- SEW PERFECT, Public Television, Donna Wilder, Host, Sponsored b Fairfield Processing Corporation.
- SIMPLY QUILTS, HGTV, 2001. Still aired several times a year.