Sharon Baggs

Sharon Baggs is a wonderful quilt teacher. She teaches at quilt shops in Oregon. She has recently joined me in presenting videos on our web site. Her introduction at http://www.quilterskeeplearning.com/machine_quilting.html contains a video to introduce you to her style of quilting. She also includes a video clip with each lesson to give you pointers to a technique.

Sharon describes herself:

I live in Portland, Oregon with my husband, Martin, who is from London, England. We met through a mutual acquaintance while playing soccer and have been married 21 years.  We have four wonderful children: Sarah, 18; David, 16; Becca, 14, and Hannah, almost 10.

 Before Hannah was born, someone anonymously left a small pink quilt in a Moses basket on our front porch.  It must have been post-partum euphoria that led me to pursue quilting at this time in my life.  I pieced my first quilt, and then took a machine quilting class so I could finish what I started.  Even though my quilting wasn’t anything too swirly or beautiful, I did finish several quilts. 

 Later I had an opportunity to take a class from Harriet Hargrave.  She emphasized that success in machine quilting comes from a good understanding of all the basics and that lighted my fire to educate myself even further.  I’ve learned spectacular quilting, artistry, and design from Diane Gaudynski, Lee Cleland, Barbara Chaney, Sue Nickels, Maurine Noble, Libby Lehman, and Vikki Pignatelli. 

 As I teach, I break down each aspect of the machine quilting process so a quilter feels confident to begin and finish well.  I’ve designed a simple traditional sampler which encompasses all these first steps. Beyond the basics, I love to fill my quilts with free motion designs I see reflected in and complimentary to the fabric. 

 I have several sketch books for doodling.  After walking through a quilt show, I’ll go home and draw line designs that have inspired me.  I think of swirls and spirals as my signature in designing so my eye is particularly attracted to these elements.  My fabric of choice is anything visually bold that will show off quilting.

 Beside the crafty side of my life, I love movies, photography, walks on the beach, and cooking soup. This year, I’m going to delve deeper into fiber art, dyeing fabric, doodling more quilting designs and creating a quilter’s blog.