Lecture: Beth Ann Nemesh – My Lifetime as a Quilter

Christ Covenant Church 6390 North Major Drive, Beaumont, TX, United States

Beth Ann Nemesh began her quilting journey more than 27 years ago, in college.  A professor helped her see that she didn’t have to tolerate the “boring” calicos of the era.  She could go out and dye or manipulate her materials to match her vision…which allowed her to think of quilts as more than the family heirlooms she had grown up with.  Then, batik fabric arrived on the scene and she was completely hooked.

Beth Ann began her longarm machine sewing business in 2008 with the purchase of an A-1 brand machine.  Her innovative approach creating secondary designs, in generally traditional quilts, as well as unique free-hand quilting patterns, quickly earned her a thriving quilt-for-hire business.  However, sharing her work on-line, and sharing her personal quilts on the national show circuit, changed her business forever.  Her true love is in teaching others to quilt.  Beth Ann loves interacting with her students.  Her favorite classes to teach are actually practical ones.  She firmly believes in each student having a strong grasp of foundation quilting skills, and if they choose to quilt for hire, a firm understanding of the link between style, and time spent quilting, and how that relates to their personal business model.  She loves encouraging her students to express themselves uniquely in their art, ignore the trends of the quilt world, and find their own creative path.

Her quilts are deeply personal to her, expressing a story in cloth.  Her pictographic show quilts feature a completely original collage of flora and fauna, depicting individual ecosystems, layered with meaning.  Her contemporary whole cloth quilts feature a unique intertwined and interlocked style, melding traditional elements with the fantastic.  Her yarn couched pieces are more for fun and exploration of a new media, but one that she finds a great deal of pleasure in. Her more modern quilts express emotion through free motion quilting and blended quilt texture.