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Melody Johnson’s Happy Quilts

I made a very happy discovery this week, thanks to the Eclectic Detective. Melody Johnson’s quilts are the happiest, most colorful tapestries I’ve seen, and they seem fitting for a time of year when days are getting longer and flowers are about to bloom.

Melody describes herself as an artist whose medium for the last 24 years has been quiltmaking. She was a professional dyer for twelve years and formed a company with Laura Wasilowski, called Artfabr!k. This creative duo traveled to quilt shows and conferences selling their hand dyed fabrics and threads, while at the same time making award winning quilts and teaching workshops in fusing both here and abroad. The Chicago School of Fusing, a completely imaginary school, became world renowned due to the musical antics of these two artists. Her education includes a BA in painting and drawing from Northeastern Illinois University in1981 and an MA in Fibers from Northern Illinois University in1994.

In 2002 Melody was able to retire from Artfabr!k in order to spend more time making quilts and teaching her particular approach to color and design.

“My attitude is that quiltmaking should be fun, and if it isn’t, why do it? I’m not out to prove I can work harder or achieve some sort of perfection. I want to have a great time making a quilt and have it look like fun when it is finished. I believe that the design is paramount to the technique and whatever it takes to create that piece is the right way to do it.”

Melody’s quilts have been exhibited in national shows such as, all the Mancuso shows, the American Quilter’s Society, the International Quilt Festival in Houston and Chicago, and five times in Visions, and three times in Quilt National. Her major awards include a 1995 AQS Best Wall Quilt and in 1998, the IQA’s Pfaff Master of Machine Artistry. She has also participated in exhibits in Japan, Great Britain, the Netherlands and New Zealand. Her experiences in Japan and New Zealand have had a major influence on her desire to focus on teaching.

Located in Illinois, Melody is available for lectures, and you really need to visit her site take a look at her various workshops. You can also vist her blog to get to know her personally.

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