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Jean Vogler and her “Pick A Posie” quilt, made in 2006

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Quilt ‘artist’ representing three generations at the Old Church Gallery Quilt Show October 4-5

by Wanda Combs
Editor

“Quilting is a form of artistry,” says Jean Vogler. “It is a love of fiber, fabric, color and design and can become addictive.”
Vogler, the featured quilter at the Old Church Gallery Quilt Show this weekend, will be representing three generations of quilters in her family. Her mother, Ellen Slater, began quilting at the age of 70. “She is the most accomplished of the three,” notes Vogler. The Illinois woman made hundreds of quilts before she passed away two years ago at the age of 86. She had a great respect for traditional patterns, and she shared her knowledge through teaching in her guild and beyond. She was named the 2007 Illinois Quilter Hall of Fame recipient posthumously. Her mother, says Vogler, was the “spark” for her and inspired her to begin quilting in 1999 after she retired from the faculty at Virginia Tech, where she was program developer for the child development laboratory. Her daughter, Sarah Lynn, of Arlington began quilting when she was a college student. All three have a degree in home economics.
All of the women’s quilts are distinctive. A Newport resident, Vogler describes her quilts as a twist on traditional design. She adds she has tired to influence her daughter “but Sarah pretty much does her own thing and does it successfully. She is more planned and precise as she works.” Vogler and her mother have worked together on quilts, and Vogler and her daughter have also teamed up for quilting projects. “We’ve done this from distances,” Vogler says. “That makes it unique.”
All of the principles of art apply to quilting, she explains. “It’s important that every quilt have contrast. Contrast comes from value, and value has to do with color.”
Vogler is a machine quilter, and perfecting those skills has been probably her biggest challenge.
Now she sits at her sewing machine five out of seven days, and she keeps several projects going at a time. She has “a lot” of fabric, kept in three rooms of her house. She works out of a spare bedroom.
“I have a great time,” she remarks. “Inspiration comes from my quilting friends, books, nature and fabric.” She belongs to two quilting guilds – the Old Church Gallery Quilt Guild and the Loosely Woven Quilters of Newport.
She enjoys shopping for some of that fabric at the local Schoolhouse Fabrics.
It takes a few days or it even months to complete a quilt, and many of those quilts are gifts. “What we do comes from the heart,” Vogler says. The most recent one was given as a healing quilt for a friend battling serious health issues. For Vogler, that was a labor of love. “I had good thoughts of him while I made it.”
When she is not quilting, Vogler also does volunteer work. She and her husband, who is also retired from the Virginia Tech faculty, have two daughters: Nancy, a geriatric psyc Nurse Practitioner, living with her family in Richmond, and Sarah Lynn, who owns a yoga studio and teaches at a middle school in Arlington.
“I quilt for personal pleasure, joining millions who do the same,” Vogler says. “Quilting has become extraordinarily popular. The number of quilters in the country each increases dramatically.”
In addition to quilting, Vogler attends shows. The Houston International Quilt Festival is her favorite. She also takes classes and occasionally teaches a class herself.
Vogler intends to keep on quilting to perfect her skills and learn new techniques. “I’ll never be able to make all the quilts in my head.”
The quilt show, to be held at Floyd Elementary School in conjunction with the Floyd County Woman’s Club’s Arts and Crafts Festival, is open Saturday and Sunday.