Scholarship Press Release

This was released today and it is so exciting to see it in print. Now I truely believe it is going to happen.

Australian quilt artist recognized
Lisa Walton awarded
2010 Jewel Pearce Patterson
Scholarship for Quilting Teachers
HOUSTON—May 11, 2010—International Quilt Market is pleased to announce that the recipient of the 2010 Jewel Pearce Patterson Scholarship for Quilting Teachers is Lisa Walton of Sydney, Australia. The scholarship—now in its twentieth and final year—provides a commendable quilting teacher with the opportunity to expand her creative talents and improve upon her classroom and teaching skills.

Walton will receive round-trip airfare, hotel accommodations, and paid tuition for the 2010 International Quilt Market and Festival in Houston. Over the course of the following year, she will apply what she has learned during her time at the shows to an exhibit of her work and that of her students. This special exhibit will debut at the 2011 fall editions of Market and Festival.

“What a delight it was to contact Lisa and let her know that she had been selected as this year’s recipient—her response was one of sheer disbelief,” says Judy Murrah, Vice President of Education and Administration for Quilts, Inc. “I look forward to meeting Lisa and seeing her inspirational quilts. And her exhibit promises to be a real explosion of color!”

Walton was thrilled upon learning that she had been named this year’s scholarship recipient. “I was in the car, checking email on my phone, and I screamed so loudly that my husband—who was driving—had to stop. I think I started crying then!”

Now, she is looking forward to learning new techniques and technical skills during her time in Houston, she adds. “I am going to absorb every minute of it. I want to especially observe teachers’ styles and their interactions with students.”

A quilter for close to 20 years, Walton began teaching about 10 years ago and has since made it her full-time job. Walton’s classes cover a wide array of styles and techniques including piecing, appliqué, machine quilting, embroidery, couching, and other decorative stitches, and bead embellishment, the latter of which is her area of expertise.
“I cannot believe how much I love teaching quilting and patchwork,” she says. “I love the exchange of knowledge between my students and myself, and I always learn something from them as well. I love seeing my students have that ‘ahhhhh’ moment.”
Walton is also an award-winning quilter whose work has appeared in various exhibits, judged shows, and private collections around the world, including two solo exhibitions in her home country of Australia. Her designs are regularly published in all of the major Australian quilting magazines, and Walton and her work have been profiled in a number of other international publications, including several in the U.S.
In 2005, Walton and her husband launched their business, Dyed and Gone to Heaven, which offers patterns and kits for her original quilt designs, hand-dyed fabrics, and beads and beading supplies. And recently, she was featured in two educational DVD workshops, which she says—much like her classes—encourage students to “just give it a try!”
The scholarship was created in honor of Jewel Pearce Patterson (1910-2002), a Houston-based quilting teacher who taught thousands of students throughout her career. She was one of the cofounders of what is now the International Quilt Association, as well as the Quilt Guild of Greater Houston. Patterson was also the mother of Karey Bresenhan, Quilts, Inc. president and directorof International Quilt Festival and Market.
The scholarship was first awarded in 1990 to mark Patterson’s 80th birthday, and this year—the final year for the scholarship—would have marked her 100th. Over the course of its 20 years, many of today’s best-known quilting teachers received the scholarship and the opportunity to study at International Quilt Festival and Market and, in some cases, Quilt Expo in Europe.

"My mother would have been delighted to know that her love of quilting and teaching resulted in many teachers from the U.S. and other countries receiving scholarships from Festival to expand their teaching skills,” says Bresenhan. “She was a big believer in education, earned three college degrees while working full-time as a teacher and librarian, and always laughed that she retired from teaching to go to work teaching quilting! So, it was a pleasure to offer the Jewel Pearce Patterson scholarship for two decades. Mama was so happy that she got to meet quite a few of the early recipients of "her" scholarship—that meant a lot to her."