She’ll be teaching four classes at the upcoming Quilt Festival in Houston (“Starting From a Photo—Create a Fabric Collage of Your Pet,” “Sunlit Sunflowers Fabric Collage,” “Zinnias and Stitch Fabric Collage,” and “Dazzling Dogs and Cats”). She’ll also take part in the Creative Variety Forum and Friday Sampler.

“Growing up, I was always sewing. My mom was really into spinning and dyeing yarn. And she raised sheep for that—black sheep!” Haworth says over Zoom. “I wasn’t into quilting at the time, but sewing, embroidery and crochet.”

At the age of 18, the UK native went to art college, where she majored in Textile Design and even tried her hand at weaving. After a first job at Laura Ashley factory where she became proficient on a sewing machine, she set up a small business making rugs, and then interior design goods. She and her family moved from England to California in 1998. It was quite the culture shock. But in a good way.

“It seemed that the quilt stores had such a huge range, which we did not have in Europe,” she writes on her website. “It took me a while, but I did get in there and start to buy fabric. Then once I began my art quilts, I was hooked!”

Her first “official” quilt was a Log Cabin for her bed. But a trip to Hawaii and exposure to many colorful images led her to the path of art quilts. That, combined with many hours watching Alex Anderson on TV’s “Simply Quilts” and poring over the book Quilts, Quilts, Quilts.

She began entering quilts in competitions. And in 2012, she opened her shop on Etsy, Happy Quilt Designs, to make custom works for clients. 

Haworth carved out something of a specialty in memory quilts of pets, though that usually came with an emotional price on both her and the client.

“A lady contacted me and her dog had died the day before and she wanted a quilt,” Haworth recalls. “So, I made a 12” x 12” dog face and since she was local, I brought it to her. She just started blubbering. It meant a lot to her.”

Haworth also began to focus on making and teaching collage quilts, but with a free-form twist. “I try and make it approachable and easy and people can take it in their own way. And collages are good use for scraps!” she says.

But her big love, she will be the first to tell you, is color. And her biggest influence in this area is designer Kaffe Fassett, who she first heard speak way back in 1984 at college and spent years knitting his sweater patterns. And whenever she sees him, she’s not too proud to Fangirl out.

“I went to the Festival of Quilts in England and [quilter and teacher] Kathryn Pellman and I were walking through the tunnels, and Kaffe and [designer/Kaffe business partner] Brandon Mably came walking in the other direction. I couldn’t say anything!” she laughs. “I don’t know why I [gravitated] toward that. I just like color!”

But Haworth is also looking to the next chapter of her creative life, one involving more of her own work in art quilts and teaching techniques featured in her new book, Capture Your Own Life with Collage Quilting: Making Unique Quilts and Projects from Memory.

“I am moving away from doing the Memory Quilts. Though one man is having me make a quilt from his children’s T-shirts in the shape of Texas, along with four quilts of their pet he’s giving as Christmas gifts!” Haworth says. “It is hard to say no to something like that!” 

For more on Jane Haworth and her work, visit JaneHaworth.com