Sensational seams by Jo Newsham (NZ)

Years ago when I joined Crazy Quilt International Jo Newsham of New Zealand was one of the moderators. Her seamwork was an inspiration and she had one special twist that was hers alone.  If it is possible for something to be both simple and complex, it was her seamwork... Elegant is what the word I think of as well.. 

She always used perle thread and her seams were filled with variation and contrast.









And when most stitchers stop at 3-4 passes on a seam, Jo often had as many as 6 or 7.








But the things that was so unique about Jo's seams were the playful variations she often included within a seam.  Look closely at the leaves in this seam treatment.   They all have a different movement and add a whimsical quality to the seam.  Jo did this a lot and I know of no one else who does.

Here are a few other examples.  Note that there is not  only  variations in the patterns, there is variation in height and width as well.

But here are some of my very favorites of her  seams... especially the bottom one where there is a definite  order to the variation and the seam grows in complexity as it moves ahead.  She used this technique often.

The bottom example here has   this type of orderly progression and the top seam is a perfect example of multiple layers to the max....

Then about 5-6 years ago Jo got interested in Zentangle and one day announced she was quitting CQ all together to devote all her creative energies to this new passion.

I often have this fantasy where I turn in to CQI and she will be back!! But in the meantime I treasure all the seam examples of hers that I have saved...