Sep 2, 2007

Quilter Jane Shiley makes one of a kind treasuresBy Nancy MeanixBlueRidgeNow.com

Those of us who are not handy with our hands often are jealous of those who are. I kept my envy of quilter Jane Shiley of Brevard to myself when a few years ago I first saw the pretty and practical purses she makes by hand.

I even bought two, one for my oldest daughter and one to keep.

Maybe it was my guilt about that envy which gave me the idea to write about Shiley and her fabric creations.

Recently, the purses began to be highlighted and sold at the Hand in Hand Gallery in Flat Rock, all because owner David Voorhees asked Shiley where she had bought her bag, one June afternoon during intermission at the Flat Rock Playhouse.

“I was so surprised and flattered because I know what a wonderful shop he runs, filled with high quality,” she admits during a recent interview in her bright yellow workroom.

“I told him I make them myself. Then he wondered aloud why he is not selling them for me in his shop.”

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