Meet the People of New Pieces...

Janet McDonald

Janet McDonald Janet McDonaldJjoined the staff of New Pieces in 2014. She is the mistress of binding, having done at least 400 bindings to date for the shop, and she enjoys teaching this skill to others. She is a past president of East Bay Heritage Quilters and current membership chair, as well as a member of San Francisco Quilters Guild and Dorcas Hand Quilters. In addition to hand-quilting, she dabbles in various textile techniques such as landscape quilts, foundation paper piecing, Sashiko stitching and Shibori fabric dyeing. She was so inspired after a textile-oriented trip to Japan in 2019, that she began leading them herself.  This last November was her third time leading a textile tour.
Marlene Miller Marlene Miller

Marlene Miller remembers driving by a quilt shop in her community many times and finally stopped to go inside the store. "It was pure heaven ….. I just loved all the quilts hanging from the rafters, the rows and rows of fabric bolts, the notions, …. all of it. I inquired when they would be teaching a beginner quilt making class and it wasn’t for several months but I was steered to an upcoming class of making a fairly easy quilt that I could take the following week. Well, needless to say, I was hooked! I’ve been making all sizes of quilts, table runners, placemats and more ever since.

The local quilt shop in my community closed, so I then headed to New Pieces in Berkeley. There I got involved with many of its classes, such as Block of the Month and the EPP Meet Up Group. In late 2019, Sharona asked if I’d like to try working for the shop. I started training the next day and haven’t looked back. It has been said “that if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life”. That’s how I have felt about working at New Pieces. I actually can’t wait to go into the shop to work there…..or shall I say, play there! In addition to working “ on the floor” I have also started teaching Intermediate Quilt Making, which focuses on making triangles and flying geese blocks as well as special skills classes such as Introduction to Raw Edge Applique. "

   
 

 

 

 Kenan Shapero Kenan Shapero 

Kenan Shapero is a late comer to quilting. With a family history of garment-making but no quilting, she started hand sewing doll clothes before learning to use a sewing machine and making her own garments at age twelve. She became fascinated with quilts after seeing two pivotal exhibits, The Art Quilt curated by Penny McMorris and Michael Kile, and the Amish Quilts of Lancaster County curated by Julie Silber.

 She is a self-taught quilter, making her first quilt for her son in 1994. Creating her own design on graph paper she worked with a borrowed sewing machine, tailor’s chalk, yard stick and scissors. Mistakes were made! Several more quilts followed. She took her first class with Freddy Moran at New Pieces 1999. She loves color, geometric pattern, improvisational piecing and scraps; and working with customers to find the exact right fabric for your project.

 Jane Strem Jane Strem

Jane Strem has a long history with fabric. She began sewing (garments) at twelve years old. In college, she majored in Home Economics with a Clothing and Textiles emphasis, minored in art and teaching (adults). Add in the business experience along the way and it's all finally paying off... well at least useful.

While being a fabric rep (of French silks, Italian cottons, wool challis, etc.), she met some quilt store owners and became hooked. Jane became a customer of New Pieces when I she lived in Southern California and New Pieces was on Solano with the concerts in the back room. We've had a long relationship and she's delighted to help New Pieces continue to serve the Quilting community.

Bright colorful prints capture her attention (think Kaffe Fassett) and she prefers simple patterns that let the fabric be the focus. In 2024, she plans to continue teaching Beginning Quilt Making, occasional other classes (9-Patch Pizzaz is her favorite), host a "Finishing School" (Finish it Friday) workshop once a month and has a silk tie quilt in her future that a friend wants her to make. Will the learning curve never end? Perhaps curved piecing is in her future as well.

You can find Jane in the store on Tuesdays and occasional Saturdays. Come in and see how she can help you complete your current project.

 

 

      
   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tina Magennis

 

Kathy Ritter 

 

Wendy Snyder -

 

Marcia Stein - 

 

Karen Vaughn -

 

Louise Forest -