Ann Fahl's Biography

Ann Fahl is a quilt artist living and working in Mt. Pleasant, WI, USA. She has been sewing since the age of 12. Neither parent sewed but they did their best to find classes and women in the community that could help Ann with her sewing projects.

Like most teenage girls, she became very interested in clothing and fashion. To her, sewing was a very enjoyable pastime, and she was good at it; so, from that time on she made her own clothing. By the time she entered the University of Wisconsin, she was sure that sewing and clothing would lead her to a career in business and retailing. She went to work for Gimbels, Marshall Field & Co., and several fabric chains. In 1978, she finally took a beginning quilting class that changed her life forever.

From that first night of the quilting class, she realized that this new media allowed her to put all her loves together: sewing, color, texture, shape, thread and fabric. She could experiment and sew as she developed her own designs and ideas instead of using traditional blocks. A new world and career opened for her! Ann began teaching in 1981, the year she won her first blue ribbon quilt. She has traveled across the US working with guilds, symposiums, retreats and quilters of all ages and experience.

Her work has been exhibited in competitions, solo exhibits and invitational shows across the United States, France, Germany and Japan. Her work is included in the collections of: The National Quilt Museum, Racine Art Museum, Northwestern Mutual Insurance Co., Village of Mt. Pleasant WI, Neiman Marcus, Quilts, Inc., Ripon College, Winona Lake Restoration and many private collections. She has always enjoyed the challenge and stimulation of quilt competitions.

In the quilt world, she authored 2 books with C&T Publishing; Coloring with Thread and Dancing with Thread. She self-published, A Black and White Tale which is in full color, including 35 quilts that tell a story about her cat named Oreo. Click on the Book option on the left for more information.

She also published a series of booklets about quilting. The first is titled Creating Beautiful Bias Binding available on her website. Binding the edge of a quilt or wall hanging is a challenge for new sewers and quilters. It gives complete instructions on all phases of binding; from quilt preparation to hand sewing the folded edge on the back. The second booklet is about sewing with metallic threads, always a challenge for quilters titled Mastering Metallics. There are loads of ideas and hints included to make projects more successful.

Now that she has left the world of competition and teaching, she has discovered the challenge of family history research and study as an area where she wants to spend her creative energies. She has already privately published five books for her family members; and has plans for two more. There will be some quilts created along the way, but not in the quantities she produced in the past. Ann still considers herself a quilter!

Ann has a new kitty named Fizzy. Her two sons are grown and have helped design this website.

Ann's publication list

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