HIGHLIGHTING THE DIVERSE TALENTS OF OUR MEMBERS IN FIBER ART

In memoriam

Jo Ann (Armistead) Appleton

Our much-loved member Jo Appleton passed away in October 2024. Since her death, the Dallas fiber art community has created many memorial projects and hosted events, such as the Jo Appleton Memorial Exhibit at the 2025 Dallas Quilt Show, to honor her artistic legacy and her personal impact on us all.

Jo Ann (Armistead) Appleton learned sewing (and knitting and crochet) at an early age from her mother, a talented and prolific seamstress. Jo often told stories of going with her mother to the fabric store and running her hands over all the fabrics there. Like so many born fiber artists, she always had a tactile connection to fiber and fabric, which guided her diverse interests throughout her career.

If it had to do with fabric or fiber of any kind, she was interested in it. She took a class in bobbin lacemaking in Bruges, Belgium, while her husband attended a conference there. After taking a class in fabric-wrapped doll making, she created several dolls and then embellished them in her own special style. An avid traveler, she bought cross-stitch kits as souvenirs that would later remind her of her adventures.

Jo owned what she called “the most expensive basket in the world,” having paid to attend a basket-making conference (since basket weaving is just weaving with a somewhat stiffer material, don’t you know), and then paid to participate in a specialized class to make this particular basket, which incurred still more travel, lodging, and meal expenses. (The "most expensive basket in the world," of course, paid for itself many, many times over in sheer happiness, not to mention the inspiration it gave to others!)

For several years, Jo shared her artistry with the community as the demonstration weaver at Old City Park in Dallas, showing visitors how rag rugs were made. She learned in a class how to make yarn-wrapped bowls, and then made several more of them at home, which she then further embellished.

She could never just sit and watch television or a movie; Jo was always happiest when she had something to do with her hands, such as knitting, crocheting, or embroidering. (It was only when she watched her beloved Chinese or Korean dramas on Netflix that she was forced to put her art-making on hold; she had to watch the subtitles!) 

Jo would often set up a sewing table in the living room to listen to the TV while sewing row after row of squares to turn into quilt tops. This set-up allowed her to be a prolific contributor to the Covers For Kids project; she personally made dozens of quilt tops. Jo was also an annual contributor to the Dallas Quilt Guild’s regular mini-quilt auction.

But mostly it was her many friends in the Dallas Quilt Guild and Dallas Area Fiber Artists that meant the most to her. She would always come home from a meeting or lunch with renewed enthusiasm for her art.  And her much-loved husband, Dave, was an enthusiastic and ever-present supporter in all her creative endeavors.

Of her mini-quilts displayed below, one is a humorous “self-portrait” that she made using up mostly scraps of fabric. The others make up what she called her “Serenity Series” of mini-quilts. It's not known whether she called it that because she made them while rewatching the science fiction TV series Firefly (which famously featured a spaceship named “Serenity”) or because the quilts made her think of a serene river flowing through each individual quilt. Or, perhaps, maybe she just felt more serene while making them. 

We miss you, Jo!