When an older friend came to visit and taught me how to make hats, I gained the skills I needed to launch into more complicated garments, which eventually turned into things I could actually wear. A couple of years later, at sixteen, under the instruction of an art teacher who assigned us a "computer project," I begrudgingly designed a quilt from a photograph of my sister's face, which I posterized and enlarged. A technical nightmare and too large for any human-sized bed, it never-the-less inspired me to venture into fabric with a new-found confidence.I continued to sew throughout high school and college, using an opportunity to turn in a quilt as a class project whenever possible. I moved from Louisville, KY to Swannanoa, NC to attend Warren Wilson College, majoring first in Biology and English and then switching to Human Studies my junior year, after traveling in both Appalachia and India. My senior year, I was given a "studio" in the attic of the college chapel to work on an independent study on art quilts, where I spent many an afternoon stamping, cutting, and sewing to the swells of organ music from the choir loft. Upon graduating, I spent two years working with small children -- one as a nanny, one as a Kindergarten and 1st grade teacher. It seemed a true calling, coming from a family of teachers, but it was soon clear to me that fibers were my real passion. When summer arrived, I moved to New Mexico to work and live for 3 months with friends who were full-time artists -- the same woman who taught me to sew -- and her husband, now potters, but also a successful textile artist and sculptor, respectively. There, I made work and learned about how to support myself from my art. When I returned to North Carolina, I moved into a tiny, treetop apartment in downtown Asheville, and set up my studio. Four years later, I now live and work in my home in West Asheville. I travel throughout the Spring and Fall, selling my work in craft shows throughout the Southeast. I also sell my work in galleries and shops. I am a member of the Southern Highland Craft Guild and L.I.N.T., Ladies In New Textiles.
Jude Stuecker, Fiber Artist
About Me
When my grandmother bought me an old treadle-turned-electric sewing machine when I was 14, I knew I was in for some good times. I was dying to make my own clothes -- usually out of old bed sheets or heavy upholstery fabrics -- most of which fell apart on their first washing. 
