American, long time resident of Kenya, Dena lives on the shore of Lake Baringo, 200 miles north of Nairobi, in an area inhabited by some of the world's most wonderful birds, venomous snakes, monitor lizards, crocodiles, lungfish and hippos. Life there is never boring!
Dena holds advanced degrees in design and textiles. She taught seven online quilt classes for Quilt University from 2004 to 2013 and more recently opened QuiltEd.com, her own online quilt class site offering the same courses and more. From her home in rural Africa, Dena teaches design through symmetry, innovative quilting from built-up layers of improvisation, and art quilting from sketching through quilt completion. She also travels the world sharing her considerable knowledge and skills, encouraging everyone to gain new found discipline and creativity as they experience and learn from her wisdom.
She has exhibited her work as a solo and commissioned quilt artist many times in Nairobi. Dena cofounded the Kenya Quilt Guild (KQG) and presented many lectures and demonstrations for the organization, as well as serving as its newsletter editor and public relations officer. She has written articles about quilting for the KQG Snippets, Studio Art Quilt Associates' Journal, American Quilter Magazine, The Quilt Show and QuiltPosium online magazines.
On a more personal side, Dena is an amateur genealogist researching surnames Crain, Ingram, Brannon and Samples. She is an avid lawn bowler, and she loves going on safari, good books and close friends.
Please welcome Dena as I interview her.
1. Tell us about your life in Africa and what led you there?
My life here has
been rich and full, and with never a dull moment. I spent only one year
at Egerton, during which time I met Jonathan Leakey, moved to Kampi ya
Samaki by Lake Baringo and gave up teaching at the university (it was a
two-hour commute). Read more about this on my blog at http://denacrain.com/blog/background.
2. When did you start quilting?
Living in a
rural area with no other suitable employment available, I soon took up
patchwork quilting. It fit my background and seemed well suited to
employ local women - hand work, minimal equipment, minimal expense to
get them started, profits to share as wages. That worked for a couple of
years, until a change in the foreign exchange rate hit my business so
hard I had to close it down. While contemplating a way forward, I
learned of art quilting and decided to make quilts for myself, not for
sale to others. Find photos of my work at http://denacrain.com/blog/gallery/. Again, I never looked back!
3. How did you get into teaching?
Next day, I sought the
organizers for the next festival, to be held in 2002 in Cape Town. I
offered to teach. Lucky, I was back in South Africa the next year, armed
with my digitized portfolio, invited the organizers to tea and shared
my photos - I got the job! Overnight, I became an international quilt
teacher!
Teaching in Cape Town, I met
Helen Marshall, who was at that time teaching online for Quilt
University. Hearing my story, Helen threw an arm around my shoulders and
whispered in my ear, “Honey, you oughtta be teaching online for Quilt
University!” I heard that remark with incredible clarity, too!
I contacted Quilt University, was accepted and taught from from 2003
until it closed in 2013.
4. Tell us about the SAQA and your role in the organization.
I’ve
written articles for The Journal and served as SAQA’s Africa Zone
Representative recruiting members from Africa. I participated in a
committee to review and recommend membership benefits. I established
SAQArtique, SAQA’s online critique group set up to serve international
members but now including all members who wish to join it. I regularly
attend SAQA conferences whenever I’m in the US. SAQA is our voice, and I
am SAQA!
5. You have recently started QuiltEd Online - can you tell us about that?
QuiltEd Online presently offers six, almost seven, of my most popular online patchwork quilt design classes:
- Structured Fabrics: Checks, Plaids and Stripes
- Goodbye to the Grid
- Designer Pinwheels
- Reflections
- Crystal Quilts
- Math for Quilters
- Darned Quilts (coming soon!) See some of Dena's Quilts here:
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| Structured Fabrics: Check, Plaids and Strips |
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| Designer Pinwheels |
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| Reflections |
 |
| Crystal Quilts |
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| Math for Quilters |
6. Tell us about your pets.
We have
three Dalmatians and have injected seventeen pedigreed “Double Trouble”
Dalmatian puppies into the population of Kenya. We have a troop of about
sixty Vervet monkeys who live on our roof, and a herd of gecko lizards
on the walls if the cats don’t get them.
Jonny
has raised five orphaned hippos, the last two with my help. The hippo,
Cleo, now at Haller Park Nature Center outside Mombasa, lived with us
for the first three years of her life - until she got too big to keep
around. She’s now paired with Owen of “Owen and Mzee”
(hippo bonded to tortoise) fame. We have a pair of hornbills and a
flock of weaver birds we feed daily. There are a couple of noisy crocs
lurking just off the edge of the garden. You see - the idea of pets gets
rather extended here . . .
7.Where do you see quilting taking you in future?
For
the sake of all these wonderful animals, and for the sake of humanity
and our planet in general, I take a serious interest in “green”
quilting. I’m doing some volunteer work to help clean up solid wastes in
Kampi ya Samaki, working with local businesses and political leaders to
do that. I encourage all quilters to THINK before they buy - to look
for really eco-friendly materials and tools, not just those who make
green claims without substantiation. I urge everyone to avoid
unnecessary plastics (especially plastic shopping bags and drinking
water bottles). I expect quilters to maximize their materials and
electrical energy when quilting. These themes are becoming increasingly
important in my work as both artist and teacher. As we make quilts as
objects of beauty, so must we leave our earthly surroundings clean and
beautiful!
Dena,
Thank you so much for being a Guest Blogger. I know our readers will really enjoy reading about you and QuiltEd.online. Here is a list of links for Dena and you can sign up for QuiltEd Online News.
Until next time...
Nan
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