Meet Cynthia

Meet Cynthia

Cynthia's stunning quilts have been winning 1st place ribbons at local and national quilting events since 1991 and have graced the pages of many quilting publications.
 
Cynthia England in front of her quilt - One Fine Day
Photo by Mariam Khalili

Her most recognized quilt, Piece and Quiet, was chosen as one of the "The Twentieth Century's Best American Quilts" in 2000. In addition to this award, Cynthia has won Best of Show twice in the IQA show at the International Quilt Festival in Houston for her quilts Piece and Quiet, in 1993, and Open Season, in 2000.

Here, she poses in front of her latest quilt - One Fine Day.
 
Cynthia began quilting at the age of 13, her interest in quilting was piqued again in 1976 after seeing a display of the Texas Sesquicential quilts in a nearby mall. Essentially a self-taught quilter, she has made about 24 bed-sized quilts and over 70 wall quilts. Although she started with and occasionally still makes traditional style quilts, Cynthia's hallmark is realistically detailed pictorial quilts. Using skills she developed as a commercial graphic artist, she creates quilts depicting some of her favorite subjects: flowers, nature, antiques and architecture.
 
After using applique to get the realistic effect in her early quilts, Cynthia gradually devised a machine piecing technique she calls Picture Piecing. This technique breaks the design down into pieces that can all be sewn using straight seams and allows her to include intricate details and shading without a single set-in seam. Her first quilt made entirely from that technique, Piece and Quiet, was so successful she was inspired to continue designing with the Picture Piecing method.
 
After numerous requests to teach her technique to other quilters, Cynthia launched a line of Picture Piecing patterns and thus her business, England Design, was born. This world wide web site shows all of Cynthia's prize winning quilts as well as the entire line of England Design patterns. If you would like to see a complete list of the awards her quilts have won and the publications which have featured them, visit her resume.
 
Cynthia loves to shop for fabric

Here Cynthia engages in one of her favorite activities: collecting fabric!