About
Hello! I’m Lisa, the maker behind Elizabeth Jane Studio, and I’m so glad you’re here!
By day, I work in Information Technology and in my off-hours, I am blessed to be able to decompress in my Northern Virginia creative studio. I have always been drawn to making things whether through sewing, yarn crafts, scrapbooking (back before digital photos became the standard), personalizing with my die-cutting machine, cooking, baking, and more. But, while raising three great kids and working full-time, I struggled to find the energy and time for the creative outlets that had always nourished my spirit and made me feel alive.
Now that my kids are grown and I’m no longer running them all over creation to practices, games, and activities after work and on weekends (which I truly loved but, whew! it was definitely A LOT!), I have found that I actually have a little time to get reacquainted with my creativity and have been reminded how much it has always filled me up. Over the past few years, I caught the quilting bug and I’m not sad about it!
My mother gets all the credit for cultivating my love for quilting.
A natural artist and talented designer who owned a thriving bridal floral design business while I was growing up, she took up quilting in her retirement. Mom knew I would love it as much as she did and always encouraged me to learn with her but I was SO reluctant. A new hobby seemed like a crazy idea - one more thing to add to my already full plate of raising young kids with very busy schedules of activities, a demanding job, maintaining our household, and going to grad school. I was overwhelmed and not willing to see that carving out time for myself to learn from her was just what I needed.
She was gently persistent though and, eventually, I agreed to join her on a weekend retreat with her quilt guild - as long as she prepared my project for me. I didn’t have the mental energy to make pattern or fabric choices but if she would help put a kit together for me, I would join her and try my hand at her passion.
Boy was she right… actually, she’s always right! Although I had a few challenges that weekend between my machine breaking (but thankfully my amazing dad drove 2 hours to bring me a backup – he’s just THE BEST!) and getting well acquainted with my seam ripper, I felt the satisfaction that comes from learning new skills and creating something beautiful. That first quilt, which I named Time with Mom, was displayed in our guild’s regional quilt show and will always hold a very special place in my heart.
What else did I learn through that experience? Among many other things…
…I learned how important it is to make time for myself and my creativity – it is truly self-care!
…I learned to try not to get bogged down in striving for perfection.
…I learned that skills come little by little and that the joy is found in the process.
And, I relearned what I already knew… to listen to Mom because she’s always right!