Janet Espeleta

Years a Quilter:      36

What was the inspiration to start quilting? I loved quilts from the time I was a little girl. I was living in Austin Texas and became friends with a woman who belonged to the local quilt guild. She invited me to a meeting and I joined the same night. While recuperating from back surgery a couple of months later, I finally took a beginning quilting class through a local community education.

Year joined the Las Vegas Quilters Guild:      Originally in 2008, then I rejoined in 2025.

What is the most memorable (or favorite) quilt you crafted? Asking me to name my favorite quilt is like asking me to name my favorite child. I would say one of the most memorial is one I made from hearts and flowers blocks I received after my brother John passed away in 2003. It brought me a lot of peace to work on it including hand quilting it.

Any tip you would like to share with a novice quilter? I used to teach beginning quilting classes and one thing I stressed to my students is to practice the 3 P’s. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE.

What do you enjoy most about the LVQG? Getting to know other members. There is hardly anyone left from the original founders, but it is nice to know the guild is still around after all these years.

Personal insight you would like to share: In addition to quilting, I love to hand and machine embroider, knit, crochet, and read. I also recently purchased a Baby Lock serger so am enjoying learning all it can do. My husband Larry & I have been married almost 47 years. Between the 2 of us we have 4 kids and 8 grandchildren.