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Jessica J.E. Smith
The Quilt and Needle originated in the creativity and energy of Jessica J. E. Smith. Inspired by her experiences as a new mother caring for her firstborn in the fall of 2006, Jess started her home-based business in the summer of 2007. By the end of the year, The Quilt & Needle included an online interactive community.

Why Quilting? Jess completed her first quilt top as a mystery pattern that seemed simple and ho-hum; she had hoped for more. Nonetheless, the mystery process fed her delight in surprises, so Jess began designing mystery quilt patterns for The Q&N that yielded quilt tops that quilters would actually cherish after finishing. Jess’ patterns may be created in numerous color ways. She finds inspiration everywhere; anything from a colicky new baby (see Phire's Radiance!) to other forms of art and design might spark an idea.

Mystery patterns do more than surprise quilters. Jess learned that mystery patterns actually help quilters stretch their personal boundaries. In the process of creating a mystery quilt unit by unit, the quilter will often attempt things they did not think they were capable of doing and would not have attempted otherwise. Jess believes that, even more importantly, quilters often discover their own inner designer diva in the process.  

As the designer and owner of The Quilt and Needle, Jess hosts Mystery Weekends online and Mystery Retreats on site. Additionally, Jess teaches her patterns and mystery classes at Lonestar Quiltworks, the local quilt store for College Station/Bryan Texas. Jess began designing quilt patterns for various fabric manufacturers in November 2009. Her patterns are distributed by QuiltWoman.com.  

Jess is a proud Texas Aggie (class of 2002) and earned a degree in Political Science with a minor in Speech Communication from Texas A&M University. Role-modeling lifelong learning for her babies, Jess has developed her design, quilting and teaching skills by taking classes from many of her mentors, including Ricky Tims, Karen McTavish, and Libby Lehmen.