Michael James is famous for his strip-pieced quilts, which eventually moved away from a grid format. He has won numerous corporate and individual commissions, as well as prestigious awards, including two National Endowment for the Arts Visual Artist Fellowships. He was included in the first contemporary art exhibit: “Bed and Board: Quilts and Woodwork,” has had several solo exhibits, a ten-year retrospective exhibit and has been included in five Quilt National exhibitions. Two of his quilts, “Aurora” and “Rhythm/Color: Improvisations” were chosen for The 20th Century’s 100 Best American Quilts. The Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian acquired his “Quilt No 250: Rehoboth Meander.” He appears in the book 88 Leaders in the Quilt World Today and in 2001, was named a Fellow of the American Craft Council.

 

His formal art training (a B.F.A. from University of Massachusetts/Dartmouth and M.F.A. from Rochester Institute of Technology) has been a big influence in the interplay of color and space of his art quilts. In 1992 his alma mater, the University of Massachusetts/Dartmouth, awarded him an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree. Michael credits Honoree Jonathan Holstein with inspiring his quiltmaking, be exposing him to the classic Amish quilts back in 1974.

 

He has authored two books on precision work and quilt design: The Quiltmaker’s Handbook: A Guide to Design and Construction and The Second Quiltmaker’s Handbook: Creative Approaches to Contemporary Quilt Design.

 

He is sought out as a lecturer and workshop leader around the globe, especially in France as he speaks French. He now teaches at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.