[1] Her quilts followed neither traditional method nor pattern; they were bold, modern, colorful collages, often laced with humor and satire.

Penning over twenty books and teaching over 2,000 workshops, Laury helped women see the creative possibilities in everyday objects and awake their sense of inspiration.

Although it did not win any prizes, it attracted the attention of Roxa Wright, one of the jurors and creative editor at House Beautiful magazine.

Quilts offered a way of maintaining ties at a time when photographs were uncommon (or unknown), and the arrival of letters by mail could take months.

Taking an innovative and contemporary approach, Laury's quilts are filled with humor, wit, and contradictory images; "a world in which cartoon-like irons fly through the air emitting innocent puffs of steam, absurdly happy housewives pursue their drudgery in a dreamy state of bliss, and politicians are hoisted on their own petards.

Laury relied on her quilts to showcase her stance on important issues since she struggled "to argue politics or feminism or anything else loudly and strongly in a group.

[15] Jean Ray Laury took the soft art of quilting with "Barefoot and Pregnant" and used the best of the political/social cartoon tradition to deliver a hard message.

[16] A remark by a state politician of the time, quoted in a newspaper, inspired the artist to respond in a manner that expressed her indignation in a humorous, constructive way.

[3] Laury did not stray from the traditional ideal of family with "bread-winner father, stay-at-home wife, and kids who were the woman's responsibility to raise.

By identifying herself as an average mother and housewife, Laury offered her own path to creativity and art making as a model for other women to follow.

In Quiltmaking in America, Laury states: That contact marked, for me, the beginning of networking—the opportunity to exchange with another quilter information of mutual interest.

[21]As a lecturer, Laury presented programs at colleges, universities, symposiums and conferences across the country (including Quilt National) as well as to guilds of quilters, embroiderers, designers, and weavers.

Because of this, Laury and Joyce Aiken decided to hold a week-long Quilt Camp in Shaver Lake, California, in 1973.

She felt that "the all female environment encouraged sharing, as many women were hesitant or reluctant to express themselves openly and would defer to men when they were present".

Laury's "daughter Lizbeth and friend Susan Macy" stepped in and helped until the last camp was held in 2002.

"She encouraged women to mine their worlds for inspiration by introducing them to the extremely fertile interior landscape of their own imaginations ... She suggested treating chores as a time to think.

In addition to focusing on networking and community building opportunities, Laury was involved in countless other aspects of the art quilt movement.

She was a writer for Quilters Newsletter during the 80s and 90s, curated exhibits including the Bushveldt To Kop: Quilts of South Africa at the Fresno Art Museum in 1993, and "donated her personal papers on children's books to the Arne Nixon Center for the Study of Children's Literature at Henry Madden Library California State University, Fresno.

She intertwined "how to" instruction with philosophy, encouraged her readers to be original, value their work, explore and take creative risks.

[9] Her approach inspired many readers, including young artists who embraced the quilt as their primary means of expression as well as others who wanted to incorporate creativity into their everyday lives.

Laury also wrote children's books and poetry, including No Dragons on My Quilt (1990) and her notable "Sunbonnet Sue" series.

[9] In an interview conducted for the "Quilters Save Our Stories Project" established by the Alliance for American Quilts, Laury stated "I probably like writing as much as anything.

"[7] While Laury was recognized internationally as a pioneer of the art quilt movement, her life mission was simply to inspire others to see the greatness and artistic abilities within themselves.

"She encouraged all quiltmakers to apply art principles: pattern, color, texture, rhythm, line; to quilts, and to incorporate painting, printmaking and photographic techniques in their work.

"[9] Her commitment to teaching, hosting seminars and workshops, and writing, allowed her to impact the lives of thousands of women.

By infusing her lectures and workshops with "anecdotes from her own life's balancing act, juggling deadlines and dirty dishes, parenting and artistic problem solving," Laury was able to connect with her audience on a personal level.

Knowing she was ill, Laury prepared her own obituary, published in The Fresno Bee: I Write This For My Many Friends Don't mourn for me.

Tom's wife, Dr. Ritva Laury is a linguist who divides her time between Fresno and the University of Helsinki, Finland.

I recently completed a collection of stories, titled "Growing up in Doon, the 1930s: A Quilter's Memoir" about life in Iowa with my sisters, Jackie, Joan and Joyce.

My quilting career gave me the opportunity to travel the world: Japan, Australia, Canada, Norway, France, England, South Africa and many other countries.