Quilters' Heritage Celebration 2004: Flynn, John

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Flynn, John

Nov 29, 2004, 02:07 pm

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John Flynn, of Billings, MT, is a strapping, bearded man who looks like he’d be much more comfortable on Montana’s Bighorn River, casting flies to trout, than making a quilt. In fact, the Billings resident is one of the best known names in American quiltmaking and he’s turned his hobby into an international business. A former engineer who used to hide his quilts in brown bags while building bridges, Flynn is still more comfortable in a tackle shop than a fabric store. It’s not just that he’s a rare male in the feminine world of fabric; John is shy and prefers working with his hands to handling crowds. So how did he come to run a small but international company? It began in 1982 when his wife enrolled in a quilting class and asked John to make her a frame. The result was a revolutionary tool and a lifetime passion. Looking like an ancient scroll, the frame consists of two wooden rods held apart by spacers. The three basic layers for quilting—top sheet, batting and bottom sheet are rolled onto one rod, stretched across a 42” frame and attached to the other rod. As the quilter sews, the finished project is rolled from one rod to the other. Perhaps most significant is the size of Flynn’s frame. Where old-fashioned frames take up an entire room, his is small enough to fit on a quilter’s lap. So successful was this new tool with local quilters that Flynn Quilt Frame Co. was born in 1989. In addition to selling frames and other quilting gadgets he’s invented, Flynn has written two books, sells patterns through his direct-mail business and teaches classes.