Janine Ibbini

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Janine was born in Yorkshire and was taught to sew at a very young age by her mother 

Her passion for stitching expressed itself in dressmaking which was very useful considering the lack of fashion and variety of affordable clothing in Jordan where she lived for the first few years of her marriage. She later moved with her family to the UAE in 1980 where she has spent the vast majority of her life.

Her spark of interest in patchwork and quilting, rapidly developed into a deep and abiding interest in the whole subject which saw her design and develop award winning quilts.

To take her work to the next level Janine quickly realised she needed a formal framework which saw her take a number of City and Guild courses in the UK

This in turn led to developing exhibition standard work and joining an artist group, where she participated in and curated many art exhibitions in the UAE and quilt exhibitions in the UK with the Middle East Quilt Artists 

More recently Janine is a Quilt Judge having qualified with The Quilters Guild of The British Isles.

Foremost Janine enjoys passing on the passion and knowledge in design and quilting to others and as a result she has developed and delivered courses in these subjects to groups in the Middle East.

Janine also worked with local women in UAE as part of an initiative, helping them to improve their sewing skills to develop their heritage weaving into saleable and marketable items.

Janine continues to live in UAE where she finds endless sources of inspiration for the ongoing development of new work.