Many years ago, I spied a lovely wax-faced doll with pierced ears, a red wig and hand-painted high-button shoes on her feet in an antique shop in Portland, Maine. She was a bit disheveled and was wearing only an old muslin nightgown. I couldn't bear to leave her behind in that dusty old shop so I signed the "adoption papers" (my credit card slip) and took her home with me that afternoon. I'm sure she was hoping I would make her a pretty new dress to replace her nightgown--one more befitting her pretty face, dainty earrings and pretty painted shoes. Alas, all these years later, she’s ensconced on my old brass and iron bed, still wearing her nightgown,  However, she now has a name and a pattern line named after her! And someday soon, she'll have a new dress.

Why Jo-Lydia?

I have been an avid reader since childhood. Jo of Little Women was my favorite literary character as a young girl. Jo loved to write, as I did, so it was a natural first name for my sweet doll. And Lydia? As a small child, I lived on a dairy farm in Wisconsin—one of six little girls. My young mom needed help to keep up with all of us, the house, and her large garden, so Lydia came to help. I liked her and her name. Jo-Lydia seemed just the right combination of names for my doll, so Jo-Lydia she is.

When I started my pattern line, I needed a name for it. Since my first patterns were for reproductions and adaptations of antique quilts in my collection—things one might find in the attic along with discarded childhood dolls—Jo-Lydia’s Attic seemed to fill the bill. My first patterns even featured Jo-Lydia on the pattern covers.