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Victoria J. Crayne, born in Michigan, moved to sunny California in her teens. She designed her first
garment at age 8 and led the fashion doll parade for years. By her early teens she was designing her
own school clothes and then, later, suits for work and evening gowns for play.

A natural inclination to be making and creating kept her exploring new mediums - paper mache, tole
painting, flower beading, and designing toys and clothes for children. Items in all these categories
are past prize winners in the Los Angeles County Fair. Her annual holiday parties, which featured a
new theme, decorations and apparel each year, spanned 40 years and were the talk of all her friends
and business acquaintances.

Victoria continued her garment making, winning blue ribbons for her "Flamingo Fantasy" kimono
and "Legends of Uluru" coat from Designing Ladies and the 25th Annual Glendale Quilt Guild
Show, Garment Division. Her yoyo vest won first place in the Los Angeles County Fair.

In January, 2004, Victoria found herself in a quilt guild where she was challenged to make her first
quilt for their annual challenge. Honored to find her first quilt, "Etta's Garden," winning a ribbon in
the Viewers Choice category peaked her interest. A second quilt, "Lady in Red," another challenge,
brought her a first and two second place ribbons. A lover of comedy, Victoria has also done a
number of small quilts, which have garnered chuckles, along with more ribbons: "Waikiki Winner,"
"Tokyo Off Line," "Monkey Shines," a yoyo memory quilt and "County Fair Winners" are just a few.

Deciding to get serious, she started in a new direction seldom seen in the quilting world. She began
interpreting fine art into "art quilts." Victoria has recreated Monet's water lilies, van Gogh's "Wheat
Fields and Cypress" (titled Amber Fields) and, most recently, an enlarged version of van Gogh's
"The Courtesan." The quilt is 55" x 33" and the courtesan is done in 3-D. Her body and kimono
standing out from the quilt in a natural pose. The thread painting on the bamboo, cranes, frogs and
water lilies, along with the froth on top of the water, takes the viewer deep into the scene.

Victoria has also taken on several commissions. The first, "Café Terrace at Night" (entitled With
Apologies to van Gogh) proved to be quite a challenge. Interpreting the colors, mood and the very
brush strokes of the artist, led to new discoveries in multiple textiles and the technique known as
thread painting. Her finished piece won the blue ribbon at the Annual Guilt Show sponsored by the
Glendale Quilt Association. Her latest commission was a memory quilt for the world renowned
race car driver, Phil Hill, on the occasion of his 80th birthday party, held at Jay Leno's famous Big
Dog Garage.