About

Jerri learned to sew as a child, with a mother and grandmother both very talented in making garments. Her maternal grandmother, Ollie Mae Evans(1900-1963), made quilts – some from scraps and others pieced from new fabric.

In 1983, Jerri made her first quilt as a present for her new niece – after her sister made one for her son in 1982. She continued making quilts and quilted garments on her own until 1997, when she joined Thimble & Thread Quilt Guild of Greater St. Louis and discovered that there were loads of other quilters out there! She started taking classes, accumulating a stash of fabrics and learning lots of techniques.

Jerri has probably made more than 100 quilts, including traditional, pictorial and art quilts. Several quilts have been in local and national shows including:

“Family Structures,” a pictorial quilt depicting houses owned by members of her family, which was in the AQS show in Paducah in 2000 and in the Quintessential Quilt juried show in University City, MO in 1999.

“Fractured Fractal,” an art quilt based on a fractal design, which won first place in the Quintessential Quilt show in 2001 and was in the Williamsburg Quilt Festival in Williamsburg, Va., in 2002. Made of hand-dyed fabrics, heavily quilted with variegated rayon thread. The quilt also was in the AQS show in 2003.

“Fish Fantasy,” a whimsical quilt using fish blocks, appliqued sea creatures and seaweed, embellished with embroidery and beads, displayed in “Down by the Sea,” a juried quilting and sewing festival in Myrtle Beach in 2002.

“Vortex,” a fractal quilt that depicts spiralling shapes, which was juried into the International Quilt Festival in Houston, Texas, in 2002. Made of hand-dyed fabrics, heavily quilted with variegated rayon thread.

Work  Experience

2008-2017 Editor, Better Business Bureau of E. Missouri, S. Illinois

•  Edit quarterly Torchlight magazine, circulation 8,300.
• Write seasonal press releases with consumer warnings and tips. Assist communications director with projects, editing, writing, pitching stories.
• Write, edit and produce semi-monthly e-newsletter for businesses and consumers, quarterly issues for charities. Produce other publications as needed for events.
• Developed plan to produce monthly e-newsletters for members and consumers. Prepared analysis showing savings by dropping two print publications and moving online.
• Manage local content for BBB website, using content management system.
• Search-engine optimization on BBB website and publications.
• Set up Facebook pages, Twitter and Linked-In accounts for St. Louis BBB and Mid-Missouri BBB.

20-plus years as Business Reporter, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, St. Louis, Mo.

• Created Pocketbook Perspective in 2007, a weekly personal finance column focusing on families in all stages of their lives. Wrote column for 18 months before leaving paper.
• Beat reporting on public and private companies in the St. Louis area in fields including banking and financial services, technology, telecommunications, cable television, food and agriculture. Coverage included Commerce Bank, Enterprise Bank & Trust, Wachovia Securities, Edward Jones, Scottrade, SBC Communications, Charter Communications, AT&T, Amdocs, Talx Corp., Ralston Purina Co., Schnuck Markets Inc. and Brown Shoe Co.
• Researched, populated and analyzed a database of executive compensation at more than 50 public companies in St. Louis. Developed and wrote stories for an annual special section on executive pay, corporate trends and boards of directors. Worked with online team to produce a report that generates thousands of visits to the Web site.
• Helped plan the Post-Dispatch Annual Report, a special section on the financial performance of more than 50 public companies and private companies in St. Louis. Built a database and analyzed data to produce charts and rankings. Worked with online team to bring the project to the Web, which generated over 40,000 hits in the week after publication.
• Wrote breaking news and features for virtually every section of the Post-Dispatch.

Skills

• Proven management of in-depth, long-term projects.
• Accomplished editor with strengths in style and grammar.
• Proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, Adobe InDesign, Microsoft Publisher.
• Work on photographs in Photoshop to prepare them for use in print, on the web or in PowerPoint presentations.
• Skilled in developing graphic and photo ideas to illustrate projects.
• Ability to write concise and accurate reports.
• Especially good at multi-tasking, switching quickly between projects to meet deadlines and changes in direction.
• Excellent interpersonal skills in person, on the telephone and online.
• Social media skills.
• Experienced interviewer.
• Digital photography to support print and web publications.