Diane Steffen resides at Lake Ozark , Missouri and has in a few short years become a Professional Art Quilter. A lifetime of experience has contributed to her rapid rise in the art quilting arena. She developed her sewing skills as a young girl and always showed a talent for art and design. She earned a degree in Environmental Design from the University of California and most of her career was spent in interior design at the corporate level. In more recent years, Diane developed her artistic talent to a professional level studying with watercolor and acrylic artists. Several of her paintings have been displayed in art shows in Texas and Missouri . In 2002 she was introduced to the world of art quilting and segued from her painting expertise to creating art quilts. Since then she has become nationally recognized. It is her desire to continue to apply her artistic talent to creating unique art quilts, which now is her primary form of artistic expression.

After Diane designs her original drawings on paper, the selection of fabrics and textures begins. Diane has collected fabrics from around the world, but her favorite fabrics are batiks. She blends other fabrics with batiks to make her quilts rich and vivid with color. Fans of her work always comment on her ability to choose and blend colors. Her art quilts give visual and tactile pleasure. The numerous, intricate fabric pieces are joined by machine to create a pieced top which she calls a “freestyle piecing” technique. There are hundreds of individual pieces of fabric in each quilt. Some are smaller than a dime and others are narrower than ¼ inch. One of the distinctive characteristics of Diane's quilts is the offset intersections. She believes this design element is much more interesting to the eye.

Diane has developed a contemporary, graphic style which challenges her creative mind. Each art quilt is unique, one of a kind, and complex in design, representing many months of dedicated hand craftsmanship. They bring character and distinction to any room in which they are displayed.