Childhood in New Bedford, Massachusetts; textile-mill worker ancestry; Catholic upbringing; initial interest in art; studies at Southeastern Massachusetts University; Rochester Institute of Technology: art instruction, attitude toward work, initial interest in textiles; teaching; personal style: use of specific materials, interest in integration of material and unconventional fabric structure; deve lopment of quilt-making technique; commission work; shows in America, Europe; James' books on quiltmaking; interests in other art media; problems with people's attitudes toward quilts as art form; contemporary quilt-makers.