27th ANNUAL SHOWCASE OF QUILTS & CLOTH DOLLS • APRIL 12 & 13 • 10 AM TO 4 PM • LINDSAY, CALIFORNIA
2024 FEATURED ARTIST
Rebecca Haley • PortervilLe, CA
Why do people create art?
All people from around the world create art. Some seek personal enjoyment and satisfaction, others express personal thoughts and feelings, and many use art to communicate with others. Quilt artists are no different.
A ceramist uses clay and glazes, converting the raw clay into pottery by firing in a kiln. The painter uses oils on canvas to create a picture. The Quilt Artist uses a variety of fabrics, techniques, and tools, as well as the elements and principles of art to create a painting using fabric to express ideas or feelings. Quilting is just another art form that fulfills the need in one to create and provides a personal satisfaction.
The personal satisfaction of creating with fabric is my passion and the reason I quilt.
Rebecca's Story
I grew up in Zanesville, Ohio. At the age of 7, my mother enrolled me in sewing classes at the Day Nursery. Every Saturday, while other children watched Saturday Cartoons, I was learning to sew.
As an adult, I tried to quilt and gave up. It was not like sewing clothing and I was frustrated and lost in this new world. When Sew Expectations was on Main Street in Porterville, I enrolled in my first quilting class. That was around 2009. I loved quilting. I could not sew a straight line, but learned to work around straight stitches. I began taking other quilting classes in Porterville and Visalia. Since that time, I have taken many classes, from many different teachers.
My first art quilt was Geisha (picture above), made for the Hoffman Challenge. I did not know how to square the quilt up or add binding but other quilters showed me what to do. I was hooked. What freedom I found when I realized I did not need to use a pattern other people created nor did I have to sew straight lines.
Early on, I helped organize an art quilt group. I asked the curator of the local college gallery and the Porterville Art Association to hold quilt shows. And, during the last four years of my high school teaching career, I taught quilting.
Since retirement, I have traveled to Italy, Poland, Germany, England and to Medjugorje (Bosnia and Herzegovina) twice. I spent seven months in North Carolina with my son, and have entertained my North Carolina granddaughter here for extended visits. I babysit for my daughter at least once a week, and am active with my Lay Dominican Group. In between all of this, I have had two back surgeries. The first incapacitated me for almost six months, the second, not as long.
And still, I find time for quilting.
Covid put a damper on Guild meetings, shows, and classes. I did however find an online class that was wonderful. It was called "It's All About the Quilted Face,” taught by Cindy Richard and Phyllis Cullen. I have recently completed four Hoffman Challenges and two guild challenges, as well as Best of the Valley Challenges. I make numerous charity quilts for various organizations and guilds. (I have made 25 for ALS, 5 for Mary's Closet in LA and at least 3 a year for the various guilds.)