The Sedona Quilters Hall of Fame was established in 2022. Red Rock Quilters Guild and the Sedona Arts Center partner together to present this annual award that is open to Red Rock Quilters Guild members only. A committee of judges determines the winner of the Hall of Fame award.
2024 Sedona Hall of Fame Award Winner
The Sedona Quilters Hall of Fame award went to Tracey Thie for her quilt “Chaos in Circles.”
The Red Rock Quilters Guild and Sedona Arts Center partnered to create the Sedona Quilters Hall of Fame Award which was first awarded in 2022. This prestigious award is presented annually during the Library Quilt Show that is held early January through early March at the Sedona Public Library on White Bear Road.
Tracey Thie is the recipient of the 2024 Sedona Quilters Hall of Fame award for her quilt “Chaos in Circles.” Her quilt will hang at the Sedona Arts Center’s Gallery in Uptown beginning March 5 for approximately one month. This year’s winning quilt is a beautiful example of intricate paper piecing, one of many techniques employed for making pieced quilts.
Tracey’s quilting journey started in 2018 when her sister-in-law took her to a local quilt shop. Tracey’s sister helped her pick out a pattern and fabric and they made her first quilt. She was hooked! She was recently retired and always looking for something to do, happily churning out quilts by the dozens, expanding her skills with progressively more difficult quilts. When visiting her local quilt store, she had always noticed the huge frames/machines off to the side of the store but paid no notice. Then one day someone was actually using one and Tracey wandered over to watch. Oh wow! So cool! Rooted in fascination and asking questions she stayed there for over an hour watching. Tracey bought a long-arm machine and proceeded to teach herself how to use it. Now she provides long-arm quilting services for other people.
Tracey states “Chaos in Circles is one of the most difficult quilts I have made. I had the fabric and the pattern, but the pattern was not much more than the paper piecing template. No cutting instructions or fabric guide. Luckily, I had done a lot of paper piecing (and loved it). Nonetheless it was a real challenge. Eventually I got extremely frustrated and bagged everything up and put it away in the closet, prepared to chalk it up to failure.
One day I was looking for a new project and remembered this one. I pulled it out and
committed myself to finishing it. It was still frustrating, but I bulldogged through. I entered it into the quilt show because with all the work and aggravation I put into it, why not?”
Dr. Bruce and Ann Peak, two of the judges for the 2024 award said, “This quilt’s title is a misnomer. I urge you to view it from a distance and chaos seems to become order, then of course, it reverts to chaos. There is harmony in the color selection, with circular elements coming out as highlights and it should be noted each circle is different
yet adds enhancement to the entire piece. It creates depth and motion using overlapping elements then stops, frozen in time. An exceptional work.”
2023 Sedona Hall of Fame Award Winner
The Red Rock Quilters Guild and Sedona Arts Center partnered to create the Sedona Quilters Hall of Fame Award. This prestigious award will be presented annually during the Library Quilt Show that is held in January through February at the Sedona Public Library on White Bear Road.
Pat Loomis is the recipient of the 2023 Sedona Quilters Hall of Fame award for her quilt “Ephemeral Beauty.” Her quilt will hang at the Sedona Arts Center’s Gallery in Uptown during the month of April. This year’s winning quilt is an example of fused appliqué with dense thread painting, one of many techniques employed for making art quilts.
Pat has been a member of the Red Rock Quilters Guild for 15 years but first became interested in quilting as a child because of her grandmother, who lived in the Appalachian mountains of north Georgia who enjoyed sewing and quilting. Pat has learned much through taking classes, seminars, and working beside her quilting friends. She loves bright colors, especially reds! Several years ago, she branched out into making “art quilts” and finds this medium to be both challenging and rewarding. She never makes the same type of quilt twice, learning a new technique with each new project.
Her quilt “Ephemeral Beauty” reminds her of Georgia O’Keefe’s large floral paintings. Hibiscus flowers typically bloom for only one day, making them ephemeral and precious. The specific idea of this quilt began eight years ago when she took a class with Melinda Bula, whose hibiscus design was Pat’s starting point. Then she worked for over a year adapting her own design for the remainder of this quilt, which is one of her all-time favorites.
Pat states, “Simply put, quilting soothes my soul, allowing me to sit still for a while and be in the present moment. Quilting stimulates my creativity and stretches my imagination. It challenges me with problems to solve, and in its finest moments, quilting offers me a glimpse of the artist within.”
The Red Rock Quilters Guild has existed for over 36 years. Their motto is “Sharing and Caring. We come together to share our love of quilting, learn new skills/ideas, and care for our community through various service projects.”
Sedona Arts Center’s mission is to connect, enrich, educate, and lead through the inspiring power of the arts and creative discovery.
2022 Sedona Hall of Fame Award Winner
Patsy Kittridge is the recipient of the 2022 Sedona Quilters Hall of Fame award for her quilt “Swimming Through Last Year.” Her quilt will hang at Sedona Arts Center’s Gallery in Uptown during the month of April. This year’s winning quilt is an art quilt that depicts the artist’s experience during the pandemic.
Patsy took a beginning quilt class in 1992 while pregnant with her twin daughters. But it wasn’t until about 2000 that she began taking quilting seriously. Patsy joined Sedona Red Rock Quilters about then, took classes from top art quilt teachers, and met a lot of wonderful friends through the quilting world.
Her usual technique involves working from photos of both landscapes and portraits with an occasional abstract or fantasy piece thrown in.
“Swimming Through Last Year” covers March 2020 through March 2021. Patsy describes her quilt, “I wanted to use up scraps, so I made quite a few scrap squares. Putting the squares on a design wall reminded me of crazy quilts, which led to thinking about the “crazy” previous year. It became my covid quilt which I never intended to show anyone. The quilted phrases cover both personal and national events with the good news more towards the top.”