Meet Katie Pasquini Masopust - Quilting by the Lake · Meet Katie Pasquini Masopust For nearly 30...
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Meet Katie Pasquini Masopust For nearly 30 years Katie Pasquini Maso- pust has produced high quality contempo- rary art quilts that have been coveted and collected by a broad range of admirers. From her early beginnings as a painter dabbling in traditional quilt making, her work has evolved from structured Manda- las and mind-blowing dimensional pieces to very painterly landscapes and abstracts exe- cuted with creative stitching techniques. Pasquini Masopust’s easy, energetic manner has made her a popular teacher and lecturer. When not in residence at her studio in Santa Fe, NM, she travels the world presenting her contemporary quilting theories and techniques to classes in North America, Europe, the Far East, Austra- lia, and New Zealand. She has won numerous awards for her work, including the 2005 Silver Star Award presented by Houston Quilt Festival. Q. What or who got you started in quilting? A. I started quilting when I was caring for my ter- minally ill mother. It was something to do to keep me busy in between appointments and chores while watching movies with my mom. My mom taught her three daughters to sew clothes, so I already had a stash of material started. Q. Why do you make quilts? What do you like about quilting? A. I make quilts because they are my way of expressing myself artistically. I was a painter for many years before I became a quilter. I like the feel of the fabrics and the textures of the prints, and I love to sew, so they all make me very hap- py. Q. Are there any historical quilts, quilters, or artists that you draw inspiration from? A. I am inspired by the masters: Kandinsky, Miro, Van Gough, Picasso, etc., but also by the origi- nal art quilters: Michael James, Yvonne Porcella, Virginia Avery, etc.
Transcript of Meet Katie Pasquini Masopust - Quilting by the Lake · Meet Katie Pasquini Masopust For nearly 30...
MeetKatie
Pasquini MasopustFor nearly 30 years Katie Pasquini Maso-pust has produced high quality contempo-rary art quilts that have been coveted and collected by a broad range of admirers. From her early beginnings as a painter dabbling in traditional quilt making, her work has evolved from structured Manda-las and mind-blowing dimensional pieces to very painterly landscapes and abstracts exe-cuted with creative stitching techniques. Pasquini Masopust’s easy, energetic manner has made her a popular teacher and lecturer. When not in residence at her studio in Santa Fe, NM, she travels the world presenting her contemporary quilting theories and techniques to classes in North America, Europe, the Far East, Austra-lia, and New Zealand. She has won numerous awards for her work, including the 2005 Silver Star Award presented by Houston Quilt Festival.
Q. What or who got you started in quilting? A. I started quilting when I was caring for my ter-minally ill mother. It was something to do to keep me busy in between appointments and chores while watching movies with my mom. My mom
taught her three daughters to sew clothes, so I already had a stash of material started.
Q. Why do you make quilts? What do you like about quilting? A. I make quilts because they are my way of expressing myself artistically. I was a painter for many years before I became a quilter. I like the feel of the fabrics and the textures of the prints, and I love to sew, so they all make me very hap-py.
Q. Are there any historical quilts, quilters, or artists that you draw inspiration from?A. I am inspired by the masters: Kandinsky, Miro, Van Gough, Picasso, etc., but also by the origi-nal art quilters: Michael James, Yvonne Porcella, Virginia Avery, etc.
Q. How many sewing machines do you own and what brand and type are they?A. I own two Bernina domestic sewing machines.
Q. How many yards of fabric do you estimate that you own?A. More than God allows!!
Q. How many rooms in your home are devot-ed to storing fabric?A. One studio full of fabric
Q. How many unfinished projects do you have right now? A. I’m just finishing up on large art quilt and I have a baby quilt that needs to be quilted, then it is all done. I like to work on one thing at a time.
Q. What can you do with quilting that you can’t do with other media (like painting)?A. I pretty much treat my art quilts as paintings and follow the art considerations needed to make a strong painting. But a quilt has a totally different look and feel to it and looks very different hanging on a wall.
Q. What is the most important step for you in the design process?A. Coming up with a great inspiration, then draw-ing it so that I have a cartoon of the piece to use as a template.
Q. Do you sketch, draw, plan, or map out a quilt before you begin?A. Yes, I do all of that and have a pretty good idea of how it will all turn out in the end. Then I work toward that goal.
Q. What do you like about teaching at QBL?A. I love teaching at QBL! The location is great; the classrooms work well. The people are the greatest draw: The students are enthusiastic and the staff takes very good care of the teachers. My fellow teachers are the best! I love hanging out with them and catching up on each other’s lives.
Q. What is your favorite thing about teaching the artful log cabin workshop?A. The artful log cabin workshop is great to teach because it has a strong foundation that everyone
can understand. But with each student’s individu-al inspirational photo, the results are so different. It is fun to watch someone who thinks they can’t design original art come up with a wonderfully art-ful piece based on the line (strips of fabric) orga-nized in a simple block (the log cabin). There are so many different ways of making the log cabin unique.
Q. Do you dabble in other artistic media? If so, what?A. Yes, I am also a painter working in acrylics.
Q. Sum up quilting in three words: A. Exciting, beautiful, unique.
Katie Pasquini Masopust takes the traditional log cabin pattern and turns it into original art.
Programs are funded by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature
