My friend Patricia Belyea has it all figured out. She retired recently from a brilliant career as a design and marketing expert to follow her passion: quilting.

Patricia and I recently got together to share a cup of tea, and to chat about our mutual love of fabric. We both are graphic designers who are also artists. My “quilts” are created from paper, and hers are made with more traditional materials, but her art goes far beyond fabric, stitches and batting.

Floating World, 40″ x 40″, 2011 © Patricia Belyea

Patricia has traveled to Japan numerous times, and imports a particular kind of vintage Japanese fabric, called yukata cotton. She sells her yukata fabric to other quilters, and also transforms it into her own art quilts.

Healing Garden, 52″ x 55″, 2011 © Patricia Belyea

One of the things that inspires me about Patricia is that she puts her whole self into anything she pursues. Her love of quilting has expanded into volunteer work with the La Conner Quilt and Textile Museum, where she is heavily involved with their annual StashFest, a 2-day sale of unique and remarkable fabrics for quilters and lovers of fabric.

Peony Samurai, 63″ x 52″, 2011 © Patricia Belyea

Her enthusiasm for fabric and quilting is infectious. Now, if I just could carve out a little more time to explore quilting myself! Maybe one day soon. Thanks for the inspiration, Patricia.

Here is a gallery of images of some of her yukata cotton fabrics. She has hundreds of bolts of fabric. To learn more, please visit her website: okanarts.com.

Moon Viewing Open House & Sale

Thursday, Sept. 19, 2013
Seattle, WA 7:30 p.m. to midnight
Okan Arts Shop, 315 NW 52nd, Ballard neighborhood, Seattle WA