Musician and Contemporary Quiltmaker (May 31 – July 10, 2013)

Ricky Tims has successfully blended two diverse passions into one very unique and interesting career. His skills as a pianist, composer and producer have been evident by the thousands who have heard his music. His success as a quilter is equally significant.

He is known in the international world of quilting as a best-selling author, enthusiastic and encouraging teacher, an award-winning quilter, fabric designer, and a talented and spellbinding speaker. His innovative and entertaining presentations, feature live music and humor combined with scholarly insights and wisdom. His quilts have been displayed worldwide and are highly regarded as excellent examples of contemporary quilts with traditional appeal.

Ricky’s has made quilts that have won numerous international awards. He began designing and making quilts in 1991, and was recently named as one of The Thirty Most Distinguished Quilters in the World. In 2009 he was selected (in a three-way tie) by the readers of Quilter’s Newsletter Magazine as The Most Influential Person in the Quilting Industry. In 2008, he was profiled and featured on the popular television news show, CBS News Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood.

He maintains an extensive international schedule of teaching and speaking engagements, is co-founder and co-host of The Quilt Show with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims — an online, subscription-based TV show for quilters. He presents three-day Ricky Tims Super Quilt Seminars in select cities throughout the United States, and holds week-long La Veta Quilt Retreats at his art quilt studio in the tiny mountain town of La Veta, Colo. In 2010, he and Alex Anderson started a new quilting lifestyle magazine called The Quilt Life (published by AQS).

Ricky is passionate about quilting, and is delighted to share his experience and enthusiasm with quilters of every level of expertise. He is challenged by creativity in all forms, and encourages individuals to cultivate self-expression, reach for the unreachable, and believe in the impossible.

Ricky is also passionate about AccuQuilt and fabric die cutting. AccuQuilt is proud to have Ricky Tims as a corporate sponsor and a licensed die designer. Ricky’s award winning quilt, Bohemian Rhapsody, influenced his two latest GO! die designs, GO!® Bohemia #1 and GO!® Bohemia #2.

Click image below to view complete quilt.

Bohemian Rhapsody 2002 (88" x 88") Ricky Tims

Bohemian Rhapsody’s undulating symmetry is loosely based on a traditional Diamond in a Square. The urns and other appliquéd motifs create large circular effects. This quilt is made with original 100% cotton hand dyed fabrics, machine pieced, machine appliquéd and machine quilted with silk and rayon threads.
Time Warp 1999 (82" x 82") Ricky Tims

A vortex appears to warp this traditional center diamond design. “Caveman” piecing from hand-dyed fabrics gives a hand painted feel to the quilt. The trapunto is embellished with bobbin embroidery. The entire quilt is quilted from the back with “bobbin quilting” using metallic decorative threads.
Dad’s Lone Star 2002 (92" x 92") Richard Tims and Ricky Tims

In 2002 my dad attempted to make a Lone Star quilt. As he pieced the star, I designed a setting and we agreed that I would do the appliqué and quilting. Each element of the quilt was done on the machine and includes piecing, appliqué, trapunto, outline bobbin embroidery and piped binding. I wonder if the world has ever seen a father/son quilt?
New World Symphony 2002 (90½" x 90½") Ricky Tims

New World Symphony is a traditional Trip Around the World quilt. This contemporary variation is accomplished by using original 100% cotton hand-dyed fabrics. The diverse colors of this quilt represent cultural, ethnic, social, political and religious differences.
Simple Gifts 1996 (88" x 88") Ricky Tims

Simple Gifts expresses Ricky’s reverence for traditional as well as modern technique through simplistic design based on the traditional Amish Diamond in the Square brought up to contemporary standards. Simple Gifts was selected as “Juror’s 101st Choice” by Jue Culvey for the “Best 100 Quilts of the Twentieth Century”.
Viva Violetta 2007 (58" x 58") Ricky Tims

Viva Violetta is one quilt in my series of Rhapsody quilts. The word “rhapsody” means great joy, rapture, enthusiasm and elation, and the quilts in this series reflect those definitions because they include a variety of designs, colors and techniques. When stitched together, they create a unified piece that evokes energy and excitement.
Lifelines III 2012 (50" x 50") Ricky Tims

This quilt is an improvisational patchwork technique that asks the question “What if I did this?” to create a spontaneously designed, free-form, curve-pieced quilt. The words created by the stitching around each letter in the dark border around the center medallion represent feelings I experienced as the quilt headed towards completion.
Asternoon Delight 2009 (36" x 44") Ricky Tims

This quilt combines two of my artistic passions – photography and quilting. The original photo was edited in Photoshop then printed full-size on fabric. The details are all embellished by free motion quilting.
Bears in Bertie’s Log Cabin 2004 (53" x 53") Ricky Tims

When asked to make an original quilt for an issue of Fons & Porters Love of Quilting, I decided to make it in memory of my maternal grandmother, Bertie Marie, whose sewing machine started my quilting career. The quilt features traditional Bear Paw and Log Cabin blocks but uses contemporary hand-dyed fabrics and metallic threads.
Self Portrait 2012 (22" x 22") Ricky Tims

This quilt was created for the Faces Issue (June 2013) of The Quilt Life Magazine.