Area quilter goes national

By Tiffany Allison

The art of quilting is not usually associated with the art of story telling. However, quilts are used to tell a story. They are created to capture a moment in time. Each distinct block captures a distinct moment portraying the story of the quilt maker. Quilt maker Kay Preston captured the physical tension in the human body during weight lifting in her quilt entitled, “Heavy Lifting.”

Her vibrant and explosive quilt has guaranteed her a seat as a semifinalist in the American Quilter’s Society’s 25th anniversary quilt show and contest at Paducah Expo Center in Paducah, Ky. on April 22-25.

Her own personal experience in the gym stood as inspiration for Preston as she considered different concepts for her quilt.

“When you go into a deep squat and you get that bar up and you know it’s the last time you can do it, that’s heavy lifting,” she said. “You get to the point in the gym where you just can’t and that’s when you’re successful and that is victory. It’s the only thing I do in my life that I do it until I literally can’t do it again.”

The center “X’ represents the heat and intensity that a body undergoes during weight lifting. The interwoven stitching within the “X” represents the muscle fabric of the human body. The use of blue and gold represents the energy released after a successful lift. Each piece of fabric was hand dyed by Candy St. Lawrence and by Preston herself. Each piece is a different color creating a unique flair to the quilt.

Graduating with Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Fine Arts degrees from the University of Texas, Preston has been integrated into the sewing world for quite some time. Preston has been sewing for over 15 years.

“My father said that I’ve been sewing since I was big enough to hold on,” she said.

The quilt size is 80 feet wide and 80 feet long, and it took her 10 months to design. During the design process, Preston said she started over many time until she perfected her image sometimes working on her project at 3 or 5 a.m.

“You get obsessed,” she said. “It’s up on the wall and it’s always available to go and get a quick impression.”
Her long hours paid off with her acceptance into Paducah’s expo. The American Quilter’s Society is offering $127,000 in total cash awards for the winners of the event. The Best in Show will receive $20,000 in cash and their quilt will be placed as a permanent collection in the National Quilt Museum.

When Preston is not working on a quilting masterpiece, she is teaching quilting classes at Sew Original. She teaches a sewing and quilting class and a machine quilting class.

“I love to do it,” she said. “When I was a girl, you learned all of this in school. And it’s so interesting to have young people so excited and so happy to learn. It’s really a great way to make friends and stay involved.”