Art Quilt Show with Betty Hecker, Margie McKenzie and Bobbie Sacks

For June, three fiber artists from our area will introduce us to an exciting medium of expression, the Art Quilt. During a month-long exhibit at the Carbon County Arts Guild in Red Lodge, the art quilts of Betty Hecker, Bobbie Sacks and Margie McKenzie will hang in the Guild?s main gallery. Each artist has a unique history which influences their quilting today. Betty Hecker is a Columbus, Montana native and comes from a long line of rural Montana quilters. She learned to sew at age 10, making clothes for herself, her sister and brothers, and her friends. While pursuing a college education, she continued to sew. She became a serious quilter in 1990 when she took a class with some friends. She was hooked! Since then, Betty has made quilts almost non-stop, with at least 100 quilts to her name. As a quilter, Betty says, ?I share in the history of Montana and believe that I am carrying on the legacy of my grandmothers. When I quilt I remember all of the women who quilted before me and those who quilted together the lives of the citizens of this great state.? Bobbie Sacks? passion for quilting began when she took her first quilt class in 1973 while living in sunny San Diego. For years, she made traditional quilts and her work has slowly evolved into designing art quilts. Especially known for her love of color in quilting, Bobbie began teaching 20 years ago to share her love with others. Bobbie says of her passion ?Making quilts is a magnificent art form to me. I love the colors, textures, and vibrancy of fabrics, threads and beads. Placing them all together in a quilt is like arranging notes together when composing a symphony?I especially like it when people see the humor and happiness in my creations.? Most recently, she started the Surface Design Workshop, which meets monthly at the Arts Guild, as a forum for other fiber artists to learn new ways to embellish and enrich fabric pieces. Margie McKenzie was born and raised in Montana with detours to South Vietnam and Indonesia and a 33 year career as an architect for Veterans Affairs and the Department of the Army in Washington, DC. Even while designing and overseeing the construction of renovations and medical centers, she realized she needed a more personal artistic outlet. Luckily, she discovered quilting in the late 1970?s. Today, Margie enjoys using ethnic fabrics in more traditional style quilts, including Indonesian batik, African, Japanese yukatas, Aboriginal (First People) designed, Thai ikat, Indian wood block prints (the origin of calicoes) as well as Dutch and French derivatives of those first prints. ?So many fabrics to collect and use?.? Stop in any time during normal Arts Guild hours to view the quilts, Monday ? Saturday, 10 ? 5 and Sunday, 12 ? 5. The exhibit is free and open to all.