Written by: Joy Waggener,
Publicity Chair for 2009 Quilt Show
It would be no exaggeration to say that Pat Nelson has a very close
relationship with her sewing machine. Describing herself as a
“machine oriented quilter”, Pat has a glowing reputation as a skilled
user of machine techniques and an armful of ribbons for the fabulous
wearable art and wall-hangings that she has produced. She has also
been generously sharing her skills and tips with other quilters
through articles and books that she has written and the many classes
she has taught.
Like many other quilters, Pat has been sewing since she was very
young. Growing up in Pennsylvania, her first projects were doll
clothes made with scraps from her mother’s sewing box. She continued
to sew through high school, but then gave it up to concentrate on
nursing school and working as a registered nurse. After marriage to
husband David, a native Californian who was raised in the Bay Area,
Pat bought her first sewing machine and resumed making garments. By
1977, she became very interested in machine embroidery, appliqué and
other machine techniques. She loved the challenge of converting
traditional handwork to the machine. Pat tried piecing a postage
stamp Christmas stocking by following a pattern in a magazine, but
was so discouraged by the results that she did not try quilting again
until moving to North Carolina in 1980.
Georgia Bonesteel was Pat’s first quilt teacher and she picked it up
so quickly that she was teaching in Georgia’s shop within a few
years. Soon Pat was making items on commission, serving as President
of the Western North Carolina Quilt Guild, helping her daughter’s
class and Brownie troop make quilts, and increasing her knowledge by
taking workshops from nationally known teachers like Yvonne Porcella,
Jean Ray Laury, Helen Kelly and others. When her husband was
transferred to Germany, Pat taught basic quilting classes for the
American Women’s Club of Frankfurt. Four years later, they returned
to the States and located near the Pennsylvania/New York border,
where Pat resumed her active teaching career, her award-winning quilt-
making, and participation in the local quilt guild’s service
projects. Pat was honored with an Achievement Award by the Quilter’s
Consortium of New York that enabled her to take classes in fabric
dyeing and attend “Quilting by the Lake”.
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In the years since then, Pat has won numerous ribbons for her
wearables, including Best of Show at the AQS Fashion Show, the
International Quilt Show in Houston, the Pennsylvania National Quilt
Extravaganza and the Hoffman Challenge. She has also won ribbons in
the Mid Atlantic Wearable Art Festival and the Pacific International
Quilt Festival VII Wearable Art Competition. She has participated
twice in the Fairfield/Bernina Fashion Show and taught workshops for
Husqvarna and Bernina Sewing Machine companies at their annual
conventions.
Pat has been published by Martingale and Company (“Stylish Sewing” in
2000 and “Creative Machine Stitching: Special Effects for Quilts and
More” in 2003) and has had her work appear in numerous magazines,
including The Quilter, AQS, Threads, Sewing Savvy, Quilter’s
Newsletter, and Creative Machine Embroidery. She appeared on two
episodes of HGTV’s Simply Quilts with Alex Anderson and has taught at
the International Market and Festival in Houston, TX and PIQF in
Santa Clara.
The Nelsons retired and moved to Grass Valley in 2003, where Pat
quickly became involved in Mountain Art Quilters and PTQG. Their son
lives in Atlanta, Georgia, but a daughter and her family (including a
darling granddaughter) are nearby in Truckee. The members of Pine
Tree Quilt Guild are grateful that Pat has shared her expertise in
machine techniques with us thru programs and workshops, and are proud
to recognize her as a “Celebrity Quilter of Nevada County”.
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