I have said it before and I will say it again, I am extra thrilled when one of our cover quilters is a man. As a mom of 5 boys ( and a girl!) I so want my kids to have all the opportunities that are out there and one of them is to quilt without bias or reservation.
So introducing today’s quilter is extra sweet for me. Today I welcome Ken Casey to our BAQS fold of Cover Quilters!
With a childhood steeped in the love of sewing passed to him from his Nanny at age 10 as way to keep him busy Ken progressed from sewing garments for his bunny to clothing for himself and others at a young age. This lead to high school years of sewing even more and even working in the fabric department of his local department store ( remember when we had those???.. I miss that!)
Life then moved him towards stained glass for a while but the lure of fabric and a suggestion from his sister Joyce Heuett was all it took to bring him back to the fold ( ha! I made a fabric joke!) Joyce put Ken through his paces and got him up to speed and soon enough Ken produced his first quilt that ” Had it all!”. His passion reignited the stained glass supplies were sold and fabric and quilts began to fill his life.
Ken has been blessed to take classes from some of the best in the industry and had the special thrill of having none other than Ricky Timms ( who I have not met yet!-booo!) ask him to submit a piece for a juried show of men quilters.
With much celebrating taking place that quilt ( Cosmic Twister) was accepted and as they say the rest is history!
With a wee nudge from his partner Ron, Ken formed the Prickley Piecers as quilt guild that met his needs for a time to attend and they currently have 39 members and this year he is serving at their programs coordinator.
Ken is one of the handful of Certified AngelPlay instructors in the United States.
And while currently retired from teaching elementary school he does not show any signs of slowing down as he spends his time helping other quilters at Quilter’s Ranch in Tempe, AZ. Not to mention making many amazing quilts!
Please welcome Ken.. I could not be more thrilled that he is one of our own! 🙂
It’s been many many years since I’ve shopped at Quilters Ranch, but it’s nice to know it’s still going strong. And I know why if Ken has a hand in the inner workings of the store. NIce to meet you Ken!
Your quilts are awesome and I love your colors…..welcome to BAQS
Nice to have your beautiful quilts displayed. Like all your use of color.
What beautiful quilts welcome to BAQS
Wow! I’ve heard of you Mr. Ken Casey but haven’t seen your work in person. Shopped a little at Quilter’s Ranch (way south of me in North Central Phoenix). You’re representing Arizona quilters beautifully! Nice to meet you!