Coronado 365-July 2022

Quilter Kathleen McCabe captures moments of life with pieces of fabric

By MARTINA SCHIMITSCHEK

PHOTOS COURTESY OF KATHLEEN MCCABE

As a quilter, Kathleen McCabe carefully sews

and layers fabric pieces together. But her creations are not your grandmother’s quilt.

Although McCabe’s craft is based in the centuries-old quilting tradition, her art is best described as painting with fabric. With a mosaic of pieces, McCabe creates landscapes, portraits, florals and succulents that are not draped over a bed but hung on the wall.

The fabric artist has exhibited nationally and internationally including in China, France, England, Australia and Brazil. McCabe, who is a Coronado native, has an art degree in applied design from San Diego State University. She was on the board of the Visions Museum of Textile Art when the organization first secured the space in Liberty Station in San Diego.

"Mothers and Daughters" catches a moment at a family gathering. Kathleen McCabe (above) made the quilt in 2020.

McCabe made "Jubilation" in 2014 for the Studio Art Quilt Associates Celebrating Silver exhibition. The quilt is 57 by 44 inches.

McCabe works in her home studio. She usually finishes three or four quilts a year.

When she’s not quilting, McCabe enjoys gardening and spending time with her husband, Phil Imming, also a Coronado native and cofounder of the Coronado Concert Band. McCabe is also writing her memoir. She took time out of her busy schedule to talk about her fabric art.

Q. How did you get started with quilting?

A. I’ve always sewn, ever since I was little. I made clothes, and when I was in high school, we embroidered our jeans. Then when my children were little, I started making pictures with fabric. I taught myself. I got books from the library, and I tried things.

The first portrait I remember making was in 1981. It was a portrait of my family. It was almost like little paper dolls standing together. I come from a big family. I’m one of nine children, and so it was a lot of us in that portrait.

Q. How would you describe your art? A. It’s quite clearly quilting because it’s three layers attached by thread. Some people might call it mosaic. I call it raw edge applique. I do it like a mosaic or a jigsaw puzzle. I’ve always done art quilts. In my opinion, traditional quilting is a completely different skill set with geometric designs and matching points and corners.

"The Journey," part of the "Girl in Hat" series and finished in 2016, has been exhibited at the Visions Museum of Textile Art in Liberty Station in San Diego.

There are a lot of rules, and I’m not a rule follower.

Q. What’s your process?

A. I always use my own photographs. When I find one I like, I put it into Photoshop and I mess around with it. When I get something I love, I turn it into a grayscale, and I print it life-size and use that as a template. I use almost exclusively commercial fabrics — mostly cotton. I don’t dye my own fabric.

I have what is called a mid-arm sewing machine, where the sewing machine is stable, and I move the quilt around underneath it. It’s called free-motion quilting.

Q. What are you working on now? A. I’m working on a succulent right now. It’s a diptych. It’s a succulent in my front yard that I really like. I started doing succulents about 2012, and I’ve done quite a few of them. I just really love how the light and shadow play on the leaves. Sometimes they become abstracted.

I am also doing a series of quilts based on my trips to Guatemala that use mostly hand-dyed fabrics. I was there in February

this year. It was my third trip. Two of the quilts use exclusively Guatemalan fabric. Others are scenes from Guatemala. I have about eight now. Every so often I make some more. I’ve made about four this year. I have a couple more on my list.

Q. Do you feel fabric art is underrepresented in the art world?

A. It is very underrepresented in the fine art world. There’s a website called saqa.com (Studio Art Quilt Associates). It shows some of the best art quilters in the world. That stuff will just blow your socks off. There’s an effort to have more exposure for fiber art and we’re making a lot of headway.

Most of the shows that SAQA arranges are not at quilt shows; they’re in museums and art centers. And there are several quilt museums in the United States. One is Visions. They do some great stuff.

Q. What’s the best advice you have received regarding your art?

A. Just to keep at it and keep doing what I love.

Q. What do you love about Coronado? A. I love the small-town feel and the weather. You can’t beat the weather. ■