Retired Chair Seams a Success in Quilting

By Sarah Buchanan

Her quilts are made of many pieces of fabric. Each piece different, stitched together, contributing to the overall composition. Since retiring, Kathy Menzie, former chair of the mass media department and professor emeritus, has become a passionate quilter, winning multiple awards.

Menzie stayed busy in her 20 years at Washburn, transitioning the mass media department from a print-only environment to a digital one. She added advertising, electronic communication and film and video to the curriculum. She also chaired the communication department, the academic affairs committee and was a member of the faculty senate.

An interest in sewing was curbed by a lack of free time, but as Menzie neared retirement, a class at a local quilt shop renewed her motivation.

“I loved it. It was so much fun. It was cool to come up with patterns,” Menzie said.

After spending a year sewing traditional quilts, Menzie began landscape quilting, which has become her specialty. She has made 125 landscape quilts since starting.

Menzie’s quilts have won numerous awards at both the Shawnee County Fair and the Kansas Capital Quilters Guild’s annual show. She

Photo courtesy of Kathy Menzie. One of Menzie’s landscape quilts inspired by a pueblo in Taos, New Mexico.

Photo courtesy of Kathy Menzie.

Kathy Menzie, former chair of the Department of Mass Media, has turned her passion for sewing into an expressive form of art.

sometimes exhibits her quilts at a studio space in NOTO Arts Center.

“I am amazed at how much fun I’m having. I am joyful every day that I get to do this and that I get as much time as I want to — playing with something that is so delightful,” Menzie said.

Anna Walker, former senior administrative assistant in the mass media department, likes to take credit for Menzie showing her quilts.

“I saw the talent, and I saw that she had an amazing eye. I just kept encouraging her ‘you’re really good at this, you should really do this,’ and now she is,” Walker said.

After working in the mass media department together, Menzie and Walker continue their friendship, bonding over a love of fiber art and continuing to encourage each other.

“Most of those conversations are about what each of us have been inspired by. Whenever we get together, we are looking at ‘what are we working on right now, what is appealing to us right now and what do we see ourselves wanting to do next,’” Walker said. “The sort of

brainstorming that goes on with creative types — you never know where the conversation will take you.”

Andrea Conlee, a traditional quilter and friend of Menzie’s, also encourages Menzie in quilting and in life.

Menzie and Conlee met and connected instantly when they took a lunch break during a Stitching Traditions quilting class. Their friendship has grown over the years. “It’s a lot of fun. We laugh a lot, and we talk a lot about color, design and what we’re currently sewing,” Conlee said.

Conlee quilts alongside Menzie when their “grapevine group” gets together. One of her favorite landscape quilts that she has seen Menzie create is of a winter scene.

“I like it because it feels like if I walked out the front door, I could step into her quilt scene,” Conlee said.

Menzie’s quilts can be seen at her next solo exhibit, scheduled in July at Fire Me Up Ceramics in NOTO Arts Center, which will feature nearly 20 of her landscape quilt designs.

Photos courtesy of Kathy Menzie Top left: Menzie was inspired to create this quilt from a photo looking out of a Bed and Breakfast Inn on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. Bottom left: Menzie’s inspiration for this quilt came from a friend’s photo, taken in Battle Ground, Washington. Right: This quilt features a hairy cow, prevalent in Scotland. Menzie decided to create this quilt after returning home from her trip.