It’s all true: Confessions of a Quiltaholic

By Joyce Becker

Well, here goes. You might be wondering, “Who the heck is Joyce Becker and why the heck should I read her column.” So, instead of just telling you about myself, I’ll give you a brief “physical” description. I am a feisty, fun-loving, red-headed, pleasingly plump, enthusiastic and passionate landscape quilt artist, author, wife, mother, and grandmother. I’m “well-seasoned,” which is just another way of saying “I’ve been around the quilting block” more than I care to admit. I’m a bit “spicy,” which means “I’ll try any food or quilting technique at least once,” and I love to laugh.

Sometimes my students ask how I got into the writing, teaching and lecturing quilting circut, and my reply has always been, “It’s an accidental profession.” I never really planned on this career; I just sorta kinda “fell” into it. I was a journalism major in college and have always loved to write. I decided to go back to college at the ripe old age of 40 and take an advanced writing class. So, there I was, this “older broad” in a class of college-aged students, loving every single moment of it. With the encouragement of my writing professor, I took a huge leap in faith and wrote an article featuring a local quilt shop owner and it ended up being published in a mainstream quilting magazine. After many, many more articles were published in magazines, I thought, “Heck’s fire, Joyce, whatta ya got to lose, why not write a quilting book?” So, I did, and in 1996, “Nature’s Patterns” was published by the Quilt Digest Press.

After my book came out, I was at home minding my own business, doing the typical “mom” things, and I started getting e-mails, letters, and phone calls from quilt guilds, and conference organizers asking if I’d come and lecture and teach for them. Without thinking, my mouth flapped open and I replied enthusiastically, “You bettcha, I’d positively love to come and teach and lecture for your guild or conference.”

The next thing I knew, I was “Leaving on a jet plane,” with stars in my eyes, thinking, “Geese, here I am, flying across the country to some new place I’ve never been, to do something I absolutely love, and they are actually going to pay me!!! I will never forget my first lecture. Paralyzed with fear, knees knocking, and ready to pee my pants, I forgot every word of my well-practiced speech. “What in the holy heck was I thinking when I said yes to the invitation”?” Then, a sweet-faced quilter near the front of the audience gave me a big fat smile and all my fear and panic dissolved, and I had two-hundred new quilting friends.

For me, 40 was the magic age. I decided it was high time to do those things I always dreamed of doing, so instead of mid-life crisis, I had a mid-life burst of creativity. I continued writing, but also began designing and creating landscape quilts, using my own techniques. Before you know it, my second book, “Luscious Landscapes,” followed by a third book, “Beautifully Embellished Landscapes,” and a DVD, “Joyce Becker Teaches You Landscape Quilting,” were published by C&T Publishing.

I have so many totally cool stories and poignant memories to share with you, and hope to introduce you to some cool artists in our area, all of which will focus on quilting. I hope in nothing flat, that we’ll all be friends too. My hope is that you’ll let this crazy, red-head “quiltaholic” entertain you, introduce you to some gifted artists, and give you a few laughs, and maybe a few tears in the days to come. Until then, I wish each of you happy quilting!

Joyce Becker is a Kent resident and a new columnist for the Kent Reporter. She will be appearing twice a month in our print and online editions.

Let us know what you think! Send your comments to Editor Laura Pierce at lpierce@kentreporter.com, or by calling 253-872-6600, ext. 5050.