Louise and Quilting......by Joyce oroz

The Dragonfly Gallery’s “Artist of the Month” this joyful month of June belongs to none other than Louise Coombes,  expert designer and maker of quilts.

Louise Coombes is an active and beloved member of the Aroma Hills Artisan guild. Give her three paper plates and a string and she will create a Lamborghini  …OK, that’s an exaggeration. Just give her all your old ties and she will create a masterpiece quilt—no lie. The possibilities are endless.

Louise Coombes discovered quilting in 2005, and was fascinated by all the different techniques that may be employed; the more complex and intricate the better! She began making quilts for clients in 2009 when friends visited and made the request, and around the same time she discovered that local quilt stores needed someone to make quilts for non-quilting folks who walked in requesting quilts to be made for a variety of occasions, including; weddings; graduation; memorial or simply “just because”, and so Joyous Quilter was born. Aided by specially designed computer software, she designs unique quilts for each client; T-shirt quilts are ever popular but, of particular enjoyment, was a recent request for a sack full of neckties to be made into two wall-hangings. One of her quilts, “Fair Ribbons”, was made from a huge box of 4H ribbons and was featured in a National Quilting magazine earlier this year!

Louise enjoys the prospect of a new challenge and has made quilts and wall-hangings from all manner of things; clothing of all descriptions, photographs, the aforementioned 4H ribbons as well as machine embroidered words and embellishments. She is even planning a project to incorporate her own wedding dress and her hubby’s wedding suit, along with photos of the occasion and a variety of embellishments from the day, into a wall-hanging – Wedding Planners take note!

Inspired by the wonderfully talented and encouraging Aromas Hills Artisans group, of which she has been a three year active member since moving to the beautiful (and cooler!) environment of Aromas, Louise is also planning to work with Interior Designers to move into what is perhaps perceived as more ‘artistic’ wall-hangings, representing landscapes or abstractions....or whatever!

Visit www.joyousquilter.com for stories and pictures of all her quilts in many Galleries.

To see Louise Coombes’ work in real life, visit the Dragonfly Gallery at 380 Blohm Ave., Aromas, CA   

831-224-888