Quilts y Más

Hillsboro, New Mexico

by Betty Reynolds

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Betty Reynolds has been sewing since junior high days back in the 1950's and comes from a long line of women who sew, knit, crochet and do other needlework. She made her first quilt in 1967, but started quilting seriously in 1991 when she made a family quilt to celebrate the 50th wedding anniversary of her parents.

Educated as a librarian, Betty worked in special and academic libraries for over thirty years, most recently as director of the New Mexico Tech Library in Socorro. Now retired and living in Hillsboro, she own Quilts y Más, a multi-service quilt studio.

Betty's quilts have won blue, best of show, and viewers' choice ribbons at the Socorro County Fair in both needlework and fiber art categories. Two miniature quilts, "Ms Charlene Treuse Meets the Sunbonnet Sisters" and "Op Choc" won Pine Lakes Fabrics contests in 1997, and another "Postcard from Camp Yahoo" won a viewers' choice award at Flagstaff's Quilt Camp in the Pines in 1998.

Miniature quilts are a great way to try new color combinations or new block designs. I can finish a miniature in a week as compared to the months of work it takes to design and quilt a bed-sized quilt.

Besides making new quilts, on commission Betty finishes quilt tops started by her customers, or quilts they have inherited. She also repairs or restores old quilts.

The challenge is in finding just the right fabric to complete or repair a quilt started decades ago, and in finding just the right quilting pattern to enhance the quilt design. The process can be very labor-intensive and time-consuming--the expensive. But when your old quilt has a lot of memories tied up in it, it's worth paying to save it.

Betty works in a wide variety of pieced quilting styles and fabrics, including old denim.

If I've not yet found my own quilting style it's because I'm still fascinated by every single quilt I see and want to make one just like it! I love the effect of seeing old favorite quilt blocks made up in contemporary bold, bright fabrics. I love to experiment with surface texture by adding buttons and beads and quilting with metallic threads.

I'm deeply committed to saving the Earth's resources. I love the idea of taking old discarded denim clothing and turning it into something that will be useful for many years to come. My denim quilts are meant to be carried in your car or truck. They serve equally well as padding, covering, or insulation for things you carry as well as covering you. Some cold winter night a denim quilt might save your life!