kitty pippen festival

By Patricia Belyea

LA CONNER, WA In recent years, when I attended the Tokyo Quilt Festival, I published a blog post featuring detailed photos of the Japanese quilts. In this post, I will show you close-up photos of Kitty Pippen’s quilts!

Color Wash with Triangles by Kitty Pippen, no date

This showing of quilts took place when Sylvia Pippen, Kitty’s daughter, presented many of her mother’s quilts to participants of an Okan Arts workshop.

It was a love fest! Sylvia cherished the genuine interest of the visiting quilters. The quilters loved seeing and touching Kitty’s quilts, which were filled with Japanese textiles.

Kitty, who passed just before her 98th birthday, was an identical twin born to Christian missionaries in China. She was always a maker—painting, knitting, stitching, and more.

Kitty made her first quilt with Japanese textiles at the age of 70. She won many national awards for her innovative piecing. Then, Kitty wrote her first quilting book when she was 80.

Let’s take a look!

Cranes 1988

Bamboo Garden 1990

Bamboo Garden, a quilt by Kitty Pippen, 1990

Komon-Sashiko Sampler, 1990

Komon-Sashiko Sampler, a quilt by Kitty Pippen, 1990

Iris, 1993

Blue & White Yukata, 1995

Blue & White Yukata, a quilt by Kitty Pippen, 1995

Linked Shapes, 1996

Linked Shapes, a quilt by Kitty Pippen, 1996

Music of the Spheres, 1997

Japanese Alpine Village, 1999

Japanese Alpine Village, a quilt by Kitty Pippen, 1999

Tribute to Mr Hana, 2001

Designs for the Inner City, a quilt by Kitty Pippen, 2003

Cranes Surrounded by Flying Geese, 2004

Cranes Surronded by Flying Geese, a quilt by Kitty Pippen, 2003

Kasuri Cranes on Hana Path, 2008

Kitty created a huge collection of remarkable quilts. Better yet, she labelled them so I was able to correctly report the names and years of her work.

If you want to see these quilts in person, suggest to your regional quilt museum that it host a Kitty Pippen exhibit. The best person for a curator to contact is Sylvia Pippen.

To check out Sylvia’s sashiko & stitch shop and find her contact info +click here

# # # # #

ABOUT US: Okan Arts, a petite family business, is co-owned by mother-daughter duo Patricia Belyea and Victoria Stone. Patricia and Victoria sell Japanese textiles online, host creative quilting experiences, and lead quilting & textile tours to Japan.

FOLLOW OKAN ARTS ON INSTAGRAM @okanarts