NEW GOSHEN —
When Kay Bozarth enters the sewing room of her rural New Goshen home, she is in her element.
Creative and elaborate quilts, clothing projects, pillows and wall hangings have their place among multiple sewing and embroidery machines.
“This is where I feel at home. This is my haven,” she said, seated in front of a quilt that contains more than one million stitches.
She created that quilt about six years ago, and it was the first one she had ever made.
“I don’t start anything small,” Kay said cheerily.
The queen-size quilt she has upstairs is testimony to that statement. Called Lavender Dreams, it took her about five months to complete, and it was that quilt that earned her attention from Australian embroidery and quilting magazine editor Jenny Haskins.
In 2008, Kay was accepted as one of 50 entries in the Haskins’ first U.S. academy of licensed instructors in Knoxville, Tenn. A friend at the show got the quilt from Kay’s room to show Haskins, who liked it so much she added it to her trunk show at the end of the school. Haskins also told Kay she planned to feature her as a “sewing legend” in her Creative Expressions magazine. That feature appeared in November’s issue of the international magazine.
“I truly feel honored that I was chosen to be featured,” Kay said.
Her love of sewing started in childhood as her mother sewed all of the clothes for Kay and her older sister. A farm girl, she was active in the clothing and foods projects of 4-H, as well as swine and beef. In fact, she won grand champion barrow at age 9 at the county fair.
Sewing was one of her favorite 4-H projects, and it turns out that she met her husband Dale at the Vigo County Fair.
They celebrated their 45th anniversary last September. The couple still operate their 80-acre farm, but Dale is now retired after 39 years as a banker. They work together on the flowers outside their home, and Dale enjoys hunting and bow fishing with his adult sons.
“I’m very, very fortunate that Dale supports me all of the way,” Kay said of her sewing projects. Their home showcases many of her creations, with quilted wall-hangings, pillows and other projects on display.
Dale does have his corner of the livingroom to showcase his deer and bear trophies. And he likes to joke that his wife has a “mini warehouse” of sewing materials inside the house. But since she does teach sewing classes out of her home, the equipment is essential. She now has eight sewing or embroidery machines, as well as her first sewing machine that she used for 23 years before wearing its gears out.
Kay is an instructor for Lori’s Pins and Needles in Paris, Ill., which is a well-known quilt shop in the Midwest. She teaches classes in embroidery quilts and special projects.
“Other than my family, sewing has always been my first love,” Kay said.
She credits her mother, Leah Van Houtin, now 91, and her home economics teacher Wilma Eckerty, 98, with molding her interest in sewing. In fact, Kay regularly takes her former teacher out to lunch.
“We still have a good relationship,” Kay said of Eckerty. “She is a delight and remains one of my favorite people to be around.”
After getting married and starting a family, Kay started doing alterations for people as extra income. She soon started sewing garments for many prominent citizens in Terre Haute, including doctors, dentists, teachers, business people and a judge, along with their families. She also tailored her husband’s suits and ties, created wedding gowns from pictures, and made slip covers, draperies and children’s clothes.
Kay was a professional seamstress for 10 years. But after a while she took a break and changed professions. She is now a paralegal for a well-known attorney, who lets her take time off for her sewing classes and projects.
The birth of a granddaughter led her back into sewing, and she has enjoyed creating clothes, Halloween costumes, and other items for both of her granddaughters ever since. Her creativity extends to making jackets out of sweatshirts, creating matching purses and jackets and other wearable projects.
When she first considered making a quilt, it was because she had seen a beautiful machine embroidered quilt and she took on the challenge of creating her own.
“I enjoy the pleasure of seeing something finished,” she said. “The accomplishment. And I thrive on challenges.”
She also thrives on perfection. After putting together the elaborate top of the Lavender Dream quilt, Kay realized there was one block that was placed in the wrong direction. She took the top apart and redid it, adding hours to the project.
“I don’t think of it as a mistake. Think of it as an opportunity to be creative and learn,” she said.
Juggling a career, her sewing classes and projects, and her home life with Dale, Kay said she has to coordinate her time and plan her days to keep things running smoothly.
“I’m very much a planner and organizer,” she said sitting in her sewing room. “Right now, I’m thinking ahead about my next quilt.”
In fact, she already has 20 half-yards of quilt fabric waiting for a black-and-white quilt design.
And, she is now piecing together a machine-embroidered wall-hanging that she calls “Ascension of Jesus.” It is a beautifully detailed design that Kay plans to donate for a silent auction fundraiser for a church in West Terre Haute.
She is putting a lot of time and detail into the project, and Dale is creating the wooden wall hangers that will display the work of art. She doesn’t usually make items for sale, but this one project is special. And while she is often the one giving instructions at classes, she also enjoys learning new techniques and taking classes herself. Her energy seems endless, and her creations priceless.
Lisa Trigg can be reached at (812) 231-4254 or lisa.trigg@tribstar.com.
Features
Related Photos
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At work: Kay Bozarth works on a custom piece in her home studio.
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Quilter: Kay Bozarth talks about quilting with Tribune-Star reporter Lisa Trigg at her residence in western Vigo County on April 24.
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Family: Dale Bozarth holds the family pet as he stands in the doorway of his New Goshen area home and listens as he wife Kay talks with Tribune-Star reporter Lisa Trigg.
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Detail: Close-up detail of embroidery work by Kay Bozarth.
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Project: Detail photo of a project currently underway for Kay Bozarth.
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Accredited: Kay Bozarth certificate from Jenny Haskins' Academy of Accredited Teachers.
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VL 042410 SEW DETAIL TWO.jpg
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Kay: Kay Bosarth talks with Tribune-Star reporter Lisa Trigg.
Discussion
New Goshen woman and long-time seamstress Kay Bozarth profiled in international magazine Creative Expressions
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