Born Where ~ Glendale, AZ Luke Air Force Base
Live Where ~ Junction City, Kansas
Tell us something about you!
A retired school teacher of 37 years in the profession: Bachelor of Science in elementary education, a Master’s Degree in Education, an Endorsement in Library Media Specialist and a National Board Certification Teacher. The illustrious teaching career spanned Oklahoma, Kansas, and Germany. Traveling, reading, teaching, cooking, Quilts of Valor, and talking to her connected circle of friends are passions which keeps the life of retirement enjoyable. Spending time with her wonderful husband Ronald Atkinson Sr., a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel of 34 years and their son Ronald Atkinson Jr., a graduate of Kansas State University with a BS in music education.When did you become a quilter?
First quilt was made at the age of ten 51 years ago and periodically made baby quilts as gifts. The life of quilting passionately peaked full bloom around 2009 after becoming a member of a quilting circle with African American women. The urge to know and grow took on its own course with reading, experimenting, and pushing into areas with reading knowledge. As the urged pressed on so did the dream of finishing quilts from beginning to end, therefore owning a longarm quilting machine was on the list to accomplish, so did the desire to find her own niche of quilting from traditional, creating self-patterned quilts, fabric dyeing, thread art, quilts incorporating machine embroidery, mixed media experimentation quilts, art quilts and art quilts with statements. I am a self-taught quilter as well as self-taught free motion and ruler work quilter!
Why do you quilt?Quilting is a passion and it will be the legacy I leave after my “Dash” My Dad told me, “You have your grandmother’s hands” which is my great grandmother. The desire for quilting is within my soul, the fabrics speak to me, the designated designs come in dreams. I truly believe the ancestors are speaking to me and their love of quilting comes through. I want to believe that my ancestors quilting would have evolved to what I do in quilting if we could quilt side by side.
What is your favorite part of quilting?
All aspects of quilting are my favorite. Binding a quilt was not and prayer has put me on an all new level; it took some years but with an earnest prayer of asking Him to help with a love binding for as much as a for love designing, piecing and longarm quilting. So now a stack of quilts to hand bind is an awaited sense of PEACE to finish a quilt; no machine binding in this studio!
What is the part of quilting you don’t like?
At one time is was batting but prayer changes things!
Where do you find inspiration?
Inspiration comes from dreams, creating one of a kind quilts. In the beginning it was gifting quilts to my siblings, nieces, nephews, great nieces, great nephews, new babies arriving in the family and a few close friends who I call MY SISTERS. Six years ago with purchasing African waxed fabrics scraps from a local dress maker pushed traditional quilting fabrics off the radar and the challenge to use African waxed fabrics to the center and an entire “Newness” was birthed. The African waxed fabrics creates its own language to a quilt and that in itself keeps the inspiration pointing upward with self-challenges.
What do you do when you are not quilting?
When not quilting sketching, doodling, reading books on quilting is an automatic. A small notebook is always in my purse to jot down a line drawing for longarm designs or to sketch which could derive into a quilt. Knowing how one brain works and a love for teaching time is set aside for two or three struggling readers to accomplish the task of becoming a reader. Traveling is always in the works with the husband and a trip of 10 or more days the traveling machine is in tow as well as the sketch booklet. A few stops along the way where the desire is only red, white, and blue fabrics for Quilts of Valor; rarely are other fabrics put into the basket for purchase!
Below we have pictured some of Montika’s work
