Quilter's Unique Creations Featured at Guild Show

By Edmund Moy

Sunset resident Letitia "Tish" Chung started sewing at age eight, making doll clothes. Over the years, she began sewing clothing for herself and her children.

But when her daughter asked her to make a quilt, she read a book about quilting and made her first one in 1975.

Quilting has long been used for clothing in China, the Middle East, North Africa, and the colder areas of Europe. Now, it is primarily associated with the construction of bed covers and wall hangings.

Quilting is a sewing technique in which two layers of fabric, usually with an insulating interior layer, are sewn together with multiple rows of stitching.

Quilted fabric and whole-cloth quilts were common trade goods in wealthy circles in Europe and Asia going back as far as the 15th century. Techniques for piecing fabric together are probably as old as ancient Egypt, if not older.

The making of pieced quilts, made up of cut pieces of fabric sewn in block form with the blocks then sewn together to make the quilt, is a more recent development. Pieced block quilts, often called "patchwork," did not become the dominant form of quilt-making until the mid-19th century.

Fifteen years after creating her first quilt, Chung became interested in Asian designs. With her children grown and out of school, she found time to attend quilting classes and began working on her own designs for contemporary Asian-style quilts.

Chung eventually began creating quilts based on pictures of animals from the Chinese 12 animal Zodiac, including a dragon for her son and rat for her daughter. When her niece got married, she created a quilt with Mandarin ducks, which represents happy marriage and fidelity.

In Chung's first quilting class, her talent caught the eye of instructor Roberta Horton, who later featured Chung's quilt in her book "The Fabric Makes the Quilt," which was based on a special exhibit at the 1995 Pacific International Quilt Festival.

In 1996, Chung entered her first quilt show, the San Francisco Quilters Guild Show, where her quilts garnered ribbons for first and second place, "Honorable Mention," and "Viewer's Choice." Another quilt, "A Star Among Fushias," was featured in the January/February issue of the Quilters Newsletter Magazine.

"I love textiles. I love working with fabrics," said Chung, who now teaches quilting classes and dabbles in Shibori dyeing, a Japanese form of dyeing cloth with a pattern by binding, stitching, folding, twisting or compressing it. A similar method known in the West is tie-dye.

Today, Chung continues to add to her "stash" of fabrics, which she saves in a box for later use because there are no "reprints" of certain styles, textures and color patterns. The "stash" of fabrics is what gives her a unique palate to create her quilts from.

In February, Chung's quilts were featured at the San Francisco Quilters Guild Show at the Concourse Exhibition Center.

The San Francisco Quilters Guild was started by a group of about 30 quilters and quilt enthusiasts and now has approximately 300 members, both amateur and professional. The guild is open to all ages and experience, and reflects the diverse ethnic range of the Bay Area. Quilts produced by guild members often range from strictly traditional to modern art quilts and wearable arts.

The San Francisco Quilters Guilds Community Outreach program provides quilts for premature babies at California Pacific Medical Center's Homeless Prenatal Program and other organizations. Quilts have also been donated to the Asian Women's Shelter, Canon Barcus Community House and St. Anthony's Foundations' Marian Residence for Women.

Monthly meetings featuring local and nationally-known quilters and quilt experts, who share their knowledge, techniques and artwork, are held the third Thursday of each month (except in November and December) at the Chinese Seventh Day Adventist Church, 7777 Geary Blvd. ( at 42nd Avenue). The public is welcome. Guest admission is $30.

For more information about the San Francisco Quilters Guild, visit the Web site at www.sfqg.org. For more information about Roberta Horton's books, visit her Web site at www.robertahorton.com.