Frank Haight: Rita Feely has been quilting since age 8

Rita Feely is a creative, meticulous, multi-talented woman who excels in music as a vocalist, musician and teacher. She sings soprano in the Independence Messiah Choir, performs with two accordion bands and teaches piano and beginning accordion at The United Teachers of Music in Independence.

Although Rita has been playing the piano since she was 5, music is not her greatest passion. She prefers quilting, which has consumed her life since making her first quilt – a tied double-knit patch creation.

Rita, recipient of many quilting honors, has received another accolade – that of featured quilter at the “The Quilt Show of a Million Stitches.” Presented by the Crazy Ladies Quilt Guild, the show runs  from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 26 and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 27 in the Buckner Elementary School gym, 13 S. Sibley St.

This is not a juried show; however, attendees can vote for their favorite quilts. First-, second- and third-place ribbons will be awarded in each of the seven categories. In addition, one lucky visitor will take home the Raffle Quilt that the Crazy Ladies made and Rita machine-quilted. A long-legged frog also will be raffled.

The public can also participate in the free show by bringing their quilts to the Little Village Quilt Co., 323 S. Hudson St., Buckner, on Oct. 24. Call 650-3008 for additional information.

Rita, who teaches classes and does custom-machine quilting at Judy Bellville’s Little Village, learned to sew while growing up on a northwestern Kansas farm. As an 8-year-old, she created a nine-patch Scotty dog using her grandmother’s dress fabrics and treadle machine. This was her first sewing project.

“I loved to use her treadle machine,” she says, recalling she was inspired to sew at an early age by her mother, who taught her to sew clothing, crochet and knit. “There were six of us girls and Mother would go to town and buy one pattern and a bolt of fabric, and we would have the same (kind of) dresses.”

Following high school, Rita purchased her first sewing machine – an old Singer – and headed off to Patricia Steven’s Career College in Wichita, Kan., where she made clothing for the school fashion show.  Rita continued to sew after graduating, even though she didn’t particularly enjoy it.

Says Rita:  “I would rather sew something flat and be more creative with it.”

So when Rita was first introduced to quilting, it’s not surprising she became infatuated with it because it allowed her to be creative.

“Even when I do use somebody else’s pattern, I don’t stick to that pattern. I will change it to what I think it should look like in my own mind,” she says, adding, “I let the quilt talk to me even when I am putting a pattern on a quilt. I look at it and I analyze it and say, ‘This is what this pattern needs.’ What you are looking for in each quilt are things that will bring it to life.”

And Rita knows how to bring quilts to life. Two of her creations, -- “Gateway to Freedom” and “Dream Weaver,” were hung, respectively, at the Houston International Quilt Market in 2003 and at the Kansas City International Quilt Market in 2002.

“Gateway to Freedom,” an original design inspired by 9/11, was accepted in the “American Strengths, American Values 2003 Challenge.” “Dream Weaver” was accepted in the “Patterns of History 1930-1950 Pick a Pack – Pick a Pattern Kansas City Star Challenge.”

“Creative” is a word Rita uses often.

“I just love being creative,” she says. “And (quilting) is an avenue, that if you allow yourself, you can be very creative in. You have to think outside the box and you have to be willing to have some mistakes and have some things that don’t meet the challenges and prerequisites.”

Calling herself “meticulous,” Rita refers to herself as a perfectionist who is harder on herself than any other person. She hates mistakes. But if she makes one, “I’ll correct it,” she says. “... I wouldn’t have it any other way.”