Artist Of The Week
Friday, August 27, 2004 Page: 23
arbara Tibus
Tibus at a glance: Years ago, Tibus, her mother and aunts gathered in the
dining room to take on a pastime that is getting more interest and attention
these days: quilting.
“I guess you could say I’ve had quilting in my life for a very long
time,” says Tibus, 42, a Swoyersville native and mother of four.
Tibus learned how to do hand quilting when she was 12. Later in high
school, she was into other types of art and won a few awards for her work. She
also did woodworking, sewing, painting and even made Teddy bears at one point.
Her plan was to continue art studies, but she put that aside after a
semester in the commercial-arts program at Luzerne County Community College.
She says she hated her studies and wanted to find herself. So she did what a
lost or rebellious teenager might do: She enlisted in the Army and ended up
stationed in Germany.
Eventually she returned to Northeastern Pennsylvania and got back into
quilting in 1989 after she took a class. Looking for alternatives to hand
quilting, she discovered machine quilting by the 1990s after attending a
quilting show in Lancaster. And she bought a Gammill machine that would allow
her to do intricate quilts in faster time than her hands alone would allow.
Dozens of quilts later, she says she rarely completes one of her own
designs and mostly works on quilts for other people through her home-based
business, Quilts to Treasure, which she started in 1997.
“Once they’re out of my hands I never know where they are going to turn
up,” she says. “A quilt speaks for itself. Sometimes it speaks and says,
`This is what I need to be finished.’ And sometimes you have to coax them. We
like the ones that speak.”
While her quilting has won awards and helped Tibus get work, life overall
in recent years hasn’t been easy. Tibus lost her husband, Robert, to cancer in
and in his final months, he helped set up a classroom space at Tibus’ shop.
“He was thrilled whenever any of my pieces won an award or ribbon,” says
Tibus, who teaches applique in the region.
This summer, too, the rain damaged the foundation of her West Wyoming home.
So right now, a new foundation is getting worked on, and Tibus and her family
are living elsewhere until Christmas, when the job is expected to be
completed.
“It has been a hard time getting up and running again,” she says. “I’m
doing this by myself.”
But somehow she does. And she’s finding a bit of success with her own work.
A rare piece she completed during a class is now displayed through Sept. 12 at
a Wisconsin museum as well as pictured in a book called “Whitework Quilting”
by Karen McTavish (On-Ward Bound Books, 2004).
And Tibus says once her home repairs are finished she wants to work on her
own quilts for contests.
What inspires her: “I look at lots of books, a lot of architectural
books,” Tibus says. Her inspiration also comes from trees, gardens, buildings
and floral books.
Advice to aspiring quilters: “Be patient, and you must practice,” she
says. “Take a class. Take as many classes as you can. Learn about your craft
more and more, and being educated will help you sell more.” Another important
point, she says, is to have fun while you work.
Show: “Whitework Long Ago,” an exhibit of wholecloth quilts from
“Whitework Quilting” by author and quilting instructor Karen McTavish, at
the Fairlawn Mansion and Museum in Superior, Wis. Tibus’ quilt is part of the
exhibit, which runs from Aug. 21 to Sept. 12. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. For more information,
call the Fairlawn at (715) 394-5712.
< /CLARK VAN ORDEN
Barbara Tibus of West Wyoming has spent years learning the ins and outs of
quilting. Her work is on display in an exhibit in Wisconsin.
This original quilt is a rare piece by West Wyoming resident Barbara Tibus.
While she usually does quilting for customers, from time to time she makes
ones for herself. She is the Artist of the MARQUES G. HARPER
