Award-Winning Quilter’s Work Goes on Display

The quilt stands like a crown of Ellen Heck’s work.

Perfectly stitched appliques of birds, flowers, butterflies, grapes, oranges and avocados come together creating a picture that the Somis woman describes as “a botanic album quilt that is a small window into Ventura County”

Named “Nature’s Splendor,” the quilt, which is on display at Fabric Depot in Santa Paula, has won eight awards from Glendale to Santa Barbara to Houston.

Although she has been quilting only since 1987, Heck has won several awards nationwide for her quilts. She says the inspiration for her designs comes from the verdant agricultural land of Ventura County.

“I go around the county taking pictures of flowers, orchards and gardens. Then I try to replicate nature’s splendor to a quilt,” said Heck, 64, who has made seven quilts, all designed to hang on walls.

During February, all of Heck’s quilts will be on display at Fabric Depot.

Among them are “A Day in the Country,” which won first place at the Houston Quilt Festival in 1992, and a small quilt displaying a basket of apples, pears, plums and grapes--inspired by a fruit basket Heck bought at a produce stand in Somis.

Heck, a native of Stuttgart, Germany, designed all the quilts she has made, and the patterns are available for purchase at Fabric Depot.

Heck said that although quilting is relatively new to her, she grew up in a family in which the women always had a knitting, embroidery or sewing project.

After she graduated from high school, she spent three years as a seamstress apprentice.

“Sewing and working with fabrics have always been a love to me,” she said. “So I guess that’s why I’ve done so well with quilting.”