Creative Outlet

Girard able to pass along what she’s learned, while also learning new skills

Now in retirement, Priscilla Girard has been able to combine two of the things her life has been devoted to, teaching and quilting.

She’s always had a mind to combine these two passions, but it wasn’t until after retiring from the English department at Monache High School after 22 years, that she was finally able to take her passion for quilting, especially embellishment, to the next level, and in doing so, learn new things and connect with a wider group of women. She currently teaches classes at the Calico Mermaid on Main Street in Porterville, and at Thimble Town in Visalia.

“I’ve been really busy. But it’s all fun things. I love retirement. It’s fabulous, I recommend it to everybody,” Girard said. “Retirement affords you the time to develop an interest you never would have been able to when you were working, and develop new friendships and expand your horizons. It’s creating a whole new self.”

Girard began quilting in her early twenties, and was an avid participant in Jean Ray Laury’s Quilt Camp, which she attended for 26 summers. While she worked, she was a member of a quilting guild, but was never able to attend the daytime meetings. She continued to keep her interest in quilting peaked by going to retreats.

Unlike other quilters, Girard has always used the craft to create her own personal clothing style. Her clothing was quilted and embellished and “very different, much to the chagrin of my daughter.” Her daughter teaches as well and dresses very traditionally in comparison to Girard, who would wear her creations to work. However, Girard said, she thinks this desire to embellish might be rubbing off on her granddaughter, who she taught to sew in the first grade.

“She’s very crafty, so I am hoping that she carries it on.”

Girard’s life-long work has allowed her to exhibit garments in national-level shows, winning best of show at Road to California 12 years ago.

Because she spent her life making quilted garments, she started last fall by teaching others techniques to quilt clothing. Her classes in embellishment came about as an offshoot of that interest.

Even though she has been able to teach novice-level quilting classes, because she came from this garment background, she has never really considered herself a “traditional quilter.” Instead, she feels her work falls in and is perfect for those who want to be “art quilters.”

Art quilting “is not the type of traditional quilting that people think of,” Girard said. For art quilters, the quilt is a canvas, and those who make these sort of quilts are looking for ways to extend the traditional forms of quilting into something different. She’s seen a rise in the number of quilters interested in making art quilts, and feels her techniques work well in these types of quilts. Her classes focus on using different types of threads for color, yarns and ribbons for added textures, and sequins for sparkle.

 “One of the things I try to stress in my classes is that there are no rules. I am not the quilt police. It is your quilt and you get to do whatever you want with it,” Girard said. She has taken classes from traditional quilters, and has noticed that there is a tendency to become attached to a technique, and that these teachers do not encourage their students to veer from that. For traditional quilters taking her classes, she hopes to show them that they don’t have to follow the rules or use her work as a template for their own.

She’s found as a teacher that a lot of retired women have fallen into quilting and are attending classes as new quilters.

“It’s very inspiring to share your knowledge and your love of something and find that camaraderie and get to bond with a lot of different women. I always learn more from my students then I think they learn from me.”

Girard is hoping to pull younger learners into her classes, and showed some of her work in an exhibit of art quilts, “Not Your Mother’s Quilts” at Porterville College.

“A lot of people who came in made comments like ‘I didn’t know you could do that with quilts’.”

Whether working or in retirement, Girard says it is very important to have a creative outlet like quilting.

“Sewing and quilting was how I coped with the stress of being a parent and working full-time.”

Along with teaching, Girard has made it her goal in retirement to learn new skills. She’s been taking a stained-glass class, and joined the Master Gardeners, where she serves as the historian.

“I get to take a lot of classes, which I couldn’t do when I was working. It’s a real creative and inspiring time for me. Every day is a real adventure, and I say what do I get to do today? It’s all things I love.”