Pictured from L to R: Lisa Ellis, friend Claudia Sammis, Katie Pasquini.
For nearly 50 years, Katie Pasquini Masopust has created high-quality contemporary art quilts that have been admired, collected, and celebrated by a wide range of enthusiasts. Beginning her career as a painter exploring traditional quiltmaking, her work has evolved from structured mandalas and striking dimensional pieces to painterly landscapes and bold abstracts, all crafted with the finest fabrics and most inventive stitching techniques.
Katie’s artistry has earned her numerous awards and accolades, including the Silver Star Award from the Houston Quilt Festival in 2005 and, most recently, her induction into the Quilters Hall of Fame in 2024.
A prolific author and dedicated teacher, she shares her passion for creative quilting through her many books, extensive teaching, and by hosting the Alegre Retreat—an annual art quilt conference in Gateway, Colorado. Having begun her career as an art quilter in her early twenties, Katie remains deeply committed to supporting and inspiring young, emerging artists, ensuring that the future of art quilting continues to thrive.
Lisa Ellis is a quilt artist, teacher, and lecturer whose work bridges tradition and innovation. Fascinated by the Cathedral Window block, she explores its interplay of fabric, light, and dimension through a contemporary lens. By working in a series, Lisa reimagines this motif with fresh color palettes, shifting scales, abstraction, and negative space demonstrating how a single form can become a framework for modern expression. She encourages quilters of all levels to use series work to spark ideas, refine skills, and build a cohesive artistic voice.
Since retiring from the corporate world in 2003, she has dedicated herself to the arts and nonprofit service.
As chair of Sacred Threads, Lisa directed its biennial exhibition of quilts on themes of spirituality, joy, healing, grief, and peace. Though the exhibit has moved from Washington, DC to Indianapolis, she continues to serve as treasurer and mentor to its new leadership team.
Her leadership extends across the quilting community: she is a past President of Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA) and currently serves on the boards of the Quilt Alliance and the International Quilt Museum. She also curates Art in Hospitals, a growing initiative that places quilt exhibitions in healthcare settings, where art becomes a source of comfort, connection, and renewal.
