Left to right: Sue Whaples and Dava Esman
Cynthia Schwartz
The PebbleCreek Quilting Club proudly celebrates and displays the fabric creations of Sue Whaples and Dava Esman in the Creative Arts Center. Both quilters love color, working with fabric, and have developed their own perspective to quilting.
Sue Whaples grew up sewing, focusing on tailoring men’s suits and ladies’ evening gowns. Twenty years ago, Sue attended a quilting class with her husband Emory. Sue was immediately hooked on quilting. This class catapulted her quilting journey as Sue sought out to learn every technique to add to her skill set. Sue developed her approach to quilting: create something different from a pattern design.
Her inspiration is her desire to go beyond the “usual” and sometimes includes media other than fabric. An example is Sue’s award-winning creation called “The Geisha Girls.” The faces of the Geisha Girls were created with polymer clay. Sue created wigs and adorned the ladies’ hair with beads and stick pins. Using her own pattern, Sue won a second place ribbon in a Judy Niemeyer’s nationwide quilt contest and has won numerous ribbons in local shows. Sue does it all! She loves teaching classes for the PebbleCreek Quilting Club, including how to make wallets, bags, Christmas tree wall hangings, and other types of blocks and quilts. Sue commented, “My creativity has evolved over the last 20 years, and I hope to keep going for another 20 years!”
Dava Esman is a newcomer to PebbleCreek and the PebbleCreek Quilting Club. Her sewing journey began when she took a home economics class in school and made an A-line skirt. This led to sewing clothes for Barbie dolls and other garments. When her daughter was born, Dava made a baby quilt. But, being a single mother and business owner, she put aside her sewing for a while. Dava began sewing again a few years ago and commented, “I like being productive as well as creative. It has been a struggle because I never took a formal class and I am a perfectionist. I am always learning from my mistakes.” She is planning to sign up for the Quilting 101 class that will be offered by the PebbleCreek Quilting Club this year. Dava’s joy comes from her love for color. She said, “I like color and fabric has lots of color!”
Dava strongly believes in giving back to the PebbleCreek Quilting Club and the community. She learned the long arm machine and is quilting charity quilts to donate to the organizations supported by the club, and contributes to the Go With the Flow project of the Women’s Giving Circle by stitching up little bags. She also volunteered to sell tickets for a chance to win the “Opportunity Quilt” that is displayed in the Creative Arts Center and in the background of the photo of Sue and Dava.
Thank you, Sue and Dava, for sharing your creations and letting us learn about your journeys.