Ellen Kochansky learned how to squint while she was studying theater design. The kind of squinting quilters use to get distance from the picture. As she acquired a profound sense of pageantry and sweep, she learned to really sew.

First it was clothing, then Kochansky realized that beds come in fewer sizes than people. She could spend her time having fun with textures rather than worrying about sleeve length. So she began making quilts.

Over time, her artistic concerns have evolved from the familiar ones - color, texture, value - into more philosophic issues of archives, environment, and especially community. The kind of community that comes with making art that warms people's souls as well as their walls and beds.