Terrific Tees

Roberta DeLuz has been stitching since she could hold a needle. She studied industrial arts at the College of the Alameda, supporting herself by doing alterations and selling handmade clothes. However, she did not start quilting until 1990, when she was taken to a quilt shop on a date. She is passionate about the process of quiltmaking, concentrating on the details of design and execution. This passion has led several of her quilts to travel in national exhibits for Quilts for a Cure (2002), the Hoffman Challenge (2004), and the Kaufman Challenge (2005). She loves her quilts to be used and does her best work when the quilts have a purpose. The choice of designing T-shirt quilts was totally serendipitous. "I think if the first one had been anything other than Bay to Breakers, I might not have made the leap in this direction. The tees were so inspiring-it just happened." Roberta is a Realtor when she isn't sewing in her Benicia, California, home, which she shares with two cats. She is the mother of one grown son.