Musician, Contemporary Quiltmaker, and More!
Ricky Tims has successfully blended several diverse creative passions into one very unique and interesting career. He is a well-known as a multi-diverse creative artist. He is a professional quilter, life-long musician, avid photographer, and most recently—novelist.
He is known in the international world of quilting as a best-selling author, enthusiastic and encouraging teacher, and award-winning quilter. He is also a notable designer and spellbinding speaker. His entertaining presentations feature live music and humor combined with scholarly insights and motivational anecdotes. His quilts have been displayed worldwide and are highly regarded as excellent examples of contemporary quilts with traditional appeal.
Ricky has taught in 20 countries on six continents, including Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Germany, South Africa, Kenya, Russia and Kazakhstan, to name a few. Ricky began designing and making quilts in 1991. He was named as one of The Thirty Most Distinguished Quilters in the World and profiled and featured on the popular television news show, CBS News Sunday Morning. He was selected (in a three-way tie) by the readers of Quilter's Newsletter Magazine as The Most Influential Person in the Quilting Industry.
He is co-founder and co-host of The Quilt Show (www.thequiltshow.com) an online, subscription-based TV show for quilters that he co-hosts with Alex Anderson. He leads multiple online classes and seminars (found at: www.letsquiltogether.com). He is challenged by creativity in all forms, and encourages individuals to cultivate self-expression, reach for the unreachable, and believe in the impossible.
While Quilting has been Ricky's primary career since 1998, his lifelong creative discipline has been music. He began formal music lessons at the age of three. He is a pianist, conductor, composer, arranger, music producer, and performing artist. His solo artist discography includes: Heart and Soul, Christmastime, Sacred Age, Christmas in a Small Town, and most recently Alone With My Thoughts (2021). His music can be found on most streaming services. Ricky's music has wide appeal for a diverse audience has been described as “George Winston meets Carlos Nakai meets Yanni.”
Ricky is an passionate art photographer and teaches composition, camera techniques, and the use of photography software at his online photography teaching site: www.photoclassforyou.com
Ricky and his long-time friend, Kat Bowser, co-wrote Lizzy Albright and the Attic Window (2020). The fantasy-fiction story features an over-imaginative ten year old girl, an antique quilt, a goose named Gretta, and a cursed kingdom. These ingredients combine to provide the foundation for a fantastic story filled with surprise, wonderment, and bravery.
Ricky lives on an extremely remote high country mountain ranch in Southern Colorado with his husband, Hugo, and their dogs, Barley and Rosie.
Ricky Tims Chronology
Born March 11, 1956
Lived in Wichita Falls , TX until 1985
High School – S. H. Rider High School – Wichita Falls
University – Midwestern State University – Wichita Falls
Lived in Waco , TX 1985-1988
Lived in St. Louis , MO 1988-2000
Lived in Arvada , CO 2000-2003
Moved to La Veta in December of 2003
Moved to a remote area in Huerfano County near La Veta, Colorado in 2018.
