How The Journey Began

Kristy Moeller Ottinger was born in Tipton, Indiana. She is the older of two girls born to Herbert and Lucy Moeller, who raised their children to be resourceful and—it turns out—creative. If they wanted something, they were encouraged to make it themselves. Making was a part of life in the Moeller household, where Herbert was a cabinetmaker and Lucy a dressmaker.

At the tender age of nine, Ottinger began learning the sewing skills that would lead to her eventual focus on fiber art. A lifelong learner, Ottinger earned degrees in Bible, Education, and an MFA in art. She taught both elementary and college art until 2016, when she left teaching to pursue art quilting full-time.

Best known for her narrative art quilts, Ottinger embellishes her work relentlessly, using found objects, mixed media, embroidery, paint, and writing. As she moved through her formal art education, Ottinger dabbled in other media, eventually earning an MFA in painting. A 1994 scholarship to Burren College of Art in Ireland introduced her to an Irish quilter who provided bits of silk for her initial art quilt. Her first love reawakened; Ottinger returned to fiber art. Now, her exquisitely detailed narrative quilts show her artful, meticulous sewing skill, as well as demonstrating her talent for incorporating any mixed media that enhances the stories told by her pieces.

“Making art is my form of worship.  Every creation is a spiritual conversation. Each bead sewn or found object attached comes with a prayer.“