Sew She Says
Quilter takes risks to craft fiber creations
By Jennie Blevins
September 2026
Kim Brownell got hooked on quilts and fiber the first time she picked up a piece of fabric.
Her first piece was a quilted coat called Penguins Paradise, made in 1993. Even now, three decades later, she isn’t sure where her creative side comes from. Her mother and grandmother didn’t sew or quilt.
This much Brownell knows: she’s the Wacky Doodle Quilter, a self-given name that describes the artist and her work in various mediums.
“I just decided to start sewing,” Brownell says. “I did not come from a family of sewists or quilters. My mom is an outdoors woman. I picked up a used machine and started taking classes and learned basic sewing and then started quilting.”
Brownell takes risks and will experiment with anything.
“I love collage and playing with different stuff,” she says. “I call myself a quilt artist or a fiber artist with a mixed media bent.”
As for styles, there is none.
“My work is very eclectic,” she says. “I love to try all different things and am a big risk-taker.”
Born and raised in Sacramento, she lives with her husband of 39 years in North Highlands. Her work has won prizes locally and beyond.
“I have been in local quilt shows, like the River City Quilters Guild, the California State Fair, Rancho Cordova Arts shows and the Elk Grove Fine Arts Center,” she says.
Recently, Brownell started applying metal to fabric and created a city-themed piece she calls “Metropolis.”
“Metal is not new for me. I have been playing with metal and fabric for the last few years, but I finished the ‘Metropolis’ piece a few weeks ago,” she says.
Brownell worked full-time for years but now earns a living teaching fiber art classes. She enjoys the confluence of making, teaching and lecturing. “It gives me a creative outlet.”
She teaches on Zoom and in person. She’s a member of Studio Art Quilt Associates, a nonprofit that promotes the art of quilting. She instructs at quilt guilds, quilt shows and quilt festivals. She teaches all over the world.
“I taught at the Houston International Quilt Festival for three years,” she says. “My pieces are all over the place and whatever I want to do I try.”
Brownell recently did a demonstration for Global Quilt Connection, which connects teachers with guilds, and completed a demo on how to sew metal onto fabrics.
Her accomplishments are displayed in a room in her house, a room filled with ribbons and awards.
“I’m a Renaissance woman,” she says. “A jack of all trades.”
For information, visit thewackydoodlequilter.com or on Instagram: @the.wackydoodle.quilter.
Jennie Blevins can be reached at tezakjennie35@gmail.com. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram: @insidesacramento.
