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LA CONNER — With a $422,000 restoration project looming, Liz Theaker knows she’s got her work cut out for her.

The new director of the La Conner Quilt & Textile Museum said she’s looking forward to the challenge of orchestrating the project that will bring the historic museum building up to date and comply with requirements of buying the building from the Town of La Conner.

“I’m excited for this challenge, knowing there’s a lot at stake,” Theaker said.

Theaker was recently hired to replace Garry Cline, who took over as director in May 2007 but has decided to retire.

Theaker, a 31-year-old art buff, makes up for a lack of administrative experience with plenty of energy, vision and a natural ability to get things done, said Susan Hall, museum board president.

“She sees the big picture,” Hall said. “She has the natural ability to organize, and she’s a people person.”

Just like Cline, Theaker said she has little experience with quilts. But she said she’s learning plenty — and fast — from other museum employees and board members.

Her experience with museums is stitched into the past three years volunteering with the Museum of Northwest Art in the museum store and with auctions. Volunteering with MoNA gave Theaker an inside look at how a regional museum operates. She’s also been working in the quilt museum’s sales gallery.

Theaker grew up in the Chicago area. After graduating from high school, she attended the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, where she majored in industrial design, studying everything from painting and drawing to printmaking and art history.

She also served five years in the U.S. Navy, where she said she learned supervisory skills and refined her organizational skills.

Theaker moved to Skagit County about 3 1/2 years ago and fell in love with the area.

“When I first drove into La Conner and realized there were three museums there, I was blown away,” Theaker said. “I think it’s great that a community this size supports three museums.”

She’s also been drawn to writing, especially persuasive and analytical writing. So she decided to attend Western Washington University and graduated in March with a bachelor’s degree in English literature.

She hopes to put her persuasive writing skills to work as she embarks on grant writing for more money to help pay for the large-scale museum restoration.

Already, workers from Doulos Construction of Mount Vernon have started on the estimated $130,000 Phase 1 of the restoration project, which includes shoring up the crumbling foundation of the 116-year-old, three-story Gaches Mansion, installing drainage under the building and around the perimeter, refinishing the hardwood floors and installing new carpeting, and adding a wheelchair lift at the back of the building.

Now the museum has to come up with an estimated $120,000 to help pay for the second and third phases, which includes:

• Repairing the leaking roof.

• Painting the outside of the building.

• Repairing the front porch and building new stairs.

• Landscaping.

• Repairing windows and frames.

• Installing and updating electrical system.

• Improving signage and expanding the parking lot.

So far, the museum has received about $21,000 in cash donations and another $22,000 of in-kind donations, including labor and materials for Phase I.

Museum officials hope to cover the majority of the cost for the last two phases through a grant.

The restoration project was kicked off in 2006 with a $125,000 grant from the Washington State Heritage Capital Project Fund. It’s a two-for-one match, meaning the museum has to come up with about $250,000 to meet the grant requirements.

Some parts of Phase I will be finished in July, while the remaining tasks will be completed by June 2009.

Meanwhile, the museum board is sorting out ideas to raise more money, Theaker said.

“I see the museum has incredible momentum right now,” Theaker said. “I get to stand on the shoulders of all these people who have done this really hard work to make this place grow and become what it is — a nationally recognized museum.”