Pairskate

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Beneath the spectacle of graceful athleticism, a pair of skaters share an intense connection and absolute trust.

The pairs skating events at the recent Milan Olympics mesmerized me with the breathtaking beauty of their intense connection, effortless grace, and absolute trust. This piece attempts to express the awe I felt watching the skaters move perfectly synchronously with speed, power and unspoken communication.  I used intense colors to contrast the cool of the ice with the pure fiery energy of the athletes.

Hand-dyed cotton fabric, machine-pieced, needle-turn hand appliquéd, layered, and free-motion quilted. 

20″ x 28″

Conversations

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The pieces in my series, “Conversation”, capture the fleeting dialog between clouds and waves at twilight, where reflected color and mirrored forms reveal a quiet exchange of light and motion. The rectilinear forms suggest a desire to capture the moment as it slips away toward night.

These art quilts are composed of hand-dyed white cotton fabric. I used arashi shibori dying techniques with fiber reactive dyes to achieve the rippled designs, sometimes over dying 2 or 3 times to apply several colors. Various sections are raw-edge appliqued in an overlapping pattern, layered with cotton batting and backing, and machine free-motion quilted.

Above: “Conversation I”, 45″x26″

Conversation II, 11″x14″
Conversation III, 11″x14″
Conversation IV, 11″x14″

You are Here

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This whole-cloth art quilt is made of hand-dyed cotton fabric, embroidered by hand with perle cotton thread. It reflects my sometimes dark, always shifting journey through the early months of the COVID pandemic in 2020-21.

31″h x 21″w
NFS

Frank

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Frank is my nephew and niece’s blue whippet. I did his portrait as their wedding gift. Based on a photograph taken by my niece, it is constucted of fused raw-edge applique in monochromatic kona cottons. Approximately 48″ x 48″

Frank, 2019
Frank, detail
Frank and namesake

Process

Inspiration photo. Credit: Kellie Zinn
Posterized to 5 shades of grey, using photo editing software.
Traced edges on freezer paper

Auburn CA – a Map Quilt

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Auburn CA, 2018

I made this quilt for a dear friend who recently relocated to a small town in the Sierra foothills northwest of Sacramento. It’s approximately 12″ x 12″.

I started with a base of varied rectangular pieced of hand-dyed cotton. I fused sheer silk organza over three areas that would eventually represent the urban areas.

Ribbons become highways and river. Foothills are drawn in with Inktense pencils.

Roads, buildings and other features are next.

Place names are hand-embrodered onto sheer organza to be fused in place.

A final touch is the hand-embroidered compass rose is sewn onto the lower right.

A Portrait of Despair

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Despair, 2018

This is the second self-portrait in s series. Like “Hope”, it is a study in values and was constructed in the same way, each block individually pieced before being sewn together as in traditional quilt construction.

Hand-dyed cottons, 18″ x 24″

Wild Weather

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“Wild Weather”, 2018

In reaction to the Bomb Cyclone of January 2018 that paralyzed much of the US east coast for days.

Whole cloth cotton, snow dyed with procion fiver reactive dyes, machine quilted with additional hand embroidery. 12″ x 12″

Hope, a Portrait

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This is a study in value. I pieced each of the 108 squares as infividual blocks before sewing them together, in the manner of traditional quilting. Hand-dyed cotton, machine peiced and quilted.

“Hope”, 2017
Closeup, "Kirsten"

Hundreds of Hexies

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So thrilled my art quilt “Kirsten” is in ArtPrize 9, a huge international art competition in Grand Rapids, Michigan!

Kirsten Art Quilt by Carolyn Zinn

“Kirsten”

“Kirsten” (named after my daughter) is 54 inches wide and 81 inches tall. I created it by sewing together 480 fabric hexagons by hand, using the English Paper Piecing technique, which involves wrapping paper shapes in fabric and then stitching the fabric together.  Approximately 60 different commercial fabric prints were used. I quilted it using mono-filament thread on my home sewing machine.

I’m often asked how long it took me to make. I don’t really keep track, but I would guess almost 200 hours total. I probably spent about 80 hours over the course of 4 weeks creating fabric hexagons and carefully choosing the placement of each hexagon on my design wall, guided by a reference photo. I didn’t start sewing anything together until all 480 hexies were in their final location and orientation.  Then I probably spent 100 hours over the course of 2½ months hand-sewing the hexies together (being careful not to rotate or disorder anything!)  Quilting and binding took about 10 more hours.

“The amazing thing seeing this close up is that these are large quilt hexagons, in some heavily patterned colors, (and some white with writings on them), which does not look at all like any picture. Then, miraculously, as one steps back a few more feet….all of a sudden, it is a picture, and even like a painting!”
– Quilt Viewer

I hope you can see it in person, on the upper level of the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum through October 8, 2017.  Please view it from a distance as well as close up – I think the difference is amazing!  If you agree, I’d love your vote! Please use code 64662!