This fabric bowl was made as a host/ess gift for some dear friends. I learned the technique from a friend who learned it from Hilde Morin. Darts are cut into the perimeter of a sturdy canvas circle fused over with base fabric as ground. Zigzag stiches close the darts and pull the sides of the bowl into life. Additional fused fabric pieces add design elements. Machine quilting secures everything and provides an additional element of design.
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″
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.
This art cloth was created in reponse to a call for entry. I was honored to have it selected for inclusion in the special exhibit, Power of Women, curated by Jamie Fingal and Jane Dunnewold for the 2018 International Quilt Festival in Houston.
This piece celebrates the divine feminine by drawing from the ancient pagan symbol of the spiral goddess. The spiral represents the creative power within and the cycles of life and nature. The vibrant color palette and luminous silk material provide warmth and life energy to the composition.
Whole cloth 5mm silk habotai, resist painted in the serti method using Jacquard Green Label silk dyes. 24″ x 96″
Hand stitching projects are perfect to bring along on vacation. Here I am working on embroidering this composition of hand-dyed silk hexagons (hand pieced using the english paper piecing technique). Carrie’s Threads hand-dyed silk floss lend gorgeous color to my hand quilting.
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″
This quilt is inspired by my favorite traditional Amish design, Diamond in a Square.
Kona cotton, machine pieced and quilted. 42″ x 42″
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″
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.
I recently led a “slice” quilt collaboration with 9 other textile artists in Kalamazoo. The project began with my panoramic photograph of our downtown Bronson Park, an iconic two-city-block community space adorned with fountains and gardens, home of summer concerts and art fairs, winter twinkle lights and fireworks. In short, this park is near and dear to all our hearts.
The photo was “sliced” into ten sections, and each artist was challenged to reproduce one as a 15″ by 30″ art quilt. The rules were simple: careful placement of sidewalk lines where they intersect a neighboring piece. Otherwise, participants were encouraged to use any techniques and materials necessary to interpret their slices artistically.
The result is a collection of diverse and varied slices that work together to portray the park. They are a joyous testament to vibrant beauty and diversity in community.
Artist credits, left to right:
Hear us talk about the project in this local radio interview
Thread Dance 