As most quilt artists, I started out making traditional quilts, but quickly moved to a freer expression of fabric and stitch. I had a background in art & sewing from studying theatre, including costumes in undergrad. I was introduced to applique and Wonder Under by my quilt guru, Faith, and I made this Cosmo Kitty for my mom's 70th birthday.
This was June of 2007.
This was June of 2007.
In November of 2007 I took 2 classes at the Mancuso show in Chicago. One was a freemotion class, the other was on how to make an art quilt. These were the first steps in my journey to figure out how to be a fiber artist. At the Mancuso show I saw an exhibit of house art quilts (Put a Roof Over Our Head) made by a variety of artists, and loved them. (A year later I would be interviewed by Karen Musgrave for The Alliance For American Quilts, S. O. S, and find out that she curated that show). Inspired by the exhibit, I decided to make my best friend Siobhan a Home quilt.
It is this quilt that I consider this to be my first real Art quilt.It was after making this piece that the Art Quilt bug had really taken hold of me. I found out about the Hoffman Challenge and designed this piece from a black and white image I had saved in my images folder. I had no knowledge of computer programs to figure out the values, so I did it all by hand on tracing paper. I created the figure first and pieced the background separately, then attached them by hand.
For a first big piece, I was pretty ambitious about trying new techniques, including the shaped edge on the bottom. It traveled with the Hoffman exhibit for a year. I am glad to have him home and hanging in my living room.
For a first big piece, I was pretty ambitious about trying new techniques, including the shaped edge on the bottom. It traveled with the Hoffman exhibit for a year. I am glad to have him home and hanging in my living room.
