WELCOME
TO MY
GALLERY OF QUILTS:

JEZABEL. A fabric portrait from a photograph of my pretty little cat, Jezabel. Approx. 20x20 inches. It is my first real "thread-painted" quilt and I remain delighted with how it turned out. It may always be my personal favorite because it really captures her expression. Made in a wonderful online class at Quilt University, taught by Marilyn Belford, February-March 2006.

SISTERS AND BEST FRIENDS. A landscape with people inspired by a photograph of my mother and her sister taken in the 1930's. I used their photograph transferred to fabric for their faces because I simply could not capture those wonderful expressions with paint or thread. Approx. 18x28 inches. Made in online class at QU, taught by Linda Schmidt, March-April 2006.

LADY OF THE FOREST. A fantasy scenic with a goddess and her wild forest creatures surrounding her. Inspired by a story by Patricia McKillip: "In the Forests of Serre" Approx. 15x20 inches. This was my first art quilt, made on my own before I discovered the wonderful world of quiltuniversity.com Summer of 2005.

LADY OF THE FAIRY WATERFALL. A fantasy scenic with a goddess, two fairies, three exotic birds, and a magic cat. Approx. 18x18 inches. Made on my own, inspired by articles in Quilter's Newsletter Magazine about pictorial quilts with magical subjects. Autumn 2005.

THE FOUR ELEMENTS IN FABRIC. Impressionistic images of Fire, Earth, Air, and Water. Inspired from composite photo collages composed on the computer. Incorporated unusual materials and techniques__Tintzle, Angelina Fibers, heated celophane, etc. Made in awesome QU class taught by Linda Schmidt, summer 2006. Pure FUN! Approx. 20x20 inches each.

WATER CREATURES. A diamond quilted background with applique fish, turtles, dragonflies, aquatic plantforms, and a mermaid. Appliques are all created from abstract patterns cut from fabric. This is a sofa throw, Approx. 40x56 inches. Made on my own, inspired by Jan Krentz book,DIAMOND QUILTS & BEYOND. September-October 2005.

A CAT'S GARDEN. Paper-pieced abstract floral with three cats. A sofa throw, approx. 50x50 inches, still to be quilted. Made in online class at QU,"Ozark Garden" taught by Lily Kerns, June-July 2006. My first attempt at paper-piecing. I made the patterns for the three kitties myself from photos of my own cats, on a software program called "Quilt Assistant".

BARGELLO SEASONS. A series of four abstract designs representing spring, summer, fall, and winter. Approx. 19x19 inches each. These are unquilted tops awaiting use as backgrounds for future works. Made at QU class, taught by Ruth Blanchett, January 2007.

MERMAIDS AT PLAY. A fantasy landscape mini quilt. Approx. 18x15 inches. Made in an online class at QU, taught by Linda Schmidt, March 2006. The tree and the three mermaids were "free-motion" embroidered off the quilt in a class_ Machine Embellishments with Susan Brittingham_ taken simultaneously.

MINIATURE LANDSCAPES. A group of landscape and seascape fabric pictures. Approx. 8x11 inches. They are "journal quilts" that could be displayed in a book-like folder. These were made in my FIRST online class at Quilt University, taught by Susan Brittingham in February 2006. This class and its teacher totally hooked me on making art-quilts!

PAINTINGS ON FABRIC. A group of abstract landscapes painted onto pretreated muslin with Setacolor paints. Approx. 8x11 inches. Ready to be embellished as journal or picture-quilts. Made in "Painted Landscapes"class at QU, taught by Michelle Scott, August 2006, when the weather was perfect for messing around with the paints on fabric outdoors.

FRONT WINDOW VIEW. An abstract scenic wall-hanging of summer view from my front window. Approx. 34x28 inches. It is done in the "watercolor" technique of quilting, taught at QU, by Carol Miller,August 2006. I struggled with it, but now love it. The cats are photo transfers onto fabric, appliqued after the main quilt top was done. February-March 2006.

BUTTERFLY FLOWER. A fabric portrait from a photograph taken in my garden. Approx. 28x20 inches. Made QU class "Flower Power", taught by Susan Brittingham January-March 2007. The background is fused applique with thread-painting. The butterfly is done in "upsidedown applique" technique, with one wing interfaced to project out from the quilt.

DIRT ROAD. A landscape painted on fabric, embellished with thread and fussy-cut appliques of truck and bird. Made QU class "Painted Landscapes", taught by Michelle Scott August 2006. The background is painted on PFD cotton with Setacolor paints.

BIRDS ON BRANCH. A Journal quilt with angelina embellishment. Inspired by Susan Seddon Boulet painting. Made QU class "Self Expressions Studio", taught by Myrna Geisbrecht January-March 2008. The border is done with full fabric reverse method. Approx 9 x 14 inches.

NEBULOUS VISION. A Journal quilt with angelina embellishment. Inspired by Susan Seddon Boulet painting. Made QU class "Self Expressions Studio", taught by Myrna Geisbrecht January-March 2008. The face is photo print on fabric of one of my collectible 'OAK' dolls created by "Lady Morghana" in 2005. Quilt measures Approx 9 x 14 inches.

ARBOREAL GODDESS. This quilt is formed around a photo print on fabric of one of the goddess paintings (Witch-Shaman). Here she appears through an arbor of fall trees. The border is couched in several layers frayed yarn. Made QU class "Self Expressions Studio", taught by Myrna Geisbrecht January-March 2008. Quilt measures Approx 18 x 22 inches.

GHOSTLY SEAHORSE. A spontaneous arrangement of left-over scraps and found objects. Made in QU class "Self Expressions Studio", taught by Myrna Geisbrecht August-September 2007. Quilt measures Approx 12 x 18 inches.

XENA SPACE ODYSSEY. A spontaneous arrangement of left-over scraps and found objects. The figures is a photo print on fabric of another of my collectible dolls. Made in QU class "Self Expressions Studio", taught by Myrna Geisbrecht August-September 2007. Quilt measures Approx 12 x 12 inches.

GLAMOUR PUSSIES. A collage arrangement of faces and figures I "fussy-cut" from fabrics in my stash. This was a challenge for me because red is not a color I particularly like to use. I applied the mirrors for a touch of humor. Made in QU class "Self Expressions Studio", taught by Myrna Geisbrecht August-September 2007. Quilt measures Approx 24 x 20 inches.

POSTCARD SEASONS. Four postcard-size quilts representing the seasons. Figures are photos of more of my collectible doll figurines, printed on fabric and fussy-cut appliqued with scraps and angelina fibers. Made in QU class "Self Expressions Studio", taught by Myrna Geisbrecht January-March 2008. Quilts measure approx 4 x 6 inches.

LACE MEMORY QUILT. The little dog, Lace, was made in fabric and thread-painted in Marilyn Belford's "Realistic Fabric Portraits class at QU in Febuary 2007. I appliqued the garden and house background in January 2008 and finished the quilt with photos of her two cat pals in window in February. Quilt measures approx 32 x 40 inches.

MOONRISE. This is a hand-painted fabric landscape, embellished with angelina fibers and tulle. Machine quilted in free-motion. Inspired by an autumn night photograph taken from my front yard. August 2008. measures approx 22 x 20 inches.

CITYSCAPE #1. This is a hand-painted fabric landscape, embellished with angelina fibers and tulle. Machine quilted in free-motion. Inspired by a photo of Chicago lakefront skyline from the web. August 2008. measures approx 20 x 18 inches.

RAGGY CAT #1. This is a happy experiment with my new 'Baby Lock' Embellisher sewing machine (It Machine Needle-felts fabric and other materials together without using thread at all) In this quilt I sewed the outline of kitty from the back traced on tear-away stabilizer. Then needle-felted patches and shapes of color in hand-dyed cheesecloth and commercial white and dark brown felt. Borders and backing are commercial animal fur prints, the background of cat is some of my own hand-dyed cotton. I thread-sketched the outlines of the kitty on top with black thread, then sandwiched and quilted around it in free-motion. The whole thing took one afternoon. September 2008. I love it!! and plan to perfect this technique for commissioned pet-memory-quilts. measures approx 18 x 14.

TAXICAT. This is a commissioned piece. It is a memory quilt of a cat who was the loved pet of a veterinarian friend of a friend. The technique is complex, weaving two fabrics together to form the background patterns of the "room" and "sofa" and "pillows". The window behind Taxi is embellished with a piece of clear plastic, and his own photographs are hung on the wall. Taxi is also a photograph, digitized lightly, and printed on fabric, cut to applique. The quilt measures about 28 x 24. Summer 2008.

NATIVES OF THE LAND. This is another "woven fabric strips" piece, inspired by the book: "Simply Stunning Woven Quilts" by Anna Faustino, (C&T Publishing). I really love doing this technique. It challenges my design sense in an entirely different way... like doing a puzzle. Here, interwoven cotton batik fabrics in a range of hues form arches that expand upward from earth to sky. Native American themed figures, cut from commercial prints and appliqued onto the base construction honor our Native American spiritual heritage where all creatures are considered "family" and Nature is revered as "all our relations". The quilt measures about 25 wide x 38 long. Finished Fall 2009.

DANCE THE DAWN. I began this piece in a QU class in October 2006, but did not get inspired to complete it until September 2008, when I had the motivational impetus of the Annandale Art Crawl to spur me. I like how the borders and overlapping elements bring it together. It turned out to be one of the most popular pieces in my exhibit at the show. The little dancing figure was also made in a previous QU class on fibre techniques. The entire wall-quilt measures approximately 30 x 25.

LEANING TREE IN AUTUMN. This quilt is paper-pieced from a photograph of my favorite tree in front of my house. It leans over the water quite elegantly, making an interesting frame for my view in any season. I made this piece according to a technique demonstrated by Cynthia England in her book"Picture Piecing" (Published by England Design, Dickenson TX, 2002) It was my first attempt and lacks the careful detail of the artist's own pieces, but I found it quite rewarding, though time-consuming to do. It is sort of like working a picture puzzle. I added photo-on-fabric appliques of birds and other critters from my photo collection, and then embellished the whole thing with pieces of dyed cheesecloth for texture and Lumiere paints for enhanced leaf colors. It is free-motion quilted over the tree trunk and branches mostly. It measures about 28 inches long by approx. 18 inches wide. Completed summer 2008.

AUDREY'S CATS. This quilt was made for my friend as a memory piece of two of her kitties. The background is a hand-painted fabric I did for a class experiment. I created the wrought-iron gate from plain black cotton fused and raw-edge stitched. The birds and butterflies are also raw-edge applique. The two kitties are photos printed on fabric and appliqued. I did enhance the eyes of the one behind the fence because the photo was "flash-glared"... These two kitties are enjoying a peaceful spring afternoon in their rainbow-hued garden. Made in winter 2008-09. About 20 x 28 inches.

LIZZIE AND PJ. This quilt was made in memory of two of a friend's dear old cats. The background fabric is hand-dyed and quilted in a pattern of mystical tall grasses, embellished with glittery angelina fibres. The little nesting bird is raw-edge appliqued and the two kitties are photos printed on fabric. Again, because of flash-glare, I have colored the eyes on Lizzie. The border is commercial batik with ghostly birds and branches. Lizzie watches PJ play-hunting in their peaceful paradise. This was made in winter 2008-09. Approx 20 x 28 inches.

PARIS BUBBLES. This quilt was created for a class about making paper-doll-like figures in fabric for interactive quilts. It was one of my favorite fun classes at QU, taught by Lily Kerns. In this quilt I used an old photograph I took way back in the 'sixties of a street scene in Paris. Then I used a digital enhancement program called "Liquib" in which I manipulated to photo with the bubbles. The photo was then printed onto fabric. I selected textural commercial prints imitating bricks, stones, etc for the border and machine quilted all. The doll is cut from fabric on fusible interfacing, then colored with Neocolor II fabric crayon. Her face is from a photo of myself when I was in my twenties (about the time we made our trips to Europe) Finally, I designed and created her costumes with simple cut and fused shapes again on lightweight interfacing and backed with flannel to help them adhere to the doll, and yet be interchangeable. So far she has three outfits. The quilt measures about 25 x 30 inches. Spring 2009.

GYPSY MYSTERY STAIRS. This quilt is another "cloth paper dolls" inspiration.... Here I used a photo of an ancient stairway I took someplace in Germany ( I think) although it could be in Spain or Italy... unforutnately I never labeled my pictures back then... In this quilt I have made the dolls complete with their outfits sewn onto them. Here the dolls have clothing that is dimensional. The outfits are sewn directly onto them as the fabric is "fashioned". However, I have made several pairs of dolls with different outfits, and they can be interchanged on this quilt. (They are held in place with velcro tabs) Different techniques are used for their clothes. The background is finished with intensive textural quilting and measures about 27 x 32 inches. Completed in 2010.

CENTRAL PARK, NEW YORK CITY, IN THE SIXTIES. Here, again, I have used a photograph I took when on vacation in the 1960's and have digitized it and printed it on fabric, then digitized it again on "Kaleider" to create the bubble-form images. These, printed on fabric and cut, form the border of the piece, with squares of hand-dyed "paper-cloth" at the four corners. then it was quilted with free-motion shapes and bound. It is about 18 inches square. Made in Summer 2009.

PILLOW ROOM QUILT. I made this quilt for the 40th anniversay celebration of the Program in Human Sexuality at the U of Mn Med School in October 2010. It depicts the old "pillow room" where people lounged on big pascha pillows in the 1960's-'70's while watching media presentations on Sexuality. 'The quilt was patterned from an old b&w photo.

BACHANALIA. Created in the summer of 2011,this is one of a series based on themes from my Goddess workshops on women's sexuality and spirituality. In the series I use annonymous mannikin-like human figures arranged in imaginary scenes from myth, fantasy, and ordinary life. Here we have The Green Man, or Dionysus,attending a nature celebration with a few of his "maenad-wildwomen". 16w x 22h.

PSYCHE & EROS. Created in the summer of 2011,this is another of the series based on themes from my Goddess workshops on women's sexuality and spirituality. In the series I use annonymous mannikin-like human figures arranged in imaginary scenes from myth, fantasy, and ordinary life. Here we have two figures in an ethereal cloud-like space suggesting that of Lovers in the entrancement of seductive infatuation and desire. Is the dark figure 'bringing up' the light one into his/her dream-world?. 13w x 16h.

THREE MUSES ON A MOON. Created in the summer of 2011 as another of the figure series based on themes from my Goddess workshops on women's sexuality and spirituality. Here three female figures arrange themselves around the globe of an unidentified planetary body's moon. I imagine hese three to represent the original Greek Muses: Memory, Music, and Celestial Vision: called Mnemosyne, Thalia, and Urania. The Muses can be related to the mythical "sisters" who are said to reside in the constellation Pliades. They also embody something of our basic feminine archetypes Mother, Maiden, and Crone. 22w x 21h.

COMPANIONS. Created in the summer of 2011 as another of the figure series based on themes from my Goddess workshops on women's sexuality and spirituality. Here is a more realistic portrayal of two people with their pets, relaxing in a stream-laced meadow on a late summer day. While they are dressed in current-day casual attire, they remain annonymous and could be sisters, friends, partners, lovers or strangers. The animals also have each their own companions, however, the cats look very suspicious of the two innocent little puppies. 19w x 22h.

PRUDENCE GROUP. Created in the summer of 2010 as a memory quilt for a special group of women. It is ragged edge stripped around the border, the background is a hand dyed cotton, the figures are created as raw-edge applique gowns with faces from photographs printed on fabric and appliqued. Their hats are copied off the web and resized to fit their individual heads. 22w x 18 h

BRAIDED STREAM. Created in the winter of 2011 for submission into Surface Design Assoc Member's show in the spring at "Confluence" conference on U of M campus. The background is cut strips of hand-dyed velvet laid over a hand dyed multi colored silk. The big fish is gold metalic mesh over dyed scrim, with angelina fins. Braids are of the velvet, and of a mix of yarns and wires. Fish eyes are beads. 28w x 12 h

FOXY. Created in the summer of 2011 for dear friends, Barb and John as a commission in honor of the youngest of their championship Siberian Husky pac. Quilt is made with a split background using a Spoonflower print from my photograph of a cobblestone street in Paris, and a commercial print of a garden waterfall and pool. The puppy is created with a mixed piecing of fabrics in shades of white. 19w x 24 h.