Art quilts are my passion. I love the idea of blending art with textiles, and the results are so unique. The process is fascinating for me, which makes the creation of art quilts a huge part of my quilting journey.
Want to learn more about how I make art quilts?
Fabric is such a fun medium, and I enjoy being able to combine my love for creating art with quilting. Art quilts are a way for me to transform fabric into a visual artwork that can be displayed like traditional art or used as a functional quilt.
My most recent art quilt is the opossum. I used a variety of techniques to create this:
- starting with a copyright free reference photograph
- creating the line art
- choosing fabric that emulates a paint palette
- fabric collage
- embellishing with fabric, Inktense and acrylic paint
- thread painting or surface free motion embroidery
- trapunto and free motion quilting, and binding
What I love most about art quilts is that it can be so experimental. The art quilt I created that shows the lifecycle of the monarch butterfly, for example, was an experiment into using acrylic paint on fabric.
As I develop my interests and explore different techniques, I am beginning to create art quilts that are a blend of painted art, fabric collage, and thread painting. By mixing media I am able to achieve the visual results I want. In the robin, I started with painting the bird using acrylic, then developed the setting with fabric collage.
