Gallery - Piecing

This quilt is both improvisational and organized. We know that life runs smoother with organization, and yet many times improvisation rules the moment. When designing this quilt I tried to balance the improvisationally pieced stars with a clear sense of organization in their placement on the quilt top. Even within the star blocks, fabric strips were randomly chosen from a pile for the star centers while the cream colored diamonds were a constant. We need both constancy and happy surprises to round out each day. Palm Bay, Florida, United States 44" x 50"

Inspiration for this quilt came from endlessly looking through airplane windows and seeing design on every landscape. Through Google Maps I was able to travel around the world watching the amazing patterns of the cultivated fields below. This quilt is in an area of cultivated fields along the river Nile in Egypt. I decided on the blue color because of the lapis lazuli extensively used in ancient Egypt. One of my quilts was selected for Art=Quilts=Art Exhibition 2013 (Schweinfurth Art Center) Martinez, Buenos Aires, Argentina 86" x 61"

I created this quilt based on an improvisational quilt score from the Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters by Sherri Lynn Wood. The "score" asks the maker to play with triangular shapes. Since making this quilt, I've become obsessed with all things triangular! Berkeley, California, United States 42" x 49"

This quilt was inspired by American tile quilts of the '30s and '40s. The center is made entirely from small pieces of fabric left over from quilting. The shapes in the border came from the shapes of these scraps. A number of tile quilts have appeared in quilting magazines within the last few years, but I consulted no articles or books and looked at no internet sources while making this quilt. As far as I know, it's the "child of my brain," as Harriet Powers said. Other quilters: Susan Spencer of Scotts Valley, CA, did the free-motion quilting on her longarm quilting machine. Santa Cruz, California, United States

I was inspired by a quilt in Generation Q Magazine. The Art Gallery Fabric Staff had a pattern called Modern Log Cabin in the Jan./ Feb. 2014 issue that I used for inspiration. Winfield, Missouri, United States 60" x 60"

This quilt was made for the Riley Blake Basics Fabric Challenge. I enlarged and manipulated a paper pieced block to achieve the desired scale. I added a solid for every challenge fabric to create a cohesive palette. DALLAS, Texas, United States 65" x 75"

Who doesn't love working with the rainbow?? I had the wonderful opportunity of working with Denyse Schmidt's beautiful collection of Modern Solids. I really wanted to play up the rainbow but in a new and simplistic way. After a few sketches, I came up with Off Kilter and it just clicked. And I couldn't be happier with the results. Cedar City, Utah, United States 72" x 86"

This quilts is from my book "Modern Color: An Illustrated Guide to Dyeing Fabric for Modern Quilts". The fabric in this quilt was all hand dyed and the pattern was inspired by the Drunkard's Path quilt block. Kansas City, Kansas, United States 84" x 94"

Diamond chains connect the stars of various sizes to each other. There are ll different fabrics used in the background fabrics of this quilt. By placing black tulle strategically over some of the background fabrics 22 different values are created, this is twice as many different values but still only ll different fabrics. Bridgewater, Virginia, United States 42" x 58"

At times I feel alone, but I am not. I am supported by many friends and family. These are the little "i" blocks that make up the big central "i". The other "i" blocks in the field are for all the people I have never met that support my life. Austin, Texas, United States 64.5" x 62.5"