Bonnie Magness-Gardiner
Hyattsville, MD
When planning this quilt, I set out to explore spatial relationships using floating squares in primary colors, anchored by black and white. The geometric shapes and primary color evoke the spirit of Mondrian, through my composition resists his strict geometry. The densely machine-quilt background recedes and the squares and rectangles appear as a bird’s eye view of a village. Lines and clocks of hand stitching weave through the composition, some
entwined with the colorful forms, others drifting above or behind. Dreaming women traverse these passages, moving right to left toward the edge of the quilt and perhaps beyond.
Techniques: Machine pieced and quilted Hand stitched embellishment.
Materials: Cotton fabric and thread. Perle cotton embroidery thread.
Dreaming of Mondrian 52.25”x39”
Cassandra Ireland Beaver Urbana, OH
Photographs of a wide variety of plant life at the local botanical garden inspired this hand-needle-turn applique quilt. Using Auto-CAD, I translated these images into a template line drawing. Over 100 days, each section of the line drawing was cut from a separate piece of fabric, and the background ombre fabric, was revealed during the applique process, creating a
stained -glass-like effect. The gridded quilting is reminiscent of observing the outdoor world through a window screen.
Techniques: Hand applique, machine walking foot quilting.
Materials: Cotton fabric, cotton/wool blend batting.
100 days of Greenery
Cassandra Ireland Beaver
Urbana, OH
Inspired by traditional diamond one patch blocks, this design embraces the diamond shape while drawing it into a curved form to evoke feelings of a growing wave. The pairing of a soothing blue and turquoise color palette with an energetic diamond motif develops an ebb and flow echoing the underlying energy of a calm ocean.
Techniques: Machine piecing, foundation paper piecing, longarm machine quilting, ruler work.
Materials: Cotton fabric, cotton/poly blend batting.
Catherine Kleeman Ruxton, MD
My baskets are full of fabrics that I have dyed and painted, using the many different surface design processes that I have learned over the years. To make this quilt, I went through the baskets and pulled the pieces that said they were ready to be put into a quilt. They have a story to tell, but it’s a secret, at least to me.
Techniques: Multiple surface design processes including immersion dyeing, screen printing, soy wax batik, stamping, and hand painting. Raw edge machine applique, machine quilting.
Materials: Artist dyed and painted cotton fabrics
Cheryl Taylor
Baltimore, MD
I began this piece experimenting with piecing diagonals and light/dark contrast. It grew from there with symmetry and hemispheres, and a leaning towards different color combinations. As a finished whole, it spoke to me of the unity of the many people of this fractured world.
Techniques: The quilt is machine pieced and made of 100% cotton, new and recycled.
It is densely hand-quilted (almost sashiko style) in the center of small pieced blocks with quilting thread.
Materials: The quilt front is made with a combination new and recycled cotton. The batting is 100% cotton, and backed in a hand-blocked Indian cotton.
Cindy Brendzel
Overland Park, KS
Sometimes you find yourself surrounded by darkness. You can see faint outlines of structures and objects, but you can’t identify them. Then bright lights come out of nowhere from all sides and disappear almost immediately leaving you momentarily blinded.
Are you in an abandoned house? Or a haunted forest? Then you remember.... ...you’re “Driving After Dark”.
Techniques: Machine stitching
Materials: Commercial cottons.
Cindy Grisdela Reston, VA
I’m intrigued by color, line, and shape, especially how shapes seem to move in and out of focus depending on their color and value. As I cut the shapes freehand without a pattern or template, I’m also interested in the intersection between the shapes and the negative space that surrounds the. The figures in this piece were inspired by the tulip shaped support structures at the Little Island Park in New York city.
We visit during the spring when the daffodils were blooming, so I abstracted them and added them to the composition. Free motion quilting in a variety of motifs adds texture and dimension.
Techniques: Improve design and piecing, free motion quilting.
Materials: Cotton fabric, batting, thread.
Garden Party
54”x47” 2024
Photo by Gregory R. Staley
Claudia Eileen Pearce Glenwood, MD
Considered Endangered, the African Bush Elephant is threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation, and poaching for the illegal ivory trade. In the 1800s, there were roughly 27 million African elephants. But due to the demand for ivory, only 340,000 remain, just 1.5% of their historic numbers. Harsh laws (30-year prison sentence in Tanzania) and a network of vigilant rangers has reduced poaching by 90% from 2016.
I photographed this elephant family on their way to a watering hole in Tanzania in 2019.
Techniques: Fused applique with freemotion-quilting and satin stitching. Original design based on photo taken in Tanzania in 2019.
Materials: Hand-dyed cotton for the top, commercial cotton for the back, polyester batting. Cotton and rayon thread.
Claudia Eileen Pearce Glenwood, MD
In Navajo, Shiprock means “rock with wings”. Residing in the Four Corners Region near Shiprock, NM, it plays a significant role in Navajo religion, myth, and tradition. Geologically it is the igneous erosional remnant of the neck of a volcano with dikes radiating away from the central core. Rising 1583 feet above the surrounding landscape, it is an impressive sight and can be seen from 30,000 feet. Holding a great place in my heart, the Shiprock is symbolic of my time living amongst the
Dine in the Navajo Nation as a teacher in the 1070. Design created from a photo by Richard Seigle taken on a snowy January morning.
Techniques: Raw-edge fused applique. Hand-guided machine quilting. Satin stitching.
Materials: Commercial and hand-dyed cotton. Polyester bating. Cotton and rayon thread. Fusible interfacing.
Eleanor Levie
Philadelphia, PA
A nonsensical title for my art quilt seems to fit with this composition born out of streamof-conscious explorations. Silk-screened spirals, my go-to symbol for change, evolution, and breading cycle of negativity and injustice, dominate this mostly wholecloth composition printed on one of my grandmother’s cotton bedsheets.
Eggs in nests suggest new beginnings, and squirt-bottle scribbles express free association and identity.
Techniques: Silk screen printing, squirt bottle drawing on recycled bed linens, piecing, free-motion quilting.
Materials: Recycled tablecloth, commercial fabrics.
Ringo Bingo 30”x26” 2024
Elizabeth B. Davison Washington, DC
The peace and harmony of nature inspire my fiber artwork. These four white faced Ibis feeding in the marsh reflect gentleness and calm. With all the turmoil in the world, creating these scenes provides me and the viewer with respite from the stress and anxiety. I also use texture and color, such as iridescence and roughness or a moss ribbon to create interest, excitement and dimension to the work.
Techniques: Hand dying of fabric, raw edge fused applique, machine stitching painting, hand sewn applique.
Materials: Hand dyed fabric, cotton batik polyester organza, Angelina fiber, moss mesh ribbon, acrylic paint, cotton and polyester thread, cotton batting.
White Faced Iris in the Marsh
Photo by Pete Duvall Anything Photographic
Frauke Palmer Columbus, OH
While hiking in Valley of Fire State Park near Las Vegas, I encountered a striking rock formation with a natural slit that allowed sunlight to stream through, transforming parts of the red rock into a vivid blue. This moment became the inspiration for this quilt. Using digital techniques, I layered two versions of the image—one in its original form, and he other as a mirrored, color-inverted version. By adjusting the transparency of both layers, I allowed
them to subtly blend, creating a harmonious interplay of light, color, and texture until the desired effect emerge, with blue as its dominant feature.
Techniques: Two version of my photograph were blended on the computer, professionally printed onto fabric, formed in a three layer quilt and machine quilted.
Materials: Personal photographs, cotton sateen fabric, rayon quilting thread.
Ice Maiden
50”x33” 2020
Jane Frenke
Berkeley Springs. WV
The Spheres quilts are a combination of hand dyed and vat dyed printed material ... not staying in the standard box shape, and making all the edges / seams match.
Techniques: Hand dyed cotton, vat dye discharged material, innovative piecing and machine quilting.
Materials: Cotton.
Jean H. Howard Auxvasse, MO
I enjoy surrounding myself with the cacophony of colors and shapes found in my gardens of flowers. Botanicals 4 is a vibrant celebration of nature’s kaleidoscopic flora.
Techniques: Original design, machine-pieced and machine-quilted.
Materials: Hand-dyed and commercial cotton fabric, thread, batting.
Jean H. Howard Auxvasse, MO
Using organic shapes and vibrant colors, Botanicals 9 calls to mind a floral paradise for the viewer to enjoy, with flowers ready to sing.
Techniques: Original design, machine-quilted.
Materials: Hand-dyed and commercial cotton, thread, batting.
Katie Chester Charlottesville, VA
Neatly patterned quilts are hallmarks of a loving, well-ordered home. Their symmetrical designs and small, even stitches speak to ideals of tidy conformity and smooth veneers. My work invokes a vision of home not beholden to pattern. Adjacent shapes of equal color value negotiate their boundaries. Shared edges soften, blur, reassert themselves, demand a second look, finally rewarding the viewer with a heightened awareness of each color’s individual nuance.
Stitches model the surface into different textures, a tactile invitation to a world that cannot be ironed flat. Upending standards of passive feminine domesticity, my quilts present a vision of home that is vibrant and irreverent.
Techniques: Hand quilted, machine couched, machine pieced.
Materials: Cotton fabric, cotton batting.
Blue Ribbon Quilt
Photo by
Kelly Spell Hixson, TN
I’ve been making circular compositions for a long as I can remember—curves are a frequent motif in my work, a friendly face I return to again and again. In 2020, I began exploring circles and swirls exclusively, distilling down ideas to find and define my point of view. In this piece, repetitive shapes, shits in color intensity, and a
thoughtful use of negative space combine to create delicious movement and rhythm.
Techniques: Machine piecing, longarm machine quilting, hand-dyed fabric.
Materials: Fabric hand-dyed by the artist, thread, batting.
A Slice of Candy Apple
60”x60” 2022
Kelly Spell Hixson, TN
Rings, swirls, and playful gradations of color conjure the thrills of entertainers under the big top. The circus—like life in general—is chaotic, loud, and at times confusing. As such, I found myself gravitating toward clean, precise lines as a balm for an overwhelming world and an attempt to assert control.
Techniques: Machine piecing, longarm machine quilting, hand-dyed fabric.
Materials: Fabric hand-dyed by the artist, thread, batting.
Three Ring Circus
53”x52” 2022
Lana Dragon
Martinsburg, WV
“Leaks” can also be Pipe Dreams. The surreal structure of leaking pipes, melted and unresolved directions, seemly matching the political scene or a plumber’s worse nightmare. Pipes filled with ideas or water going in various directions, with shut-off valves can have profound implication of danger or escape. Perfect for hanging in that industrial style location!
Techniques: Original design. Machine pieced with photo transfer. Cotton fabric and thread with glass beads sewn in like dripping water. Machine satin stitching for the shadows to give drama and emphasis.
Materials: Cotton fabric & thread. Glass beads, photo transfer, layered, batting and machine quilted with silk thread.
Linda Strowbridge Millsboro, DE
Moving from Nova Scotia to the heart of Chicago, I was catapulted into a whole new world of architecture - captivating, diverse, boundless architecture. I walked the city, soaking up the features of historic buildings, modern structures, industrial sites, homes with character, and even properties that were falling into rack and ruin Many of the architectural features I adored were embodied in the city’s bridge tender houses - those tiny structures that
contain the mechanisms that operate the lift bridges along the Chicago River, Ornate, historic, modern, decaying and fundamentally industrial, they sufficiently depicted the art an grit of the city.
Techniques: Machine quilted,needle-turn applique, hand embroidery, free -motion quilting.
Materials: Commercial and hand-dyed cottons, quilt-batting, embroidery floss and various quilting threads.
Linda Strowbridge Millsboro, DE
Growing up, I was always intrigued by one office building in my hometown... because it was so unabashedly ugly. Looming, grimly colored and prison-like in its appearance, the building underwent several major renovations over the decades yet kept getting uglier. During a visit home one summer, I discovered the building was abandoned and decaying. Suddenly, my ugly building held new fascination. Exposed brick, cinder block, re-bar, wooden
beams and small trees sprouting among them created rich textures. The facade was failing and the inner worth and spirit of the structure were finally showing through.
Techniques: Machine piecing, needle-turn applique, hand embroidery, free-motion quilting.
Materials: Commercial and hand-dyed cottons, tulle, quilt batting, embroidery floss and a variety of thread.
Redesigning Duckworth
This piece was inspired by my favorite Place in Northern Montana. I used abstract shapes to remind me of the mountains, trees and picking huckleberries.
Techniques: Improvisationally designed, cut without rulers or grids, machine pieced.
Materials: Hand dyed cotton fabrics, cotton thread and batting.
Liz Danish
Bryn Mawr, PA
Huckleberries
Liz Danish
Bryn Mawr, PA
I used circles and interconnected curvilinear motifs to represent important people who have nurtured and supported my journey. I chose bright and dark colors as the figures, and muted, lighted colors as the ground, as I tried to pay tribute to mentors, friends, and ancestors who were my icons.
Techniques: Improvisationally designed, cut without rulers or grids, machine pieced.
Materials: Hand dyed cotton fabrics, cotton thread and batting.
Maggy Rozycki Hiltner
Red Lodge, MT
I’ve tasked myself with questioning the artifacts of my culture by changing their context and content. Working with handmade remnants of the past, I re-purpose them to comment on the present. Red Xs cut from one discarded quilt are handstitched to the back of a found vibrant Rail Fence quit. I use this subtle color to ungender the quilt. The red x has appeared
in my work for many years, symbolizing a pinprick or tiny pain. This size x transmits the scale of the pain I am now trying to represent.
Techniques: Mended and altered, rawedge fused, hand-stitched.
Materials: Found quilt (Rail Fence pattern), found quilt top pieces, cotton.
7 Red Xs 39.5”x39.5” 2019
Maggy Rozycki Hiltner
Red Lodge, MT
In analytical psychology, the snake is a symbol of the unconscious and personal transformation. Working through past traumas and deeply rooted issues led me to want to re-figure m story and the characters depicted in it. Working with handmade remnants of the past, I re-purpose them to comment on the present.
Techniques: Over-dyed, mended and altered, raw-edge fused, hand-stitched.
Materials: Found quilt (Log Cabin pattern),Teflon, cotton, linen.
Scissors Snake
Margaret (Peggy) Black Boswell, PA
Cloth speaks to me—the nature of the cloth itself—drape, the tactile comfort of its woven thread—cocoons me with warmth as I dream of what it can become. An intimate dialog between the cloth and me ensues. The markings and vignettes are the product of my conscious and unconscious thoughts, feelings, memories and impressions that are difficult to express in words.
That inner dialog takes on a rhythm, repetition and flow that engineers all my disjointed and troubled thoughts into vibrant, thought provoking wall quilts.
Techniques: Free form Drawing with thickened MX Dyes, machine quilting.
Materials: 100% Cotton, MX Dyes, thread, batting.
Hi Ho
44”x43” 2025
Photo by Chris Hay Photography
Mary Anne Fontana
Middletown, DE
Just Lemons stated out as a photography experiment to see how light and water distort images to make them appear surreal or dreamlike. I used the slices of a fresh lemon as my prop and a glass window pane facing the sun as my canvas. In order to add more interest, I stuck tiny pieces of colored crepe paper to the slices at random and took dozens and dozens of pictures. The four images in Just Lemons were my favorite.
Techniques: Photographs that were selected were enhanced digitally using Elements software, then resized to fit the “canvas”. Four 18”x18’ panels were sewn together to create the quilt top. Free motion quilted.
Materials: Smart phone, lemon slices, colored crepe paper. Four individually commercially printed 100% cotton panels with a different lemon image on each for the quilt top. Dozens of thread colors for quilting.
Just Lemons 36”x36” 2022
Arlington, VA
Circadium Rythyms is part of an ongoing series dedicated to exploring circular shapes, here, an abstracted figure eight, much like our dream states going round and round with repeating images and themes.
Techniques: Silk screened onto cotton using Procion MX Dyes, machine pieced and quilted.
Materials: Procion MX Dyes, cotton fabric and thread, wool batting.
Myania Moses
Patty Kennedy-Zafred Murrysville, PA
The piece is a tribute to the hard working men from the 1940s and 1950s, who sought, through labor and sacrifice, a piece of the American Dream for themselves and their families. Miners across the northeastern United States were seeking the promise of regular work, and fair wages, despite the daily peril they faced in the darkness underground. They represented the cultural patchwork of our country, with diverse backgrounds, ethnicity, education and race. Canaries were historically used in coal mines to detect
the presence of carbon monoxide. If the canary suddenly died, this was an indication that conditions had suddenly become dire.
Techniques: Hand-screen printed images on hand dyed fabric, fusing, image transfer (text), machine pieced and quilted.
Materials: Cotton fabric, photo emulsion silkscreen materials, Procion Dyes, textile inks, fusible web, image transfer materials (text), cotton batting. (Original images courtesy Library of Congress).
CoalTown: Silent Canary 78”x48” 2017
Photo by Larry Berman
Patty Kennedy-Zafred Murrysville, PA
During the 1930s, the dues paid button on the shirt of newly organized steelworkers was an important and symbolic detail, representing the promise of the American dream. From diverse backgrounds, ages, education and ethnicities, they represented the cultural patchwork of our country. These men forged a path to owning their first homes, cared for their families, and often were able to send their children to college. This was hard, demanding and dangerous work, but a price they were willing to pay. Based on 1930’s images, this
quilt is a tribute to all steelworkers, who work long hours in risky conditions, to support their families and ensure a better future for their children.
Techniques: Hand screen printed images on hand dyed fabric, fusing, image transfer (text), machine pieced and quilted.
Materials: Cotton fabric, photo emulsion silkscreen materials, Procion Dyes, textile inks, fusible web, image transfer materials (text), vintage dues buttons, cotton batting.
SteelTown: Second Shift
77”x48” 2016
Swarthmore, PA
Are these sharp edges and spikes truly keeping you safe, and are they reliable as psychological defenses?
Technique: Solar printing; machine piecing; hand quilting.
Materials: Cotton fabric batting and backing; solar paints.
Polly Bech
Rebecca Dickson
Westerville, OH
This piece was inspired by a photo I took in Denali, Alaska, of a tree stump fungi. I was further inspired by a class with Betty Busby where I learned to (1) paint on silk and (2) cut intricate designs using nonwoven material that doesn’t fray at the cut edges.
Techniques: Painted Dupioni silk, painted non-woven Pellon 830, machine quilted.
Materials: Dupioni silk, commercial cotton backing, wool batting, mounted on stretcher bars with a wire hanger.
Rebecca Dickson Westerville, OH
The background for this piece was inspired by Tina Curran’s garden quilts. I have her permission to use this background and to sell this piece. I love the concept of flowers, being in a riot of color across this quilt with a few bees, butterflies, ladybugs and dragonflies keeping them company.
Techniques: Fused applique, fussy cut blooms, machine piecing, beading, machine quilting.
Materials: Commercial cottons, beads, buttons, commercial embroidered dragonflies, cotton backing & batting.
Robin J. Hamill
Charlottesville, VA
Italy is replete with beautiful, aged doorways and arches embellished with pots of flowers. The textures of ancient, faded, peeling wood are intriguing. Who has touched those planks over the centuries? What life dramas has the portal witnessed?
Techniques: Raw edged applique, free motion quilted and embellished on a domestic machine.
Materials: Commercial cotton.
Porta Toscana 24”x24” 2024
