Queensland Quilters Inc.

STATE of the ART quilt 09

2009 saw the launch of this new exhibition for Queensland Quilters, Inc.

Jurors Christine Ballinger, Director of the Noosa Regional Gallery, and Alison Muir, Sydney textile artist, selected 19 art quilts that will be seen in the touring exhibition throughout 2009.

The exciting, innovative quilts on display highlight the wide range of techniques and subject matter our art quilters are exploring today. Quilters have taken inspiration from the Outback landscape & nature to the more intimate setting of their home environment & reinterpret the everyday. Painted, hand dyed, stitched, felted fabrics convey meaning beyond mere words & transport the viewer beyond the everyday.

Entries for State of the Art quilt 10 are now being taken!

Please contact the curator Sue Dennis info@suedennis.com for further information.

Click on the images for a more detailed view.

Felicity Clarke - 'Shades of Grey'

76cmH x 76cmW

This is a journey through memories, joined by bloodlines & dates- birth, death & duration. An ongoing story I'm growing to accept as I head towards the age my mother passed away.

Cotton fabric, hand dyed cotton batting, wool & silk roving, handmade felt, DMC thread, stuffing for the high relief effect, handkerchief linen with images transferred to them. Hand quilting, felting, photo transfer, hand painting of my poems text. My mother's image was needle felted, highlighted with seed stitch for depth & subtle shading & padded to give a 3d/high relief look.

(Detail)

(Detail)

Barbara Cleaver - 'Tribulosis'

54cmH x 54cmW

Laying of background fabric onto stabiliser, layering of centre section over the top of border I wanted to create a piece with a centre & borders, but put together in a non traditional way also adding 3D leaves & flowers for added dimension.

Wool/poly wadding, cotton fabric, synthetic fabric, cotton & embroidery thread.

(Detail)

Sue Dennis - 'Anthills- Silent Cities'

69cmH x 122.5cmW

What a fascinating wonder of nature the humble termite mound, commonly known as an anthill is. These structures are the skyscrapers of the outback housing millions of inhabitants.

Rusted & hand dyed cotton, fabric paint, 80/20 cotton wadding. Hand rusted & dyed, monoprinted, hand painted & stitched, machine quilted.

Sue Dennis - 'Synaptic Sequence'

130cmH x 76cmW

Something is seen- it triggers the thought process- layered sequences- shadows drift through the mind. Use of the wadding as the principle design surface was a deliberate choice.

Discharged cotton, 80/20 cotton wadding, fabric paint, metallic thread & perle cotton #5. Hand painted & printed, discharged, machine appliquéd & quilted, machine created fabric, hand stitched.

(Detail)

(Detail)

Lyn Hale - 'A Fetish for Shoes'

87.5cmH x 88cmW

My love of shoes prompted me to make this quilt. The shoe has been raw edge appliquéd to a painted background then shadow quilted.

100% cotton, painted background, furnishing fabric, button, appliqué, machine quilted.

(Detail)

Glad Howard - 'Architectural Perspective 1: View from the pool'

110cmH x 80cmW

The aim of the quilt was to render an architectural image in the simplest way. An interior view of a building was reduced to line & shape. Approach was influenced by the abstract paintings of Mondrian.

Cotton fabric, whole cloth, raw edge machine appliqué.

Glad Howard - 'There is an Answer, Leave no Stone Unturned to Find it'

90cmH x 80cmW

The aim of the quilt was to render stones in different settings- ebb tide, Martian landscape rock pool & in different ways philosophically suggesting to keep trying to solve your problems.

Cotton, felt, polyester, freehand machine stitching, appliqué, machine felting, shirbori manipulated fabric & ink tense pencils. The separate panels were machine felted together.

(Detail)

(Detail)

Christine Jones - 'Daughter of Passion'

57cmH x 51.5cmW

The technique was learnt under the tuition of Anna Williams of New Zealand. The portrait is a photograph by Tarasov of Russia. I have no daughters & now I can create them from Tarasov's portraits.

Cotton, beads & sequins, raw edge appliqué, machine quilting & free motion quilting.

(Detail)

Helen Kidd - 'Room with a View #2'

98cmH x 82cmW

I enjoy taking photos through windows. This is the view from our room of Lake Crackenbach & the view beyond.

Cotton quilting fabric & upholstery fabric. Appliqué both turned edge & raw edge, use of paint, pencil & crayons to create shadows.

Ailsa Koloi - 'Fashion Plates'

60cmH x 87cmW

This is second in a series of mid 20th century fashion. I feel it is a space saving way to preserve old memories.

100% cotton, polyester satin, glass beads & pearls, polyester threads, batting & fibre filling, machine pieced background, hand appliqué, free machine quilting, beading.

(Detail)

(Detail)

Ailsa Koloi - 'Ferris Wheel'

69cmH x 69cmW

After dyeing the diminishing values of black & piecing them with fine lines of colour, I saw the ferris wheel with its decorative lights whirling amidst the background of showground lights.

Hand dyed 100% cotton, polyester batting, polyester thread, strip piecing, rotary cutting, piping, machine quilting.

(Detail)

Jan McPike - 'Leaves All Around'

89cmH x 67cmW

The Illawarra Flame Tree leaf has centre stage in this quilt. I am always looking for different leaf shapes as I feel they portray the diversity of nature that is all around & which we take for granted.

Hand dyed & commercial cotton, rayon threads & cotton batting. Fused raw edged appliqué, heliographic (sun) printing, fabric paints, oil sticks. Free motion quilting.

Jane Rundle - 'Trapped but Free'

103cmH x 85cmW

Simple shapes & lines revealing life's journey, sometimes falling free, sometimes regimented & structured, with no freedoms to deviate from the expected path a girl should follow. Should I get off?

Cotton, silk, polyester, poly/wool batting. Raw edge appliqué, machine appliquéd, free motion machine quilted.

(Detail)

(Detail)

Michelle Steel - 'Geometric Aberration'

110cmH x 110cmW

This quilt was made at a time when our life should have been inspired. A time to take the opportunity to be living outside the square & to take a challenge. I found his version of “outside the square” were not adventures or his views interesting & different, but rather squares which were still squares, just aberrations of squares.

Hand dyed cotton homespun, cotton batting & vliesofix, machine piecing, machine quilting, appliqué & my own Positive/Negative appliqué technique.

(Detail)

Joy Truasheim - 'Ulysses 1'

83cmH x 55cmW

My sister Annette commissioned this artwork to represent the northern tropics where she now resides, her particular delight being the Ulysses Butterfly.

Background- hand painted silk. Leaves & vine- hand painted cotton. Butterfly- silk embroidery thread, cotton/poly wadding. Three dimensional leaves machine quilted into position on appliquéd vines, extensions stabilized with inserted wire. Machine embroidered butterfly, hand quilted.

Lisa Walton - 'Solar Flare'

96cmH x 97cmW

Hand dyed cotton & silk organza are combined with the addition of beads to represent the shimmering heat of the sun.

(Detail)

(Detail)

Ros Ward - 'Up Close'

97cmH x 60cmW

A close-up from a photo I took of leaves in a plant pot. The colours were altered on the computer & marking made using thread colours.

Hand dyed 100% cotton fabrics, cotton wadding & various threads. Raw-edge appliqué & thread painting.

(Detail)

Lynne Williams - 'Kings of the Forest'

115cmH x 132cmW

Rainforests are precious habitats threatened by climate change. I created an imaginary home for the King Parrot family which visits our garden regularly, somehow surviving a very marginal habitat.

Cotton & synthetic fabric, felted wool & silk, fabric paints, air drying clay, texture medium, water soluble stabilisers, cotton wadding. Free motion embroidery (thread painting), fabric painting, quilting, burning (heat gun/soldering iron), machine felting.

Melissa Zillmann - 'Earth's True Colours'

93cmH x 93cmW

With my passion for 'dirty' colours & textures & designs found in our amazing world, each step of the quilt subsequently inspired the next until I ended up with what I'd describe as a celebration of the natural world.

Cotton/satin fabric, acrylic paints, cotton/rayon thread, variety of glass beads, velvet ribbon quilting, free machine embroidery, appliqué, hand beading, stamping using leaves & stamps, sponging.

(Detail)