(2021) Turning Point was inspired by a visit to Melbourne, Australia, where I came across a pedestrian bridge with an unusual design called Webb Bridge (see my photo below). I lingered for some time, exhilarated by the way the view changed with each step through the curved meshed structure. Everyone who walked through this hairpin turn seemed to radiate its joyful energy.

I decided to render it with earthy colors to convey the feeling I had of being both protected and inspired to explore. The mustard-colored “ribs” are made of piping (fabric wrapped around cotton cord), giving it a 3D element that is meant to enhance the design’s sense of depth. I stitched gold embroidery across each section as a subtle nod to the struts connecting the ribs of the bridge (see detail images). When the ribs didn’t stand up as much as I’d like I tried over-stitching in a spiral around them and that did the trick.

Size: 36” wide x 30” high

Recognition: Turning Point was featured in the spring 2022 issue of Art Quilting Studio magazine.

(2011) I made this wall quilt for a friend. I asked her what colors she liked and she said "bronze." I'd never worked with these colors before but I found I loved their richness. After this I started incorporating them into more of my quilts.

Size: 48" x 37"

Material: Batik fabric

(2107) I made this wall quilt for my sister's 60th birthday. I wanted to play with different macrame patterns and different ways of integrating them with the fabric. I made three panels and connected them with two long strips of macramé and also sewed smaller patterns into the fabric. I figure just because you're turning 60 doesn't mean you can't feel young and playful.

Size: 36" x 24"

Material: Batik fabric, nylon macramé cord

(2017, 2020) I made this wall quilt for one of my oldest friends. We went to camp together but lost touch after college, only recently reconnecting after about 40 years! Somehow after all that time we still had the same taste -- in friends and in quilt designs.  

Then in 2020 she asked for a second quilt in complementary colors so I made the one in greens and blues (below), thus making the title “Time Passages” even more appropriate.

Size: 32" x 24" (each)

Material: Batik fabric

(2011) With this wall quilt I learned to make curves, and now I can hardly make a quilt of straight lines. The wiggled figures remind me of Caribbean women in brightly colored wraps carrying baskets on their heads. 

Size: 57" x 47"

Material: Batik fabric

(2020) Waterdance is a variation on my earlier quilt called Cascade, built around a wavy macramé pattern that I designed. I wound up with some extra macramé strips so I created this smaller version, which can be used as a table runner or a wall quilt. I like the way the wavy ribbon technique rhymes with the waves of the macramé and the curves in the blue fabric. To me it suggests the idea of sun glinting off the streams of a waterfall, a waterdance.

Size: 24” x 43”

Material: Batik fabric, hemp macramé cord

(2019) After returning from a fabulous trip to Santa Fe I was inspired to make something with its signature turquoise and orange colors. The four corner diamond sections and the middle striped section are all made of macramé, each mirroring the adjacent fabric sections. I think this one came out looking more like a flag than a quilt — one that I will happily fly should I ever have the great fortune to live in that area of the U.S.

Size: 41” x 24”

Material: Batik fabric, hemp and nylon macramé cord.

(2017) In this wall quilt I started experimenting with different patterns of macramé sewn directly into the quilt. The colors and patterns remind me of my childhood days playing with macramé in arts and crafts class.

Size: 37" x 22"

Material: Batik fabric, nylon macramé cord

Recognition: Macramé Child’s Play was exhibited at the 2018 Pacific International Quilt Festival in Santa Clara, CA.

(2019) I made this quilt for clients who wanted it to cover their fireplace to reduce the draft when it wasn’t in use. My goal was to suggest a fire but in an abstract way. The blue border was chosen to complement the color scheme in the room. I tried to subtly support the fireplace theme with the quilting, stitching a flames pattern in the fire area, woodgrain in the darker areas at the bottom, and a grid of panels for the outer area (see detail photos).

Size: 67” x 39”

Material: Batik fabric

(2011) I made this quilt as a thank you gift for my mother's doctor when my mother was dying of cancer. I didn't have much time so I quickly chose a pattern and some fabric and put it together. Only after it was finished did I realize that, as my sister pointed out, it looks like bandaids! If only that could have made my mother all better.

Size: 30” x 30”

Material: Cotton and batik fabric

(2010) This wall quilt is the second quilt I made. With it I learned how to sew triangles and how to get lines to match up (mostly). To quilt it I stitched along the seams (stitched in the ditch). Only later did I start to play with enhancing designs with the quilt stitching.

Size: 74" x 54"

Material: Batik and cotton fabric

(2010) This is my very first quilt, based on the Tumbling Blocks pattern. You can tell because it kind of bows out on the sides -- I hadn't yet learned the importance of squaring up each block before sewing them together. I was almost finished when my mother came for a visit and she showed me how to put on the binding.

Size: 32" x 32"

Material: Cotton fabric