Most of my childhood was spent in the small town of Quincy, MA. I was fortunate to have parents that encouraged my creativity. I started sewing as soon as I was old enough to be trusted with a needle and thread. If I was not sewing, I was drawing. I would draw on anything and everything - even the inside walls of all the closets were filled with my drawings. My family later moved to Florida where I attended the Art Institute of Ft. Lauderdale, majoring in Interior Design. I worked for an architectural firm in Miami for 12 years. My years with the architectural firm taught me how important small details are to the overall design. This attention to detail has always remained with me, influencing my work today.

After many years of experimenting with a variety of artistic mediums, I discovered a way to combine my love of architecture and drawing into my art quilts. I think of my sewing machine as an extension of my paintbrush, combining painted canvas with multi layers of machine thread work to give each piece texture and the illusion of dimension.

My husband and I live in Maryville, Tennessee where I have a studio that I share with 2 cats.

About the Process

I start out with plain blank canvas material; using acrylic paint, I paint a base color in the hue I would like the "wood" to appear. I tear the canvas by hand (resulting in raw edges) into the shapes of individual wood planks. Then, using my sewing machine, I "draw" in the details, including wood grain, knot holes, rusted hardware, foliage, shade and shadows, all in various colored thread.

This free-motion sewing machine technique is called thread painting. After completing the stitching details, I layer cotton batting between my stitched canvas and a backing fabric. Then I stitch the three layers together using free-motion machine quilting, forming additional wood grain lines and detail on the piece.

A sleeve is sewn on the back that holds a rod for hanging. Each piece is signed, dated and numbered. The whole process of making this type of art quilt takes several weeks to complete in addition to yards and yards of thread.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take you to finish a piece?

Since artists are known to be slightly crazy, I actually tried to keep track while I was working on "Joe's Shed" (30"x22"). It took about 95 hours, not including lifting the cats off the work every few minutes.

 

How much thread do you use?

A lot of thread. Keeping track of each time I changed bobbins while working on "Joe's Shed"--I used about 67. Which in real life equals about 3,500 yards of thread (just about 2 miles). Keeping track of bobbins was easier than counting spools of thread, since I change thread colors constantly while working. To create the illusion of depth, I use many different color variations - each color may have about 6 values from light to dark.

Primitive Door #1

First door in the series - 1997 15 3/4" w x 23 3/4" h

A simple wooden latch secures the door to this primitive cupboard. This detail is taken from an early 1900's cupboard I have which was found on the back porch of a farm in rural Alabama.