Designing
How my work looks when folded over a chair or wrapped around a body is just as important to me as how it looks lying flat. In this way quilt making is closer to sculpture than graphic art. My designs begin by imagining how the finished piece will be used.
How can I create opportunities for accidents to happen? How can I manipulate how the accidents happen? And when I have them, how can I use them to make something beautiful? I find the back and forth between accident and design fascinating.
If I imagine a quilt that mimics a favourite art work, or one made entirely of perfect circles, or a quilt with no visible quilting, how can I practically achieve that? Inspiration often comes from technical challenges. The more impossible an idea seems, the more I want to make it.
Making
I begin every quilt from scratch, mapping out my own patterns and creating templates from which pieces will be cut from the fabric. I often use a computer programme to explore possible variations, especially with designs that follow strict geometry.
I dye or screen print fabrics to suit the individual character of each piece. I use ethically sourced, organic fabric. The tops are pieced together on a domestic sewing machine. Sometimes quilting is done on the machine, but most often I do it by hand. Binding is finished by hand.