Geologic Slice of Life
February, 2025 (Upcoming publication, Quilting Arts Magazine, Summer 2025)
Inspired by the Limestone rock cuts on the shores of Lake Ontario, this small study slices through the geologic record of time.
This piece will be published in Quilting Arts Magazine, Summer 2025.
Technique: commercial cotton prints, paper and wool yarns: rough applique pieced quilting, free motion machine stitching
Fleur de Lis
January, 2025 (for sale: SAQA Spotlight Auction 2025, coming soon)
Fleur de Lis grows wild in abundance on Ile Verte, QC. In mid June, it’s glorious purple heads nod in the breeze in salute to Quebec.
Technique: photo printed on cotton, free-motion machine stitched
Precious Resource
Fall, 2024
The blues of our pristine lakes symbolize purity and life.
A lake’s beauty is incomparable, constant change in light and weather causes shifts of colour and texture-cold steely blue, sparkling aqua, frothy seafoam. Natural waterways provide invaluable resources. Below the surface, they give sanctuary to a rich aquatic ecosystem.
In Kingston, many of our manhole covers are imprinted with relief designs of fish, a subtle reminder that our sewers are connected to aquatic life. Street runoff flows down into our lakes. The implicit message is to be mindful of what goes onto land surfaces and down drains. Toxins have the potential to poison our priceless blue waters.
We must all be mindful.
Materials: Indigo dyed cotton, rust dyeing, relief print, machine free motion stitch with varied weights of thread
Peacock Feathers
Summer, 2024
Is there anything more beautiful than a full display of peacock feathers? When photographed and manipulated with repeated inverse imagery, feathers come to life in an orderly pattern that highlights their precision. Rayon threads mimic the lustrous sheen, each feather seems identical, yet each has its own unique beauty.
Techniques: inverted and replicated digital photograph printed on whole cloth cotton (Zazzle), layered with batting and backed with felt, free-motion machine quilting and hand stitched embroidery
Teabag Peonies
January, 2024
Peonies are my favorite flowers. Their fat, heavy blossoms burst with shades of pink and burgundy as they appear in early June to usher in the oncoming summer. Each year, peonies fill my garden and my house, giving renewed energy and beauty.
Technique: Recycled raspberry teabags, emptied, dried and ironed; pole-dyed cotton; pieced background, rough edge applique, free motion machine stitching, hand stitched embellishment
Burst of Spring
Spring, 2024 (SOLD)
In early spring we alter our clocks to save daylight, trying to control the summer sun to suit our lifestyle. Nature absorbs the sun’s energy, using it to create the blossoms and buds of spring. The cold dark earth is warmed and coaxed to split open, releasing the first purples and blues of crocus and scilla. The landscape comes alive with a bounty of colour as blooms and foliage burst forth, oblivious to the time on our clocks.
Technique: Woolen cloth overlaid with wool and synthetic yarns, hand embroidered with dyed cotton thread. Cotton lawn dyed, pieced and free motion machine stitched. Embellished by hand with wool yarn and cotton threads.
Pine to Paper
January, 2024 (sold)
Our beautiful forests are harvested to become paper, which we so casually use and toss away. This piece takes those trees full cycle recreating a forest.
Technique: used, dyed paper towel, free-motion machine stitched Paper
Morning Kaleidoscope
Spring, 2024
When backlit by the brilliant glow of a morning sunrise, naked, skeletal tree limbs become magical. This backyard image, captured and replicated, has become an intricate kaleidoscope.
Technique: Original photograph manipulated with mirror imaging, commercially printed on cotton, free motion machine quilting
Nature’s Haven
Winter, 2024 (Exhibition: Peterborough Library, April 1-30, 2025)
In the stillness of November, the skies can be dark and the temperatures chilly, but I revel in the solitude of long walks on well-worn paths. The trails take me past wetlands guarded by walls of tall reeds that provide refuge for waterfowl staying to brave the winter.
This piece uses one of my favorite photos taken as I headed out along the marsh. The somber sky is brightened by the early snow. The grasses nod their heads silently in the breeze as I pass by. I smile and nod back with my respect.
Medium / Media: cotton flat dyed with Procion MX dye, photo inkjet printed on cotton, black walnut dyed linen, cotton scrim and threads
A New Summer Day
Winter, 2024
On an early summer morning I sit on our dock watching. The sun rises over the distant woods and their reflection lights up the calm and quiet lake. Onshore, the wind begins to stir, and the waves become active, signaling it is time to start a new day.
Technique: Flat dyed cotton, free motion machine quilted with hand embroidery embellishment
Snack Interrupted, Shoo Fly!
June, 2023
This cow was enjoying a summer snack when a pesky blue-assed fly came along. Trying to flick, ended in a lick.
Technique: cow photographed, carved and block printed on rust dyed cotton, free-motion stitched and hand embellished.
Boro Bag
Winter, 2023 (NFS)
Boro stitching project turned into a great bag, just the right size for an iPad. Winter, 2023.
Welcome to Julius
February, 2023 (NFS)
Crib size quilt in cotton flannel. Welcoming Julius to the world. February, 2023. For a future of dreams, dinosaurs, space travel and fort building.
Technique: pieced cotton flannel quilt top, free motion machine quilted
Beneath The Bark
January, 2023 (sold)
Beneath the Bark created for the SAQA 2023 Spotlight Auction. These microscopic bugs appeared after an indigo dye bath and I imagined them crawling beneath rust-dyed bark.
Technique: Rust and indigo dyed cotton, reverse applique, with hand stitched detailing.
Bessie
December, 2022
This beautiful cow was captured on a fall walk on the K&P trail. During the big snow storm of Christmas 2022, I sat snug in my new atelier and started to piece together Bessie.
Technique: indigo dyed, flat dyed, eco-dyed and commercial fabrics, free-motion and hand stitched
Rockface with Grasses
Fall, 2022
This piece was so fun to make! The base was wet felted. Definition was added to the rocky background and the grasses with free motion machine stitching–the felted wool moved like smooth butter beneath the needle. Hand embellishment with pearl cotton finished it off and it is mounted on a background of gray felt for grounding. 13″x 14″, Fall 2022.
Fabric Collage
Fall, 2022
Free-form collage. No plan, just fun fabric play. Cutting, snipping, arranging and rearranging pulls out a picture. Looks like I was starting a theme of oversized flowers! Not surprising given my love of flowers. Both collages were finished with hand stitching to hold down the pieces and add definition. Fabric Collage Play
Queen Anne’s Lace
Fall, 2022
Queen Anne’s Lace is my first try at free-motion machine stitching. Picture a summer meadow and conjures up thoughts of these lacy umbels waving in the gentle breeze providing a playground for buzzing insects to flit around in the sunshine.
Technique: The central piece is wool blanketing that was eco dyed with Queen Anne’s Lace. Definition was added with free motion stitching and hand embroidery. Borders of commercial, embroidered silk were added as a finish and the cream silk was hand stitched around the commercial stitching to give more depth.
Sunset, Meadows and Sea
Fall, 2021
My first art quilt, and just like that, I was hooked! Sunset, meadows and sea. 12″x 16″, 2021.
Technique: strip cut piecing, matchstick machine quilting and hand embellishment