'Bow River'

Bow River / 72x72 / Fibre

here is a long history in my family of making things by hand, and quilts are definitely a huge part of that tradition.  About ten years ago I decided to try my hand at it, though I didn't want to create a traditional design but rather an art quilt and, of course, I couldn't do it small...it had to be huge (it measures 72x72 inches). 

I used a photograph I had taken of the Bow River near the Banff Springs Hotel to create a small painting on paper and then began creating abstracted drawings on graph paper to decide how I wanted the final quilt to appear.  I coloured and cut up small sheets of paper and placed them back together, then created a full design using newsprint before cutting up the beautiful fabrics that I had found as I wanted the completed quilt to replicate a painted image.

Though my early years were spent sewing (I used to create patterns and sew my own clothes), and though I was accepted into Fashion in Toronto (never made it past Manitoba where I met my husband), I have realized that as much as I love fabric, it is not my passion.  I think in this endeavor that I prefer to look at the beautiful fibre art created by others but I am glad I gave it a try.

NOTE:  A huge and special thank you to Kristen Shima of Shima Studios for the lovely photos!