Travis Ruins Another Perfect Dinner Party

I made this quilt for the AQS “New Quilts from an Old Favorite” challenge, with the “Dresden Plate” block. I thought Dresden plates looked like Japanese Imari plates, so I proceeded to create a perfect Japanese table setting with lovely food and accessories. The whole thing was much too formal for me, though, so I decided Travis should enter the scene with his Big Mac and super-sized drink. We all know somebody like him…right???

2005. Approx 71"w x 71"h.
Materials: commercial cotton prints, metallic and novelty synthetic fabrics, rubberized shelf liner, linen napkins, chopsticks, novelty trims, Sulky variegated thread

Photo credit: Janet Orsi

Visions of Apple Pie

During breaks at the summer retreat where I teach in northern Mendocino County, I enjoy lying down on the expansive lawn in the shade of the ancient apple trees, staring up through the gnarled branches. Looking at the bursting ripe red apples made me think of all the delicious treats that I could make with them.

2014. Approx 41"w x 35"h.
Materials: commercial cotton prints, novelty synthetic fabrics, cheesecloth, novelty trims, thread waste, Sulky variegated thread, tulle

Photo credit: Janet Orsi

Zucchini Glut

Every home gardener in Ukiah is blessed with a total glut of zucchini by the end of summer. I wanted to depict the life cycle of this ubiquitous vegetable, in month-by-month stages.

2011. Approx 58"w x 61"h.
Materials: commercial cotton prints, novelty synthetic fabrics, selvage edges, digitally printed photos, novelty trims, acrylic paint, ribbon, Sulky variegated thread, tulle

Photo credit: Janet Orsi

Artie-Cycle

I spent a year taking photos of my artichokes in all of their stages of development, and this is the resulting project. I used all hand-dyed fabric and some novelty embellishments.

2021. Approx 32" w x 41" h.
Materials: commercial cotton prints, novelty synthetic fabrics, selvage edges, digitally printed photos, novelty trims, acrylic paint, ribbon, Sulky variegated thread, tulle

Photo by artist

Heirloom Apple

I love the gnarly old apple trees on a local farm where I teach quilt classes in the fall.

2020. Approx 22"w x 28"h.
Materials: commercial cotton prints, metallic and novelty synthetic fabrics, novelty trims, Sulky variegated thread, tulle

Photo by the artist

Turkey Tails

I found a rotting piece of firewood covered with Turkey Tail fungus, and used hand-dyed fabrics, cheesecloth and white chenille yarn to replicate them in this little quilt.

2018. Approx 20"w x 38"h.
Materials: commercial cotton prints, metallic and novelty synthetic fabrics, novelty trims, Sulky variegated thread, tulle

Photo by the artist

Spring Veggies

These are little veggie studies using denim and fabric scraps.

2018. Approx 12" x 22" each.
Materials: commercial cotton prints, metallic and novelty synthetic fabrics, novelty trims, Sulky variegated thread, tulle

Photo by the artist

Fall Feast

I love gardening, and I love cooking, and this is the result.

2018. Approx 50"w x 50"h.
Materials: commercial cotton prints, metallic and novelty synthetic fabrics, novelty trims, Sulky variegated thread, tulle

Photo by the artist

Sweet Old-Fashioned Girls

I had fun using hand-dyed fabrics to make a lot of little "doodles" of my beautiful heirloom roses.

2017. Approx 40"w x 60"h.
Materials: commercial cotton prints, metallic and novelty synthetic fabrics, novelty trims, Sulky variegated thread, tulle

Photo by the artist

Summer Glory

I teach at an annual 5-day retreat in northern Mendocino County, in the middle of a luscious and bountiful garden that is the source of much of what we eat there. It was a logical choice to create this piece as a demo for my students while looking out the studio windows upon this sunny high summer scene.

2014. Approx 31"w x 42"h.
Materials: commercial cotton prints, metallic and novelty synthetic fabrics, novelty trims, Sulky variegated thread, tulle

Photo by the artist

Summer Garden with Rainbird

I teach at an annual 5-day retreat in northern Mendocino County, in the middle of a luscious and bountiful garden that is the source of much of what we eat there. It was a logical choice to create this piece as a demo for my students while listening to the rainbird sprinklers pulsing water on the veggies that would soon be our dinner.

2014. Approx 24"w x 48"h.
Materials: commercial cotton prints, metallic and novelty synthetic fabrics, novelty trims, Sulky variegated thread, tulle

Photo by the artist

As American As...

American Made Brand issued a challenge to quilters to create pieces made exclusively from their fabrics, on the theme of "What does 'made in America' mean to you?" What can be more "made in America" than apple pie made from organic apples grown in my own back yard, accompanied by vanilla ice cream? So... all of those ideas made their way into this quilt, along with my mother's old colander, ice cream scoop and pie server.

2014. 43"w x 53"h.
Materials: American Made Brand cotton solids, sulky variegated thread, tulle

Photo Credit: Janet Orsi

Spring Mix

This is a fanciful little study of my salad, made from solid fabrics by American-Made Brand

2014. Approx 12"w x 14"h.
Materials: commercial cotton prints, metallic and novelty synthetic fabrics, novelty trims, Sulky variegated thread, tulle

Photo by the artist

Farmer's Market

I love our farmer’s market with all of the color, abundance and local energy. Not to mention the visual thrill of stacks of freshly picked vegetables.

2012. Approx 58"w x 61"h.
Materials: commercial cotton prints, metallic and novelty synthetic fabrics, novelty trims, Sulky variegated thread, tulle

Photo by the artist

Temptation

Another unplanned stroke of luck…I attended several life drawing sessions with some friends from my gallery, and brought fabric and scissors in addition to pencils and paper. I rapidly knocked out seven smallish collages during that time, with no idea what I would ever do with them. One day I tossed them on the floor to see what they would look like in some sort of arrangement, and there was a small square blank space left in the middle. I flopped a random piece of fabric in the hole to see if it was the right size for one more figure, and suddenly realized that it had apples on it. The idea of “Temptation” jumped into my mind, which caused me to collage a lovely apple for the center, and give every one of the figures an apple to try NOT to interact with. The apple tree holding the pieces together came next.

2010. Approx 56"w x 66"h.
Materials: commercial cotton prints, metallic and novelty synthetic fabrics, novelty trims, Sulky variegated thread, tulle

Photo credit: Janet Orsi