You might think such extensive mash-ups could lead to art that overwhelms, but that’s hardly the case. April expertly balances colour and composition to create cohesive works that are surprisingly neat at first glance. Even upon close inspection, April’s layers of texture and pattern seamlessly merge and often surprise the eye.

In addition to offering us a look into her process and favourite things, April also shares how renowned UK textile artists helped her discover the power of simple stitches and inspired her to let go of her need for control. She explains how Constance Howard and others have taught her that self-expression doesn’t have to be complicated when it comes to stitchwork. And we think you’ll agree.

Apron strings

April Sproule: My earliest memory of making something with textiles is making an apron with my maternal grandmother, Grandma Ollie, when I was seven years old. She was a tiny woman who lived in a small house filled with things she had made. She loved to sew, knit and paint.

I remember carefully cutting out the apron on her kitchen table and sewing it on her portable Singer sewing machine. Her patience was infinite as she taught me those brand-new skills. I was amazed we had made something useful out of seemingly nothing with a scrap of fabric and some thread.

Around the same time my paternal grandmother, Grandma Petersen, began teaching me to do hand sewing and stitching. She taught me how to cut old clothing into squares using a cardboard template. Those hand-pieced squares would later become a quilt top. She also taught me hand embroidery and lace making.

I have very fond memories of being sequestered away in one of their homes on rainy winter days happily stitching away for hours. It’s no wonder sewing and stitching are now like breathing to me. They are something I have always done, and those basic skills would go through many transformations in years to follow. Back then, I had no idea how those early experiences would impact my life.

Textile artist inspiration

During high school, I participated in a work study programme that involved writing a business plan and starting my first little business. I set about making a variety of leather goods, clothing and bags to sell at local shops and galleries.

After learning the technical skills I badly needed, at the San Francisco School of Fashion Design, I worked for several different US and Canadian manufacturers. My area of expertise was new product development and production management for companies making leather goods, accessories and clothing. Since 2001, I’ve been a full-time studio artist working as both a designer and workshop facilitator.

In 2011, I developed a commercial collection of 25 stencil designs inspired by Japanese Katagami stencils for painting on fabric. I began using the stencils for all sorts of things while teaching my painting techniques to others. I started making upcycled clothing for myself and linen bags to sell with the stencils, and then I added hand stitching to them. The stencilling and hand stitching worked well together. Next came a collection of hand embroidery patterns and kits in 2015.

Shortly after that, I started seeing online images from UK textile artists who were doing amazing work using hand stitching. I was especially inspired by Mandy Pattullo, Claire Wellesley-Smith, Louise Baldwin, Cas Holmes and Aideen Canning. These incredible women not only eradicated the notion of creating perfect little stitches, but they used stitching in such an expressive and expansive manner. Theirs was a much freer and innovative style of hand stitch that appealed to me on many levels.

I admired those artists’ ability to move away from the expected and express their own unique, wild and wonderful styles.

It was as if a door had opened, and anything was possible on the other side of that threshold.

April Sproule, Textile artist

Freestyle stitching

My new norm became letting go of the need for control and embracing the idea of self-expression.

Upon further investigation, everything led back to the work and influence of Constance Howard. I pored over her books, and my entire perspective on hand stitching changed tremendously. I didn’t necessarily change the stitches I used, but I became mindful of how those stitches were used. One simple stitch could be used in 20 or more different variations.

When I developed my collection of hand embroidery patterns, I thought using lots of different complex or unusual stitches added more interest.

Constance Howard took a different approach. It was more about starting with one simple stitch and then tweaking it, contorting it, and reimagining all its possibilities.

Now as I go back and look through Constance’s books, I especially love seeing her illustrations. These days I see hand stitching as another form of mark making. And as I switch back and forth between pen and ink illustration and my hand stitching, each medium provides inspiration for the other.

I studied Constance Howard’s approach and realised the complexity of stitches wasn’t as important as I’d first thought.

April Sproule, Textile artist

Natural inspirations

I am inspired by many things, but my greatest inspiration comes from nature. Nature provides me with a never-ending treasure trove of ideas. It could be insects, botanical specimens or even diatoms and other microscopic images that pique my interest and beg me to take a closer look.

I live in an astonishingly diverse beautiful area in northern California. In just a few minutes, I can be exploring tide pools along our rugged coastline or trek deep into a Redwood forest where rays of sunlight pierce the thick canopy of branches and illuminate the areas below in a spectacular display.

Things that are in a state of erosion or decomposition are much more interesting than a perfect specimen. And surface design with textiles, pen and ink illustration, printmaking, collage, and watercolour are all mediums that supply me with lots of ideas and inspiration.

I’m interested in capturing the essence of my subject matter, rather than in replicating it in a photorealistic way.

April Sproule, Textile artist

Creative sketches

My work is developed in different ways, but it usually begins with a feeling or mood I want to convey. Early in the morning, I often work in a little handmade book where I experiment with different ways of combining paper, fabric and stitch in new and interesting ways that can lead to larger projects. 

Often my work begins with what I call a production sketch. It’s just a vague idea and a starting point, but it’s a very important step because it takes what only exists in my mind into the physical world where it becomes tangible.

Introducing colour

Next comes colour, which is one of the most valuable design elements. Colour is what first attracts or repels viewers to our work. I usually start with white fabric or pieces on which I’ve applied some sort of surface design techniques.

Scale, the overall finished size of the piece, comes next. Are the details going to be lost if a person sees it from a distance? Those choices inform all my decisions on which mediums to use.

I’ve learned to worked much more intuitively. All I need is one idea to get started. It could be the colour green and then everything develops from there.

Every piece I make takes me on a journey of learning and exploration.

April Sproule, Textile artist

Figuring things out

I feel incredibly fortunate because I rarely get really stuck on a piece and give up on it. I am good at problem solving and figuring things out. It seems like a waste of time, energy and materials to give up on a piece and not finish it.

When I start a new project that is very involved, I clean up my studio and put everything in its place. Initially clutter can be a distraction, but that’s only in the beginning. Once my ideas start to flow, it is total chaos. I don’t clean up until the project is completely done.

Mixing things up

I use a wide variety of mixed media on fabric and paper. I especially enjoy working with dyes, paints, stencilling, printing, pen and ink, cyanotypes, and hand or machine stitch. Learning to do all of these things has been so much fun!

I’ve done lots of shibori dyeing with Procion dyes and indigo over the years. It’s so exciting to unwrap the cloth and see what has happened. And now I have all those fabrics to choose from and add to my textile art.

Using paints and inks on fabric and paper has been a great addition to my work. I use textile paints that don’t alter the hand of the fabric, and I’m pretty picky about that. I also love using walnut ink, sumi ink and India inks. Sometimes I just sit and draw stripes or dots with a pen or brush. Then it’s fun finding new ways to incorporate those pieces into my work.

I am also experimenting a lot with different papers. I won’t use papers that are either too delicate or too hard to stitch through. I still have a lot to learn about different types of paper, but that’s part of the research and excitement of learning something new.

Favourite fabrics

My absolute favourite fabrics to work with are linen, cotton sateen and silk. I use both vintage and new fabrics, but many of the vintage fabrics are just wonderful to work with. The linen is like butter to stitch through, and I love the texture of it. 

My next favourite fabric is cotton sateen, as the weave gives it a subtle sheen. It has a very nice hand, dyes beautifully and it is really easy to stitch through. And silk has long been a favourite of mine. I don’t ever use fusibles on it, as that would ruin the hand of the fabric. I have lots of silk left over from having a custom sewing business for 10 years. Now, I’m glad I saved all those fabrics.

Threads & stitches

For threads, I mostly use DMC cotton along with some hand-dyed threads. I‘d like to try linen thread but haven’t yet. My favourite stitches are the running stitch, stem stitch, straight stitches, rice stitch, couching, and the versatile blanket stitch. I also like the cretan stitch a lot, because it can be used in lots of different ways.

I took Sue Stone’s Exploring Texture and Pattern course in 2018. After finishing all the exercises, my style of stitching changed from using more complex decorative stitches to using very basic stitches in different forms and combinations.

My needle has become like my pen, and my hand stitching is now another form of mark making.

April Sproule, Textile artist

A few basic tools

I enjoy using good quality tools that last a long time, so I don’t have to replace them.

Really sharp scissors are very important. I have embroidery scissors, appliqué scissors, regular scissors, paper scissors and huge shears for cutting heavy fabrics. But mostly I just need a sharp little pair of embroidery scissors for cutting threads.

Fabric markers are also important. I use Frixion markers and have never had a problem with them. I like that I get nice clean lines with them. And of course, good needles make everything so much easier. I use mostly size 10 embroidery needles with a nice sharp point.

One of the greatest things about hand embroidery is you only need a few basic tools.

I do almost all of my actual stitching at night. I use a large floor model OttLite, and I could not sew without it. I usually do hand stitching for three hours or so every night. It’s become a daily practice I really enjoy.

My iPad is my favourite design tool. I use an app called Adobe Fresco for my illustrations. I start a piece, photograph it, and then draw mock up stitches on the photo to help with design options and decisions. I can add 10 layers of stitching, eliminate what I don’t like, AirDrop the image to my phone, and use it for reference as I stitch. It’s just like magic!

I think one of the best things you can do as an artist is try things outside of your comfort zone.

April Sproule, Textile artist

Silver linings

The biggest challenges I’ve faced as a professional artist were Covid related. From 2001-20, I operated a longarm quilting business, sold my wares online and as a vendor at shows, and I taught workshops on techniques I’d developed over the years. 2019 was an especially busy year for me. Then Covid reared its ugly head, and every single upcoming event I had scheduled was cancelled.

I decided to make the most of this unexpected free time by focusing on my art and volunteering for different textile art groups who support artists and textile art instructors. That gift of time gave me a chance to re-evaluate what I was doing and make some positive changes.

I closed my longarm quilting business and decided to stop vending at shows and started applying for grants. In 2019, I received a grant from a local arts foundation, and in 2020, I received a business grant from the state. Collectively, those funds made it possible for me to gain the technical training and equipment I needed to start teaching online.

I aim to spend half my time working and the other half creating art. I’m not there yet, but I will be some day. It’s also much easier to share what I do with others and help others achieve their creative goals.

I’ve found that pushing myself helps to grow my skills and proficiency.

My biggest artistic challenge was making the portraits in Sue Stone’s Stitch Your Story online course. I knew what a fabulous teacher Sue was, and it was really hard, but I learned so much along the way. I was really inspired by the work of the others in the course.

Designing my creative space

After leasing a commercial building for five years for my business and studio, I finally had a studio built behind my house in 2006. I needed room for my 14ft longarm quilting machine, space to teach my surface design workshops and a workspace for me to create my textile art.

I had lots of experience designing textile art projects, but designing a building was an entirely different experience. Luckily, I found a great designer and very good contractors to work with me.

The 24ft x 40ft (7.3m x 21.1m) two-story structure has nice high ceilings. Downstairs is my wet studio where I do my messy stuff like dyeing and fabric painting. I included a 6ft-wide stainless steel sink from a place that carried used restaurant equipment, and it has been a useful addition. There’s also lots of storage for art supplies and other stuff.

Upstairs is one large room where I sectioned off a full bathroom and walk-in closet. The kitchen area has cabinets that hold art supplies, and it was designed to accommodate appliances, but I would rather have the space.

One of my requests was to have lots of natural light. But I also needed wall space for art display and a large design wall. The designer was able to plan accordingly, so I have windows on three sides and plenty of wall space in between.

I had a 4ft x 8ft cutting table built with storage cabinets and shelving below. I knew my needs for this space would change over the years, so one of the best things I did was to outfit all my heavy equipment, like the cutting table and longarm machine, with heavy duty casters so I can easily move things around by myself. That has been a tremendous help.

The building is quite tall due to the high ceilings on each level, so I had a manual dumb waiter added to transport heavy items, like sewing machines, up to the second floor. We’ve had lots of great workshops and retreats here, and that dumb waiter has gotten a lot of use over the years.

Every morning I wake up really early, grab a strong cup of coffee, and head over to the studio. When time permits, I sit and draw for an hour in front of my big window before I start my day. I’m grateful for every moment I spend here. My family has always been very supportive of what I do, and none of this would’ve been possible without them.

So, what happens when a scientist becomes a textile artist who chooses a printing technique offering zero reliability? As you’ll see below, it’s an incredible mashup of mark-making, colour and stitch.

Leah Higgins worked as a scientist in the chemical and textile industry, so she understood the possibilities of dyes. But her choice to use her signature ‘breakdown’ printing process forced her to literally lose control. 

You can read details about the technique below. But, in summary, the artist first lays down a resist, then the dyes take over from there.

At first, it wasn’t easy for Leah to embrace the serendipity of the process. But now she wouldn’t work in any other fashion. 

Industrial inspiration

To date, my sources of inspiration have mostly been grounded in the industrial heritage and social history of the Manchester area in the northwest of England. It’s where I live, and my work often references industries and buildings that have a personal or family connection. 

For example, I worked as a scientist in the chemical and textile industry and was based in a converted spinning mill for many years. Ruins 9 Cottonopolis Revisited is one of several pieces that reference the cotton mills littered across Manchester. 

I also create art based on my emotions and their connection to place and time. In my Cadence series, I took shelter from the stress of the pandemic by immersing myself in the process of making. I worked with my favourite colours and techniques. 

In Cadence 7, I tried to evoke the sense of calm and joy that comes from a repeated activity such as printing and stitching. More recently, I’ve started work on a new series inspired by the colours of the North Ayrshire coast and the emotions that course through me while standing on the shoreline.

Science foundations

I don’t remember learning to sew or knit, but my mother and grandmother believed a woman should always have a practical something ‘on the go’. But at age 14, when my school asked me to choose science or art, I chose science. 

For many decades, the ‘creative’ me was focused on making and repairing clothes and things for the house. And as I was never fully happy following other people’s patterns, I taught myself to create my own clothing patterns. I took pride in getting things perfect, and that attention to detail is now evident in my textile art. I don’t do wonky seams or leave threads hanging!

“Earning a chemistry degree and PhD in textile science, followed by a career in the textile industry has had a great influence on my work.” 

Leah Higgins, Textile artist

Understanding the properties of different textiles and the chemistry of dyeing has helped me transfer my ideas onto fabric. 

Those experiences also underpinned my teaching practice and helped me write books about colour and screen printing. It has also driven my interest in our industrial heritage.

Important mentors

I started making patchwork bed quilts and wall hangings in the 90s, usually giving them as gifts. Although I created my own designs based on traditional patchwork patterns, I soon wanted to design pieces from scratch. 

I took City and Guilds courses in Patchwork and Quilting, including an online diploma with Linda Kemshall. I learnt lots of techniques, but I didn’t like working into sketchbooks and wasn’t yet ready to call myself an artist.

That transition happened over a five-year period during which I took a series of workshops with Leslie Morgan and Claire Benn. Those amazing women changed my life. They taught me so much in terms of techniques, including introducing me to breakdown printing. But they also gave me the tools I needed to develop my own creative practice to become an artist.

“I wanted to learn how to transfer a source of inspiration into a finished quilt.”

Leah Higgins, Textile artist

Colours & marks

My initial planning takes place in my head. I like working in series, so it’s important that the ideas I choose have enough depth to sustain multiple pieces, often created over several years.

I don’t work into a sketchbook as such but will sometimes jot down ideas in a journal. I like to read around my subject, to visit relevant places and collect imagery I might incorporate into my work. 

Once I’m ready, I always start by playing with colours and marks. I might try to match colours to my source inspiration, or I might choose colours that ‘feel right’. 

I work directly onto fabric using breakdown printing and other screen printing techniques. I also sometimes use dyeing techniques to create a cohesive collection of fabrics that are unified by colour and dense mark making. 

“I don’t often get it right the first time. There will be fabrics I discard and fabrics that need additional work.”

Leah Higgins, Textile artist

Eventually I’m ready to construct my quilts. I cut my fabrics into simple strips or rectangles and often use value change to arrange them in an interesting way.

Once stitched together, I layer my work and add lots of straight-line machine stitching, as this seems to help the individual pieces of fabric blend together. In fact, viewers are often unaware such a large work contains several hundred pieces of fabric.

Once quilted, I often use appliqué or print to add elements that reference specific aspects of the inspiration source.

Breakdown printing

One of my favourite printing techniques is breakdown printing. It’s a form of screen printing in which I apply thickened dyes directly to the back of a screen, then let the screen dry completely. This dried dye acts as a resist when I print my screen. As I pull the screens, using either print paste or more thickened dye, the dried dye starts to wet out and transfers colour and marks to the fabric.

Each time I pull the screen more of the dried dye breaks down a bit, resulting in unique marks and patterns for every print.

“I love the serendipity of breakdown printing and the fact that I’m not 100 percent in control.”

Leah Higgins, Textile artist

There’s something wonderful about starting with a piece of white fabric and adding colour and marks. 

I’m excited to be hosting a workshop for the Stitch Club in which members will learn my breakdown printing technique. My aim is to make screen printing accessible to those who have never printed or used dyes before. The technique is very forgiving, so beginners won’t have to worry if their prints don’t line up or the fabric gets messy. 

Poplin love

Most of my art quilts were made using a lovely cotton poplin. Poplin has a very fine, dense weave and a smooth surface which takes colour beautifully, giving the printed colours a brightness that you wouldn’t get with plain cotton. 

That said, I used a linen/cotton blend for my Artefact series. I wanted to combine printed marks with a more textured fabric. I buy all my fabric from Whaleys of Bradford as I have better control of colour if I use fabric from the same supplier. 

“Poplin gives the printed colours a brightness that you wouldn’t get with plain cotton.”

Leah Higgins, Textile artist

The mighty Bernina

I bought my first Bernina sewing machine in 2007. It was a Bernina 440 that I had used in a workshop. Then a couple years ago, I replaced the 440 with its equivalent, the Bernina 435. 

The Bernina is a heavy machine and gives a very crisp straight line which is important to me as all my quilts are finished with dense straight line machine quilting. And they’re both true workhorses. My first machine did over 14 million stitches before becoming my backup machine!

Must-have tools

Humble masking tape is a must-have when I’m printing. But I also use it on my quilts as a guide for straight-line stitching when I don’t have a seam to which I can stitch parallel lines. 

The walking foot on my sewing machine is also essential. It not only helps to smooth quilting but also helps when I’m machine stitching long seams. I’ll also use it on rare occasions when I want to stitch curves, even quite tight ones. I get better control over stitch length than I would if I used free-machine quilting.

Also, I always have a notebook and pen next to my sewing machine. I can jot down the ideas that often come to me when I’m seated at my machine.

“My work is art and should not be excluded from exhibitions because of the media I choose to use.”

Leah Higgins, Textile artist

Textile art bias

As an artist, I’m constantly frustrated by the association between textile and craft within the ‘white-walled gallery’ fine art community. Yes, I take pride in mastering my craft. But my work goes beyond craft. 

On a more personal level, my biggest challenge is time! My creative process is time consuming, and it can be challenging to balance art with my teaching practice and family life. I’m reducing my teaching practice as part of my move to Scotland, which will hopefully free up more time to create!

The joy of writing

To date, I’ve written three books, including one dedicated to the breakdown printing process.

When I worked in a technical role in a manufacturing company, I often had to write detailed technical instructions for colleagues or customers with limited knowledge of the subject. So in 2018, when I changed career and started teaching screen printing and other surface design techniques, it was both natural and enjoyable to write detailed notes for my students.

A good friend who had self published her own books suggested I give it a go, so I did. And I loved it! Each of my books was written during quiet teaching periods, so I could set my studio up for photography and really focus. I completed each book in three to four months.

“I see my books very much as an extension of my teaching practice rather than my art practice.”

Leah Higgins, Textile artist

A big move

Looking toward the future, I’m interested in seeing how my ideas and sources of inspiration change as I move from an industrial city to a small town on the coast. My links with industry will fall away. 

I’m already working on a new series using colours associated with the coast. I wonder if I’ll be inspired by local history, too?

With more time, I’m hoping to explore different printing processes and seeing how I might incorporate printed paper into my work.

Largely self-taught, Pat masterfully reduces her subjects to their necessary elements in ways that still tell big stories. She isn’t focused on the details, and that’s a good thing. Her use of strong shapes, colour and pattern lead to incredible fabric mashups that communicate rich shadows and textures. 

Pat is generously sharing her appliqué and fusing techniques that serve as the foundation for her quilts. You’ll be surprised at the variety of fabrics and other materials she uses. As long as something doesn’t melt under her trusty iron, it’s a worthy candidate.

She explains about her method for using watercolour on fabric, as well as offering her refreshing takes on planning and imperfection.

Welcome to Pat’s world of simple abstracted beauty.

A path to self-discovery

Pat Baum Bishop: I remember drawing simple images on white fabric with a pencil and then stitching them with embroidery floss. Other embroidery projects included pillowcases and a tablecloth. I also did many crewel work pieces and counted cross stitch projects.

I begged my mother to teach me to use her sewing machine when I was 10 and started to make my own clothing.

When my children were young, I spent many years making traditional quilts. I eventually moved on to art quilting and experimenting with fabric manipulation.

Although I am mostly a self-taught artist, numerous teachers and many workshops have helped me along the way. 

Laura Cater-Woods was inspirational for two reasons. Somehow, she got me to vocalise my lifelong desire to be an artist at the age of 50. Once I said it out loud, it seemed to materialise. 

She also instilled in me the motto ‘do what you know, and the rest will follow’. When I was overwhelmed by too many choices, she’d say: ‘Do what you know how to do right now, and after that, you’ll figure out the next step’.

Yvonne Porcella was the first to teach me how to abstract an image. And Sue Benner also taught me different methods for creating abstract art. 

Simple abstraction

I work mostly with textiles, though I love to paint with acrylics and watercolours on paper and fabric. My love of abstraction steers my work, and my approach to abstraction is largely through simplification. 

Much of my work is about preserving memories. 

Lately I’ve been painting my backgrounds using watered down acrylic paint on white whole cloth fabric. I really like gradated fabric for my backgrounds, but they’re hard to find. Painting my own is even better. And it’s a very intuitive process.

During the pandemic, I took an online abstract painting class with UK instructor Louise Fletcher, cohost of the podcast Art Juice. Her class gave me confidence to play with paint, and I love it.

While most of my work is abstract, I also enjoy creating more representational work through watercolour painting on white whole cloth fabric with added machine quilting. 

“Almost all my pieces have a very special meaning to me – I wouldn’t be able to do them successfully otherwise.”

Pat Baum Bishop, Textile artist

Creative process

I usually start a work with a personal photo. I sometimes use an app that converts photos into watercolour style images, called Waterlogue, which helps me see my images in a simplified view. 

If I’m creating a bird or animal, some research is also involved to familiarise myself with the subject. 

Starting with the photo, I see how it looks in Waterlogue. I make a very small value study, usually a Post-It note size. That study helps me determine how to work with my light, medium and dark tones. 

I simplify my image, but I still don’t have everything laid out at this stage. The most planning I do is what my finished size will be, depending on if it will be bound or framed. 

“I’m not one who has everything worked out ahead of time – I enjoy finding happy accidents and problem solving.”

Pat Baum Bishop, Textile artist 

I work on my subject first, using a full-size cartoon that is fused to parchment paper. I always take into consideration the elements of design and composition. 

After the subject is complete, I audition backgrounds by laying the fused cartoon on top of my backgrounds to see what does and doesn’t work. Once I choose the right background, I quilt it before fusing the subject on top of it. 

After fusing the subject, I machine quilt it down and add any other thread painting it needs. 

“My work is not perfect, and I really don’t want it to be.”

Pat Baum Bishop, Textile artist

The value of imperfection

All my work is machine quilted on a sit-down Capri Handi Quilter with an 18″ throat. I don’t use a stitch regulator or rulers.

My style is somewhat cubist, and all my cuts are choppy. If I’m making any rounded cuts with my scissors, that’s a clue to myself that I’m trying too hard and it’s just not me.

Despite my quilts not being perfectly quilted, people seem to think they’re well done. I can find the flaws, but they’re not noticeable to the casual observer.

I truly believe my work is more relatable because it’s not perfect. Perfection is overrated. My work is more from the heart, if that makes sense. 

A bit of advice I was given was you need to make a few ‘sacrificial’ quilts. It takes practice to get good at anything, so I made several practice quilts. You can always donate them or make them for animal shelters.

It’s also good to take breaks every 30 minutes when machine quilting.

Fabrics galore

My list of potential fabric choices is long. I’ve used many different, and sometimes surprising, materials, including recycled clothing, silk, linen, damask, velveteen, denim, paper bags, men’s ties, old silk kimonos, paper towels. 

As long as materials don’t melt under my iron or shred under my needle, they’re good possibilities.

I love using silk for added texture and interest, though it should mostly read as a solid colour. And my stock of hand-dyed fabrics is fairly bottomless. 

I’m also an avid thrifter, though I do buy some commercial fabrics.

My fabrics are organised by colour in bookcases with sliding glass doors. Bins hold a good supply of pre-fused fabrics that are also organised by colour. 

“When it comes to choosing fabrics, if it can be ironed and fused, it works.”

Pat Baum Bishop, Textile artist

An old red barn

Red Barn looks very much like the one on my grandparents’ farm. I have so many wonderful memories of playing on the farm. Sadly, it’s no longer standing after being gobbled up by urban sprawl. 

The main fabric on the light side of the barn is monoprinted. I don’t have any real plan when dyeing or printing fabric other than having fun and using colours I like. I haven’t dyed fabric for several years now, because I have so much from when I was dyeing more regularly. I dye in the summer when it can be done outside in our garage. That way it can dry in the heat of the sun.

Environmental warning

Harbinger was inspired by my love of birds, but also by my worries about saving the planet. I wanted to send a message of ‘beware and be aware’ of how you live your life, as it all matters and has consequences for the earth. I felt the raven was an appropriate harbinger to send that message.

The background is hand painted in acrylics with an ominous tone. Although the raven looks mostly black, it’s actually made with many different textures of black, dark navy silk, velveteen, wovens and more.

“There’s a saying ‘colour gets all the credit, but value does all the work’ – I kind of live by that rule or at least try to.”

Pat Baum Bishop, Textile artist

Contrast is more important than colour, and that is more my focus. I use colours I love and then contrast them by using light or bright against dark values. Everyone has their favorite colours. Mine are blue, especially turquoise, and there’s a lot of green in my work. 

Also, when working with textiles, it’s important to take advantage of their textures – that’s a bonus you don’t see so much in other art forms. Working with fabrics that all have the same texture, or the same line of fabric, can be very boring. I suggest using a variety of textures and a range of values in fabric choices. 

Watercolour on fabric

I painted watercolours on paper in the distant past, but within the last five years, I started up again using fabric. I had seen similar work by textile artist Donna Deaver and loved the watercolour effect.

Ford Abandoned was inspired by a photo of an old Ford truck that’s been sitting up north near our cabin. I had always wanted to do something with the image, and this was my first attempt. I’ve done many more since.

Andrew Wyeth is my favourite watercolour artist. I love the moodiness of his painting, and his settings are often farm-like. His paintings speak to me.

For my watercolour process, I draw the outline and details with pencil on tightly woven white fabric. Then I make a quilt sandwich with a backing, batting and the white fabric on top, drawn side up. I free-motion stitch the pencil drawing with black thread, not perfectly of course. 

I apply a combination of watercolour paints, water and clear aloe vera gel to paint selected areas. The aloe vera gel keeps the paint and water from creeping where it doesn’t belong. The piece is then finished with additional quilting in the open large expanses.

Watercolours often have a bit of white space from the white paper background that allows the viewer to fill in the blanks and finish the story. It’s what draws you in and makes you stay and ponder what is happening in the composition. And I believe that’s why I like simplified abstract art. It allows the viewer to fill in the unfinished parts. 

Maker’s space

My home studio is upstairs with lots of natural light and a great view of the lake we live on. It leads to a deck for reading, relaxing or just sitting.

I designed the space with a large walk-in closet to store many of my supplies. I also have a large drafting table where I work on my compositions, as opposed to a design wall. It can be tilted, and a doubled wool blanket covers at least half the table creating a large ironing surface.

It’s very adequate and I love my space. Although, since I’m doing more painting, I’d prefer having a wood floor instead of carpet. There is also a desk, TV, couch and lots of power outlets. I love my couch and my view.

I work with a Janome 6600 domestic sewing machine and a Capri 18″ throat HandiQuilter. My other must-have tools are my sharp shears and iron.

“Being away from the main living space allows for leaving a big mess, but mostly, it provides solitude.”

Pat Baum Bishop, Textile artist 

During that time, the definition of ‘fine art’ was being critically examined: what made something ‘fine art’ versus ‘fine craft’? Could something functional also be considered fine art?

Textile artists weighed in with a resounding ‘yes’ by reimagining quilts in ways that emphasized design over function. They deviated from traditional, historical blocks and patterns to create abstract works, landscape designs, portraiture and more.

Then those quilters displayed their works by hanging them on walls rather than spreading them across a bed. Ultimately, fine art galleries started paying attention, and as the saying goes, the rest is history.

The possibilities for designing and creating art quilts have exploded since then, and we’ve compiled a list of books that can help you tap into the excitement. Each book features clear instruction complemented by gorgeous illustrations and photos.

Most importantly, all of the books are authored by a well-known art quilter. Each of them approaches art quilting differently, but they all celebrate the possibilities.

It’s time to start adding some quilt art books to your bookshelf.

Art quilt collage

Looking to dip your toes into the art quilting world? Here’s a great book to start your journey.

You’re first introduced to eight design guides presented in simple diagrams. These basic layouts can then be applied to the book’s engaging work-along projects.

Design checklists help readers analyse their artistic choices and change layouts accordingly. And See what happens next exercises offer a more prescribed method for trying new approaches.

Deborah Boschert also gives you a look into her signature technique of incorporating meaningful symbols into her art quilts. You’ll learn how to create shapes and symbols that are special to you, as well as how to work in a series and finish small art pieces.

Deborah’s step-by-step imagery and clear instruction will help you unlock your own artistic vision.

Art quilt collage: A creative journey in fabric, paint & stitch by Deborah Boschert (2016)
^{ISBN  9781617452840}

Quilt out loud

Have something to say? Tap into the power of embedding stitched letters, numbers, words and sentences into your art quilts.

Quilt artist Thomas Knauer’s quilts follow the craftivism movement, and his art quilts emphasise social justice issues. Thomas knows the power of stitched text, and in his book, he gives you a look into his creative process. You’ll not only learn unique quilting techniques, but you’ll also discover how to choose and embed text in ways that have impact.

Each chapter focuses on a particular approach, including raw-edge appliqué, quilted text, binary numbers and Morse Code. Whether your theme is serious or whimsical, this book shows you how to combine aesthetics with powerful messaging using fabric and thread.

Quilt out loud: Activism, language & the art of quilting by Thomas Knauer (2023)
^{ISBN 9781644033227}

Stitching stolen lives

The Social Justice Sewing Academy (US) works with students to amplify voices, empower youth and build empathy through quilting.

Students learn to create quilt blocks that help them examine and express the systemic problems that plague their everyday lives. Stitching Stolen Lives offers an in-depth look into a special remembrance project. Youth designed quilt blocks that memorialise family and friends they lost due to social injustices.

You’ll learn about the remarkable journey each student took to find their voice through the art of quilting. You’ll be amazed and moved by the students’ extraordinary quilt portraits and reading about the personal stories that inspired them.

This book also includes a resource section on how to talk about racial equity and how to use art as a tool to aid self-expression.

Stitching stolen lives: Amplifying voices, empowering youth & building empathy through quilts by Sara Trail and Teresa Duryea Wong (2021)
^{ISBN 9781644031384}

Create landscape quilts

It’s time to pull out those travel pictures and start quilting!

Learn how to create unique art quilts featuring your favourite places. Meri Henriques Vahl shares a simple method for designing realistic quilted nature scenes and villages. Using photographs from her travels, Meri explains how she achieves stunning scenery with lifelike details in her art quilts.

Various techniques, including fabric collage and tulle overlay, help quilters of all levels learn to quilt majestic mountainscapes, charming buildings and realistic people. Easy-to-follow instructions complemented by a stunning gallery of quilts will inspire you to turn your travel photos into lovely art quilts.

Create landscape quilts by Meri Henriques Vahl (2021)
^{ISBN 9781644030127}

Creating art quilts with panels

Discover how to transform fabric panels and thread into one-of-a-kind art quilts.

Award-winning quilter Joyce Hughes demonstrates dimensional thread painting, raw edge applique, and a variety of embellishments to make seasonal panels, beautiful florals, and panel replicas like Van Gogh’s Starry Nights.

From simple beading to more advanced three-dimensional pieces, Joyce presents her techniques across six projects that feature detailed photographs and a step-by-step format.

Discover how to make your quilt pop and explore endless options for creativity with free-motion quilting, thread painting, trapunto, overlay, three-dimensional effects, machine techniques, raw edge applique, and a variety of embellishments.

Creating art quilts with panels by Joyce Hughes (2019)
^{ISBN 9781947163164}

Capture your own life with collage quilting

It’s time to get personal.

Whether you’re celebrating your pet’s personality, preserving a memory from a family holiday or recreating your favourite flower, this book teaches you a simple technique to create a stunning and personal art quilt.

Jane Haworth shares her fun, easy, and addictive quilting method that doesn’t require hundreds of pattern pieces. That’s why it’s perfect for quilters of all skill levels.

Twelve different project ideas feature a variety of styles and themes, including animals, flowers, houses, musical instruments and landscapes. You’ll start by learning how to choose a photograph or image and make enlargements to create a pattern.

Then Jane explains how to choose the right background fabrics, master some free-motion quilting techniques, and finish and display your quilt.

Capture your own life with collage quilting by Jane Haworth (2023)
^{ISBN 9781639810222}

At play in the garden of stitch

This book is all about free-motion fun in art quilting.

Paula Kovarik shares approaches to free-motion stitching that are approachable, engaging and multi-layered. You’ll be encouraged to explore how stitching can bring depth to composition, texture to emotions and line to ideas.

In addition to simple stitching and drawing exercises, Paula shares examples and inspirations for how to approach this art form. Pictures of her award-winning art quilts illustrate her techniques and clarify her process.

Close-up photos of stitching also inspire readers to try their hand at Paula’s techniques. And her technical tips and stories of her successes and failures make this a wonderful read.

At play in the garden of stitch by Paula Kovarik (2021)
^{ISBN 9780578920047}

And finally…

Here’s a list of additional older books that may just become your new firm favourites (although could be a little more difficult to find). Check thrift shops, libraries, second-hand bookstores, and other online book sites to source these titles.

• Inspired by design: Seven steps to successful art quilting by Elizabeth Barton (2013) ISBN 9781607056348
• Visual guide to working in a series: Next steps in inspired design by Elizabeth Barton (2014) ISBN 9781607056614
• Point, click, quilt! by Susan Knapp (2011) ISBN 9781607052265
• Journey to inspired art quilting: More intuitive color and design by Jean Wells (2012) ISBN 9781607055808

Featured picks

• Art quilt collage by Deborah Boschert (2016)
• Quilt out loud: activism, language & the art of quilting by Thomas Knauer (2023)
• Stitching stolen lives by Sara Trail and Teresa Duryea Wong (2021)
• Create landscape quilts by Meri Henriques Vahl (2021)
• Creating art quilts with panels by Joyce Hughes (2019)
• Capture your own life with collage quilting by Jane Haworth (2023)
• At play in the garden of stitch by Paula Kovarik (2021)

If you buy books linked to our site, we may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops.

Interested in more great books for learning textile techniques? Check out our list of books in which expert textile artists share their processes.

Do you have a favourite book about art quilting you can add to our list? Please share by leaving a comment below.

‘The sun and moon represent our Latino heritage and our last name Luna. The X’s represent love (as in XO). It was such a pleasure to hold him in my hands and heart as I worked on this piece.’

In the words of the famous song – memories are made of this. But what exactly is ‘this’?

We gather memories throughout our lives – from families, friends, education, travel and life experiences. Often brimming with emotions, we treasure tangible associations through photographs, videos, keepsakes and clothing.

Memories can act as a rich source of inspiration for textile artists to build emotion and meaning into their work.

Powerful personal quilts

Stitch Club is a vibrant online community where textile art enthusiasts gather to learn, create and share their creative journeys through expert-led workshops.

In this intimate glimpse into a workshop entitled Photo Memory Quilts, members transform cherished photographs and memories into deeply personal and powerful pieces of art under the guidance of acclaimed artist Lauren Austin.

Lauren specialises in making quilts that honour her ancestry, family and friends. She hand-dyes, prints and paints fabric, using collage, photo transfer and a variety of other techniques to make expressive images and artworks.

Under Lauren’s guidance, members transformed personal photos and treasured fabrics into intimate art quilts using her accessible collage method, bringing their stories to life through embroidery, beading and hand quilting.

Stitching stories

Lois Standish illustrates her story with photographs of her great grandmother and her two sons with fabrics from her stash, while Val Fisher focuses on her daughter’s love of the Anne Frank book, embellishing her artwork with fabric from cushion covers and her daughter’s dress.

Linda Langelaan pours her heart on the page as she traverses the emotions of becoming an empty nester using images and fabrics associated with her daughter.

Sue Partington recounts her voyage across the world as a babe in arms, and Nancy Luna-Walker reconnects with her father’s tough journey through life, adding a precious photo and metal charm that she combines with eco-dyed and found fabrics.

We might conclude from their stories and their artworks that the ‘this’ from the famous song is something our members discovered within their families and their hearts. We thank them for their honest sharing.

Lois Standish immortalises ancestors

Lauren’s Stitch Club workshop gave Lois Standish the impetus to revisit a stash of photos that she found after her mum’s death. She selected those of her great grandmother, her grandfather and his brother. She realised she knew little about them, except that her grandfather died from TB aged 30, and his father was a preacher.

Working intuitively, Lois chose accompanying fabrics in shades of blue and white from her own collection. The light blue napkins, used at the sides, had once been a wedding present to her mum. The background floral fabric came from an old pub curtain, and she’d completed the cross-stitch motifs many years earlier. She made the heart motif by melting fabrics together.

Lois added quilting to give the piece texture and incorporated a book charm as a symbol of her great grandfather’s role as a preacher.

Although Lauren had recommended using printer transfer paper, Lois didn’t have any, so she experimented with an alternative solution.

She transferred the photocopied image to fabric by wrapping it in clingfilm plastic wrap and placing it onto the fabric. Covering it with parchment paper, she ironed it on a high heat, causing the clingfilm to melt which adhered the image to the fabric.

Lois then covered each photo in thin acetate, which she stitched into the cloth as a protective layer.

Bringing a face to life

Lois Standish: There are no photos of my grandfather’s two sisters. I find it strange in today’s world of instant pictures that there’s nothing left, but it’s fuelled an interest to find out more, and I’ve gone on to do that since making this piece.

After hot ironing my great grandmother’s photocopied image onto the fabric, I hand coloured it with watercolour pencils. It was delightful to see this stony face come to life.

Lois Standish lives in Cardiff, UK, and has been a member of Stitch Club since April 2021.

Lois enjoys the Stitch Club workshops as they lead her on a creative journey to discover more about traditional and contemporary embroidery.

Instagram: @oakendoriginals
Facebook: oakendoriginals

Val Fisher collages Anne Frank’s story

Val Fisher was inspired to combine Lauren’s techniques with those from Sue Stone’s Say something with stitch workshop.

Val had visited Amsterdam twice but never managed to see Anne Frank’s house. When her daughter was younger, she’d often ask Val to read the story of Anne Frank to her. Val had always thought what a remarkable young person Anne was, and saw her story as a poignant reminder to value our freedom and to remember that not everyone is as fortunate as ourselves.

Stash busting

Val Fisher: I recently discovered some T-shirt transfer paper in a cupboard – I think my daughter must have bought it many years ago – so I used that to transfer the images.

The fabrics I used were from my stash. Most of it was used to make cushion covers for my children’s bedrooms when they were little. The small strip of fabric below the picture of Anne Frank was left over from the only dress I made for my daughter 27 years ago.

“I chose the fresh colours of pinks and greens as they remind me of spring, fresh beginnings and renewed hope in the world.”

Val Fisher, Stitch Club member

I wanted the images to portray that part of her life – also referencing her diary, where she was in hiding, her writing and to include a positive quote.

I played with the composition of my piece until I was happy and, like many textile artists, I enjoy using just the basic stitches – like running, cross and fly stitches – which have so much versatility.

The piece is now displayed in a large journaling book.

Val Fisher lives in Newcastle, Northumberland, UK, and has been a Stitch Club member since May 2020.

Although having stitched all her life, participating in one of Mandy Pattullo’s courses inspired Val to develop her techniques and skills. She then joined Stitch Club to continue her learning.

Linda Langelaan, sew lonely

Linda Langelaan has worked with textiles all her life, from making doll clothes, crocheting, knitting and embroidery, to mixed media projects and working with natural materials and dyes.

Her natural curiosity drives her to challenge herself constantly with new techniques and experiment with new materials – and Stitch Club has been the perfect way to keep up that momentum.

After watching Lauren’s workshop, Linda spent time researching her photo archive and asking her family for information. She decided to focus on the empty nest feelings she’d recently encountered when her daughter moved out to live with her boyfriend.

In the second week of her workshop, Lauren suggested annotating the back of the piece with handwriting to explain the reasoning behind the composition. Linda did this both in English and Dutch and felt that it made the work even more complete and personal.

As Linda worked on the piece, memories came flooding back. Searching for fabric offcuts led to finding other fabrics to include, which prompted yet more recollections.

“Although this started out as a workshop practice piece, it became a surprisingly special one – I hadn’t foreseen the emotions I would feel as I worked on it.”

Linda Langelaan, Stitch Club member

Linda Langelaan: The images are of happy memories spent with my daughter when we made a trip to Malaga. ​​I chose bright and sunny colours to match the photo.

I cut out the sun using reverse appliqué to reveal my daughter’s photo and appliquéd the sun onto the right hand side of the work.

The fabrics are mostly offcuts from things I’d sewed myself, including a bridesmaid dress and a baby playpen, and some yellow and white squared fabric from a summer dress. Both my mother and mother-in-law are no longer with us and my daughter is named after both of them, so I included two pieces of fabric that remind us of them.

I included a hem and labels from my daughter’s favourite jeans brand, Only. This inspired me to write in my notes on the back: (L) only, only, only. It referenced the Police song So Lonely – the sentiment I felt as I surveyed my empty nest.

The text on one of the labels states ‘Every girl deserves great jeans’, which reminded me of my pride in my daughter.

Two pieces of jewellery that my daughter wore as a teenager are also included. She was really pleased with the piece, particularly as I included her rabbit charm and memories of going to Paris.

Linda Langelaan lives in Amersfoort, Netherlands and has been a Stitch Club member since October 2020.

She teaches art to 12-18 year olds at a secondary school. Workshops, Instagram and Stitch Club provide her with inspiration for her own work and her classes.

Instagram: @lindart20

Sue Partington & the journey home

It was 1955 and Sue and her mother, Sylvia, were embarking on an eight-week sailing passage from Wellington, New Zealand to Southampton, England on the MS Ruahine.

Sue was two weeks off turning two and was to have her birthday party on board the ship. It was an exciting time; Sue was to meet members of her extended family for the first time when the ship docked in December.

The ship featured in Sue’s memory quilt is the SS Tamaroa, the one her pregnant mother had travelled to New Zealand on two years earlier. Her husband was flown there separately with the rest of his RAF squadron.

Treasured photos

Sue Partington: I chose some of the treasured childhood photos my mother had passed on to me, scanned them into Apple Photos on my home computer and sharpened them. I transferred the images onto fabric by printing them onto computer printer fabric made by June Tailor, Inc.

All of the fabrics and embellishments were things I already had in my stash. The tablecloth I used as a background was inherited from my husband’s family. Most of the rest, such as the broderie anglaise trimming, came from charity shop garments. I remember animal buttons from my childhood, but the bunny buttons I used were from cardigans I made for my own daughters.

“I have little from my own childhood – clothes were discarded, not stored for future generations, as we moved around different air bases in the world. Maybe that’s why I’m a hoarder now.”

Sue Partington, Stitch Club member

I called this piece ‘Coming Home’, using quotes, as England wasn’t a home to me at that stage. This work holds a strange nostalgia for a time and place that I have no memories of. I only knew about this because my mother talked about it often, despite the short time she lived in New Zealand.

The photo of my mother holding me is emotive; she looks so happy, carefree and loving. I plan to stitch this piece onto one of my existing cushion covers.

Sue Partington lives in Brighton, UK. She is a founding member of Stitch Club, joining in 2020.

She studied illustration and graphic design and went on to devise art and craft projects for children’s books. She also practises mural painting, making mosaic pieces and painting on canvas.

Nancy Luna-Walker & her dad’s story

A young boy’s face smiles out from the memory quilt; the eye can’t help being drawn to the joyous image. It’s a technique used, not only by textile artists, but the advertising industry, and adds a whole new element to any artwork.

When Nancy Luna-Walker’s grandfather passed away, leaving his wife disabled from diabetes, Nancy’s father was just two years old. The five children had to support the household.

The smiling boy in Nancy’s artwork is her father, aged seven years old. He worked at a service station and had multiple jobs growing up. He paid his way through college with the GI bill veteran’s assistance programme, and was his company’s top salesman throughout his career. He was so proud of the Cadillac that he drove across the country to make his sales calls.

Eco-dyeing & recycling

Nancy Luna-Walker: The sun and moon represent our family’s Latino heritage and surname, Luna. The X’s represent love, as in XO. I eco-dyed and printed the X’s on the fabric in the bottom right with oak galls and soy milk. I found the little metal charm in the sewing box I inherited from my mom.

I made a copy of my dad’s photograph using my Canon inkjet printer. Using the technique we learned in Cas Holmes’ Imperfect Memories Stitch Club workshop, I brushed over the printed photocopy with Golden soft gel matte medium and placed it face down on the fabric.

I used a roller to go over it firmly until the picture was securely attached to the fabric. I let it dry overnight and removed the paper the next day by gently spritzing it with water and using a soft sponge to rub it away.

“It was such a pleasure to hold my dad in my hands and heart as I worked on this piece.”

Nancy Luna-Walker, Stitch Club member

Most of my fabrics come from FabMo, a nonprofit in Sunnyvale, CA that rescues discontinued designer samples and donated fabrics, making them available to the public. I also inherited my mom’s stash; she was an avid sewist. I primarily use purchased DMC threads, but I like to look for unusual threads at estate sales or at locally owned thread shops when I travel.

I recently visited my sisters and it was fun sharing this piece with them and reminiscing about my dad. One sister said one of the best life lessons my dad taught her was to ‘stay the route’ so she was happy I’d included a road in my piece.

I’ve put this artwork in my studio since my dad always encouraged me to do big things in life.

Nancy Luna-Walker lives in Orinda, in San Francisco’s East Bay, California, USA. She has been a member of Stitch Club since October 2021.

Nancy enjoys experimenting with a variety of materials and her textiles are primarily sourced from designer samples rescued from landfills.

Instagram: @namoonwalker

Key takeaways

1. Take a moment to connect with your innermost feelings. What stirs your emotions? What story, from your recent or more distant history, do you want to tell using fabric and thread?
2. Photos are a powerful representation of people, whether they feature family, friends or others. Look through any photos you own or have been given – is there anyone who calls to you to be represented? If you don’t have your own photos, ask friends and family, look in antique shops or online.
3. If your chosen subject has fabrics or ephemera associated with them, such as charms or labels, consider how you might include these in your work. Reflect on their history and your connections with them.
4. Take your time when building your composition. Move fabrics, images and ephemera around until you are happy. This is an emotive activity, so work intuitively, adding new elements that feel right as you work.

For more ideas on stitching your stories, take a look at The language of loss in stitch, which features the work of five Stitch Club members who tackled their grief and fear in their own touching and creative ways.

If you enjoyed reading about our Stitch Club members’ stories and seeing their work, let us know in the comments below.

Ben had no prior quilting experience, but he did have a large stash of T-shirts representing his favourite heavy metal and punk bands. While they were a far cry from traditional calico cottons, he managed to piece them together. 

The results were sensational. His signature style was born, and he hasn’t looked back since.

Ben’s quilts and wearable art incorporate fabrics packed with memories, especially his commission work. Friends and strangers alike bring Ben their beloved vintage clothing, and he cuts, pieces and quilts fantastic designs bearing both beauty and personal stories.  

He says his work helps to bridge cultural fears between rock’s counterculture and more traditional society, and we wholeheartedly agree. In a world that is ever more divided, Ben creates an accessible way for anyone to step into his favourite music spaces.

We also appreciate Ben’s conscious pursuit of functional art, as the combination of form and function can challenge textile art’s place amid fine art settings. Just because Ben’s jackets can be worn or his quilts keep his family warm doesn’t mean they aren’t art. The impact of his jackets, totes and quilts when hung on gallery walls is proof positive.

You’re going to love this look into Ben’s edgy, colourful and rhythmic body of work. And his sense of humour? It’s the icing on the cake.

Heavy metal roots 

Ben Venom: My mom always hemmed my sister’s and my pants growing up. And my sister started making quilts around the same time I did in 2008.

My earliest memory of working with textiles was screen printing T-shirts of the bands I followed as a teenager. I grew up listening to a lot of punk rock and metal, and at the time, most of the bands were just starting out. With no record label, there wasn’t any merchandise to purchase. Everything was very DIY, so we printed shirts of our favourite bands.

From an early age, I wanted to do something art related. I was always drawing, painting, printmaking with paint and screen printing.

In 2008, I hit a point in my career where I had a bit of a crisis of conscience. I wanted to create something beyond just pretty pictures on the wall. I wanted art that could do a multitude of things.

When my good friend Kevin Earl Taylor invited me to participate in a group show he was curating at the Neurotitan Gallery in Berlin, I wanted to do something really big. So, I decided to make a quilt using all my heavy metal T-shirts – my work has been primarily textile-based since.

My artwork is heavily inspired by a Gee’s Bend quilt exhibition I saw at the De Young Museum in 2006. I was blown away by the attention to design, craft and handiwork the women from that very rural region in the American South infused into their quilts. 

They didn’t have a lot of materials at their disposal, so they used recycled denim jeans, blankets and other fabric scraps to construct some really amazing quilts. I liked the idea of upcycling and reusing. Nothing is thrown away.

Learning how to quilt

The first sewing machine I bought was a Brother XL-2610. I chose pink because it was the cheaper option, and then I covered it with stickers to make it look cooler!

I also bought a book called Quilting Basics 101 because I had no idea what I was doing. I made a lot of mistakes, and I asked a lot of questions from the employees at the fabric store. 

There are always different, better and quicker ways to do things, so that’s why I always ask questions.

Over time, I figured out which fabrics to use, which needles to buy, and more. I also learned to follow my dumb ideas! I never let anything hinder me from seeing my ideas through to the end. 

I’m still learning new tricks and techniques to this day. For example, I’ve become more obsessed over time with binding because I want my work to look professional and clean. 

For me, art is about research and continual learning. And mistakes are a large part of the process. I embrace them as part of the handmade nature of my work. 

‘I believe mistakes offer a visible direct link between the audience and the artist’s hand.’

Ben Venom, Quilt artist

Reducing fears

Using repurposed materials, I contrast the often menacing and aggressive counterculture components of gangs, punk/metal music and the occult with the comforts of domesticity. 

‘This collision of traditional quilting techniques with elements tied to the fringes of society re-envisions the materials’ stories through a softer lens.’

Ben Venom, Quilt artist

By presenting these unconventional ideas and themes in a form that is soft, light and tactile, my work can appeal to a wider audience. My art’s textile aspect isn’t heavy, loud or dangerous, which can foster an interest among people not typically familiar or comfortable with the ideas I present. 

Functional art

My passion is creating art that is both pleasing to the eye and fully functional. Textiles allow me to do that. 

I’m interested in sustainability to re-use and rework materials that still have value. I’ve become increasingly aware of the large waste within the clothing industry. As a family, we attempt to have a lower carbon footprint by walking, biking or taking public transportation when possible. This mentality directly affects my art making practice.

Clothing has a history. Maybe you had a pair of pants you wore during a pivotal point in your life. They’re now threadbare, but you don’t want to throw them away. Give them to me, and I’ll cut them up and give them a second life as art with function. 

‘By stitching together donated band shirts, jeans, jackets and leather into a unified piece, my quilts display a multitude of personal histories.’

Ben Venom, Quilt artist

Each person’s unexplained stains, tears or rips are displayed to visitors who often see themselves woven into that larger history. A collection of memories, dreams and past experiences are showcased in the form of a functional piece of art. 

Creative process

Everything I do begins with some amount of research into a particular topic of interest. I use my sketchbook to come up with a general idea using notes and quick drawings. 

I choose materials that will add to the overall design. Just like a puzzle, every little piece has a certain place that fits into the larger image.

Next, I import my sketch into Photoshop or Procreate to refine the design and scale it to the final size. 

Lastly, I print the design onto copy paper to make cutting templates. And then I cut the fabric pieces and sew them all together. Most of my work is appliquéd onto the top layer and then quilted with my sewing machine.

All my artwork is created in the back room of our apartment. It’s not a very big space, but it offers a flexible work schedule since I can just walk down the hallway to be in the studio.

For larger pieces, I move our kitchen table and work on the floor to piece fabrics together. Working from home allows all the comforts of home, but it can be challenging when the family is there. 

Punching the fabric

I use a Juki-HZL 600 Exceed for all my textile-based work. It’s my most important tool. It’s the second Juki I’ve owned, as I blew the motor on the first one. It does a straight and satin stitch, and it’s not very loud, so it doesn’t disturb the neighbours. 

I fold or roll fabrics in a specific way to fit through the sewing machine’s nine-inch throat. Sometimes I am literally punching the fabric through the opening!

All of my garments are backed with a stabiliser to strengthen the fabric, as well as to prevent bunching or fraying. I also try to use thicker reclaimed fabrics like denim or Carhartt workwear fabric. 

Much of my fabric is donated, but I also shop at local thrift stores, eBay or Goodwill to fill in the gaps. They’re all excellent sources for interesting reclaimed fabrics.

Collaborative designs

I started making custom clothing because I wanted to expand beyond quilts and learn more about how clothes are constructed. I also enjoy seeing people wearing my artwork in public. It’s free advertising, too!

I’ve made custom jackets for friends and others, as well as people I don’t know who have come across my artwork and want a custom piece. 

The design process is a constant back and forth, and there is typically a conversation about measurements, as well as fabric and design options. Sometimes I have free rein and other times the client has a general idea of what they want made.

I usually provide the client with at least three different sketches. Once a design is chosen, I refine the approved version and get the client’s confirmation. Then I cut the fabric and start sewing. 

I collaborate with Tul Jutargate in Los Angeles, USA to have the jackets constructed with collars, buttons and lining. He also adds a chain stitched label on the inside. 

Full Metal Jacket was commissioned by Brann Dailor, the drummer for the band Mastodon. It contains many of his old T-shirts along with all the special stains. The title is taken from the Stanley Kubrick film, as the materials all reference heavy metal music. The jacket is made from a letterman jacket pattern in collaboration with Tul Jutargate. 

War Pig was commissioned by a local floral designer Tyson Lee. I designed it with his input and used his vintage Carhartt jackets. Tom of Finland fabric was used as the quilt’s foundation. Tyson was particularly interested in incorporating his zodiac calendar animal (pig), eight flowers and chains

Thrasher love

My THRASHER quilt is currently my favourite. I grew up skateboarding and listening to punk rock/heavy metal music in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia, USA. THRASHER Magazine was a window into everything cool for me and my friends.

We also constantly watched skateboard videos on my videocassette recorder in slow motion to learn each new trick. 

The quilt was commissioned by Tony Vitello, the owner of THRASHER Magazine. It honours the influence skateboarding has had on me from then to now. My daughter has recently expressed interest in learning to skate, so the ride continues. 

It’s made from THRASHER T-shirts, and a Carhartt vest is used on the backside to honour skateboarder and THRASHER editor Jake Phelps. 

It features a Lacoste collaboration shirt by Alan Gonzalez and blue Vans fabric designed by Rachael ‘Steak’ Finley Wright (@instasteak) from one of professional skateboarder Lizzie Armanto’s uniforms, like the one she wore at the Tokyo Olympics.  

Trendy tote bags

My tote bags originally came about in response to San Francisco’s 2007 ban on plastic bags at grocery stores. I initially made a few tote bags for my wife to take to the grocery store, and it took off from there. 

The bag’s small size and ability to be customised with different design elements has kept me interested. I’ve started to add zippers and more pockets. Each bag is a one-of-a-kind design.

Craft Resurgence

I find the contemporary craft world very exciting right now. It’s inspiring to see so many artists focusing on the handmade and pushing the boundaries of traditional processes and techniques. I see my practice as part of that wave as I attempt to challenge the established imagery and style of quilting. 

I believe craft will become a respite from our technology driven society. While some aspects of our lives will be increasingly automated and devoid of human interaction, craft will continue to show an individual’s hand within a work. This handmade concept is very important to my practice.

‘Imperfections are an integral part of each piece. And every mistake and error an artist makes is ultimately what makes us who we are.’

Ben Venom, Quilt artist

When you look at Michael’s work, it’s easy to see where he’s coming from. From a distance, his quilts do look like painted canvases.

For someone who just started quilting in 2018, he’s gaining a lot of attention for his bold use of colour and shape to tell stories of modern living. There’s a definite city vibe to his work, and many of his quilts are packed with a whole lot going on. 

While he uses traditional quilting methods, Michael’s approach to quilting and the art world in general are far from the norm. He’s eager to challenge how quilts are presented in the fine art world, as well as speak out against its sense of exclusivity. 

Michael creates visual feasts that take time to explore, and it’s worth the effort. We think you’ll agree that this fresh take on the quilting tradition is very exciting.

An artistic journey

Can you tell us about one of the first textile art pieces you remember creating? Did any family members or friends influence your textile art journey?

Michael C. Thorpe: The first quilt I ever made was an aquarium scene in 2004. 

My mother, Susan Richards, taught me everything I know about quilting and crafts. When she bought a long-arm quilting machine in 2018, I started to quilt too. 

That was when I began to understand I could create any painting I’ve seen using fabric and thread. Now I’d say a general curiosity of the world informs my artistic journey. 

What was moving into the world of quilting like for you?

People were supportive and didn’t make me feel ostracised by being odd and creating ‘paintings’ out of quilting. 

I wasn’t following patterns or designs, which was very different from how they were creating quilts. But I still felt embraced by my family and the people I’ve met at quilt and fabric shops.

‘I was the only dude and the only Black person in those quilting spaces – but it wasn’t alienating.’

Michael C. Thorpe, Quilt artist

What inspires your approach to quilting?

I was initially inspired by the works of Romare Bearden and Jacob Lawrence. Their work served as the building blocks for my understanding of art. I appreciated how they turned acts of daily living into art.

Lately, I’ve been greatly influenced by the surrealist and conceptual art movements because of their emphasis on exploring the mind and irrational impulses instead of practical thoughts. 

‘I believe art doesn’t have to be a grand exclusive thing.
We can transform our everyday and mundane thoughts and things into works of art.’ 

Michael C. Thorpe, Quilt artist

Start a conversation

You tackle some challenging topics in your quilts, including race and politics. Can you share more about that?

That’s an interesting question for me now because when I came into making art, I truly believed I needed to address challenging issues and topics to be a relevant artist. But the deeper I’ve gotten into my practice, the less it matters to me to comment on contemporary life. 

I’ve become more invested in exploring imagination and creativity and how I can create systems to create artwork without great thought. I’ve learned that when I think about the meaning of a work, or what I want to say about such-and-such, I become paralysed and can’t make work.

Now I just create work and put it out in the world. I create things because I’m interested in a certain subject matter or process. It’s not that deep for me. But I do hope my work starts conversations. Where those conversations go is up to the audience. It will become whatever it was meant to be.

Quilts are often viewed as being domestic or possessing other tame characteristics; how do those stereotypes influence the messages you want to express?

Using quilting and textiles as my primary mode of expression is a deliberate act of rebellion. 

Understanding painting is considered the ultimate mode of expression, I have decided to never paint but I still call my quilts ‘paintings’.

‘I’ve always struggled with the hierarchy in the art world – it seems so silly to me.
Just create art, look at art, be curious and like what you like.’

Michael C. Thorpe, Quilt artist

How do you create your quilts?

First, I have an image or idea. I then draw that out and enlarge the drawing with a projector. Next, I cut out fabric pieces and then put them back together using a long-arm quilting machine. I use a Handi Quilter Fusion machine.

I work in a separate studio space. Since my art is how I make money, I treat it as a nine-to-five job. I mostly listen to podcasts while working, but I definitely sprinkle some music in there.

What are your must-have tools for creating your textile art?

Something to write with and my mind. That’s all I need to create art. A good pair of scissors also doesn’t hurt when it comes to textile work.

Go for it

How hard was it to learn machine quilting? 

My learning curve wasn’t steep because of my mommy. She shared all her secrets and helped solve problems that would have taken me out of the act of making art. Also, I don’t use any of the machine’s built-in digital programs. The results were too perfect and there wasn’t enough of me in the quilts. 

I prefer steering all the stitching myself so you can see my hand in the quilting. And there’s a level of spontaneity that’s beautiful.

My best advice for using free-motion stitching is to just go for it and remember that mistakes are the best part.

‘Sometimes the fabric will move, and it is what it is.
I’m not going to force it to do anything it’s not meant to do.’

Michael C. Thorpe, Quilt artist

Where do you source your fabrics and threads, and what do you enjoy working with most?

When I was starting out, most of the fabrics I used were given to me. Now I love the cheapest fabric I can get. 

Picking out my own colours and patterns is very important to me, but I also leave it up to chance. When I get low on fabric or I’ve just got paid, I go to a store and let my imagination run wild. I go with my gut instincts and grab whatever attracts me that day.

‘My entire artistic practice is deeply concerned with living in the moment and not overthinking things.’

Michael C. Thorpe, Quilt artist

Seeking inspiration

What’s the inspiration for the Dick 4 President quilt?

Dick Gregory is a very fascinating human being. I appreciate everything he has given this world.

Tell us about your Necrows quilt. I believe it connects to Disney’s Dumbo movie. Is that correct?

Yes. I loved Disney growing up and still do today. But I do find it interesting that the leader of the group of crows in the movie is named Jim Crow. Make of that what you will.

There’s so much going on in Last Night At Your Mom’s House. What’s the backstory to that quilt?

I wanted to create a party scene that I may or may not have been in before. The Milwaukee shirt is a nod to my wife who’s from Milwaukee. I love the Midwest.

Who is featured in your Family quilt?

The original idea for the quilt was a big ‘what if?’ in terms of my relationship with my father. I was thinking what it would be like to grow up in a two-parent household. But now that thought is kind of whack to me because it discredits everything my mother did for me. I wouldn’t change anything in my life because it put me here now talking to you guys. 

Your multimedia work Sisson incorporates wood and iron alongside textiles. How did that all come together?

It came from an interest in glueing quilts onto random surfaces just like a painter can use anything as a canvas. I think it stemmed from looking at Robert Rauschenberg’s work.

What is one of your favourite works and why?

The last work I create is always my favourite. I don’t dwell on the past. I’m always thinking about what’s next.

What challenges, if any, have you faced in your textile art journey?

My greatest challenge is getting people to accept my way of creating work and living life.

‘It’s quite funny when people’s expectations of me and my career don’t match up to my own expectations.’

Michael C. Thorpe, Quilt artist

What lies ahead with your textile art? Where to from here?

Only time will tell.

This proved to be a winning combination when, after buying a one-way ticket to India she became entranced by the colours, fabric and texture of the traditional Tibetan thangka (sounds like ‘tonka’). 

These thangka, beautifully elaborate fabric mosaics, became a way for this previously meditation-resistant Californian to connect with Tibetan culture, as well as discover her own spiritual path.

Leslie’s four-year apprenticeship in a sewing room in the Himalayan hill town of Dharamsala – with the Dalai Lama as a neighbour – is an extraordinary story of how she became one of the few non-Tibetans to master the traditional art of silk appliqué thangka.

As she mastered this ancient artform, her own style of art evolved: blending Eastern techniques with modern materials and a Western colour palette. Today, Leslie is back living in California but she still draws on her love for Tibet and its people in her unique textile art. 

Leslie Rinchen-Wongmo: I make sacred Buddhist images and portraits from pieces of silk stitched together by hand. My work is bold, textured, colourful, Asian-inspired and vibrant. It speaks to some and definitely not to others. 

I am a caretaker of a sacred Tibetan tradition of textile art. I stitch bits of silk into elaborate figurative mosaics that bring the transformative images of Buddhist meditation to life. 

Visually, I love the colours and the light and the three-dimensional textural quality. I also love the richness of symbolism and meaning in every form, and the connection of these forms to a great lineage of spiritual practice.

I love that the images I work with – the images of enlightened beings – have helped many people to become free of suffering and to teach others about their true nature. And I love being connected with a lineage of spiritual teachers and practitioners through these images and this sacred creative practice. 

I hope that, in my small way, I can open people’s hearts with my work, that I can provide some stimulus or inspiration for their own awakening.

“I believe that beauty uplifts. So, I hope that the beauty of my artwork can open hearts and raise the spirit.”

Leslie Rinchen-Wongmo, Textile artist

Connecting threads

People often call this type of work ‘tapestries’ because they are fabric wall hangings. But I am not a tapestry artist. I do not weave. 

Following a Tibetan tradition that goes back at least as far as the 15th century, I wrap strands of horsehair with silk thread and couch the resulting horsehair cords to silk fabric. Then I assemble pieces like a jigsaw puzzle into portraits and sacred images, all stitched together by hand. 

You can watch me creating Green Tara in my short film Creating Buddhas, The Making and Meaning of Fabric Thangkas.

The technique is most often referred to as Tibetan appliqué but – unlike most appliqué – in this Tibetan method, there is no backing cloth to which pieces are applied. 

Instead, pieces are overlapped and interconnected, held together by the elaborate connections between them. They do not rest on a single base. This is a beautiful metaphor for the Buddhist teaching of interdependence – nothing is absolutely true or existent. Rather each phenomenon arises in dependence on others, on relationships.

“In actuality, everything – including our ‘self’ – is always in flux and always interconnected.”

Leslie Rinchen-Wongmo, Textile artist

Cloth cultures

In my hybrid pieces, I’ve used quilting cottons, linen, photo-printed canvas and chiffon, and a variety of other materials. 

For my traditional work, I use silk satins and brocades, mostly woven in Varanasi, India. Varanasi is a sacred Hindu city on the banks of the Ganges River in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is considered one of the oldest continuously settled cities in the world. 

Varanasi is famous for its finely woven silk saris. Almost all the weavers are Muslim and live in the large Muslim quarter of the city and in outlying villages. While most of these weavers create the saris worn by women all over India, a few make the fine brocade and satin from which Tibetans stitch thangkas. 

The heavy silk satin and brocade produced by Indian Muslim weavers is not for themselves, nor for the Indian Hindu culture that permeates the city, but for Tibetan Buddhists from the mountains. These disparate cultures have been woven together in silk for generations.

“The satin has a particular buttery quality that allows large needles and thick horsehair cords to be pulled through without breaking threads or leaving holes.”

Leslie Rinchen-Wongmo, Textile artist

The role of thangkas

The Vajrayana or Tantric form of Buddhism practised in Tibet uses imagination to harness emotional energies and achieve speedy liberation from the misconceptions that cause suffering. 

Practitioners deliberately cultivate their imaginations with images of enlightened beings, pure lands, flowing blessings, and generous offerings. In visualisation, divine figures arise from emptiness like a rainbow and dissolve again into space. Although they may appear external to us, they always merge with us in the end. 

The point of all these practices is to move us from a muddled relationship with reality to a relationship based in awareness. 

“Thangkas serve as models for the intangible yet infinitely impactful images you can conjure in your mind’s eye to free yourself from distorted and limiting mindsets.”

Leslie Rinchen-Wongmo, Textile artist

The figures that grace thangkas are expressions of awakening, of fully realised human potential in honest relationship with the world as it is. They are personifications of teachings and practices in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Their multifarious forms highlight a vast range of awakened qualities: Avalokiteshvara embodies awakened compassion, Manjushri breathes awakened wisdom, Vajrapani radiates awakened power, and so forth. 

These divine figures are collectively referred to as lha in Tibetan, and generally called deities in English. However, referring to the figures as gods and goddesses is a misleading use of words. They are, in fact, buddhas, that is, awakened beings. As embodiments of our own true nature, their only purpose is to liberate us from ignorance and suffering.

While each form has a speciality, based on vows they made when they were ordinary beings like us, each also encompasses the full spectrum of awakened potential. They don different guises to suit people’s diverse temperaments. Every deity in the Buddhist pantheon exists to assist us in generating wisdom and compassion to become free from endless cycles of dissatisfaction and suffering.

Stitching as meditation

Making a thangka is like sharing quiet time with enlightened beings and sages. That is, people who have recognised the true nature of things; people who act out of pure compassion; people who have overcome all negative motivations and reactions.

Stitching a thangka is like hanging out with the best of my human potential and with the possibility and promise of awakening. We sit together, pass time, and share tea.

“As I stitch, I become steeped in their fragrance, tinged with their colours, and I feel the presence of enlightenment touching me.”

Leslie Rinchen-Wongmo, Textile artist

The Tibetan word for meditation, gom, literally means to familiarise or habituate. In some meditation practices, we sit with a specific heart-opening quality or inquiry, allowing it to permeate our mind-stream and allowing ourselves to become familiar with it.

Thangka-making acts like this too. Not only does the work arouse focused attention, it also engages the artist in a nonconceptual relationship with enlightenment, compassion and wisdom, while placing attention on just this stitch.

​​In class every morning, my teachers used Buddhist philosophy to open windows of freedom in my conceptual mind. In the sewing workshop every afternoon, the deities infused non-conceptual understanding in my heart, in my fingertips and in my bones. 

Rather than memorising lists of symbols and meanings, stitching invited me to hang out with the best of myself. On some unspoken, unanalysed level, I knew that these figures embodied the most potent and potential-rich aspects of my own being. I hoped that a little bit of their goodness would rub off on me.

The road to Dharamsala

I remember sewing clothes at home occasionally as a child with my mother’s guidance. In college, I became interested in Amish quilts. I was drawn to the bold colours, clear shapes, fluid fabric and meticulous handwork. I started to learn quilting but was interrupted, first by a herniated disc in my back and then many years of other activities.

I saw the Dalai Lama on his first visit to the US during my first year of college. He made a strong impression on me, but I wouldn’t have called myself a Buddhist. 

Toward the end of college, I did some quilting. I dropped it for a while, and then ended up in India, getting to know the Tibetans and delving more deeply into Buddhist philosophy. There, I found Tibetan appliqué and felt a wonderful sense of connection as two strands of fascination became intertwined. 

“I fell in love with the colours, the fabrics, the texture and the connection with my spiritual path – I just had to start stitching again.”

Leslie Rinchen-Wongmo, Textile artist

In 1992, while serving as an economic development volunteer for the Tibetans, I saw my first silk thangka in production. 

One day, as part of my volunteer work, I joined a tour of Tibetan handicraft centres. When I walked into a sewing workshop at the Norbulingka Institute, which was still under construction, I fell head over heels in love with the pieced silk images I saw there. 

I was completely entranced by their colour and beauty. I was also captivated by the integration of Buddhist teachings with such extraordinary handicraft. The threads of my life seemed to be coming together. I immediately wanted to learn this art, having no idea that my life would take a completely new trajectory from that point.

In the sewing room

Soon after, I found a teacher – and then another – and set my life in a whole new direction. I entered a full-time traditional apprenticeship with a Tibetan master. Working alongside several young Tibetan women who didn’t speak any English, day in and day out for four years, I learned to stitch like the Tibetans and create these vibrant sacred images.

People often imagine that thangkas are created in a solemn and meditative environment. Perhaps in some places that is true. But my own experience in a fabric thangka workshop – as well as what I saw among thangka painters in Dharamsala – is something much more integrated and natural and seamless. 

“The makers are not detached from worldly life but rather, channel all the energy and vivacity of worldly life into the creation of beautiful supports for spiritual practice.”

Leslie Rinchen-Wongmo, Textile artist

In the tsemkhang or sewing room, I sat around a big table with eight to 10 young Tibetans. Conversation was lively: gossip, laughter, camaraderie. 

We listened alternately to traditional Tibetan folk music and to dance tunes by Madonna and Michael Jackson. Butter tea and Tibetan cookies (sometimes the offerings left from a recent ritual in the temple) were served mid-afternoon. It was a joyful, friendly, relaxed environment. 

My Tibetan was pretty good, but not good enough to keep up with active group conversations, so sometimes I retreated into my own thoughts and sat quietly as I stitched.

Practice, practice, practice

We worked as a team on large projects. Genla (teacher) Dorjee Wangdu selected pieces of the design that were appropriate for each student’s level of skill. He transferred a section of the design to silk and handed it to an apprentice with instructions as to what colour and line weight to use. 

We sat on cushions around a big table – or, when appropriate, at one of the many treadle sewing machines in the workshop – and worked on our assigned pieces. When we’d finished, we returned to Genla for comment and for our next assignment.

The teaching method was straightforward: learn while doing. Working on big projects like this allowed us to get lots of repeated practice on each step.

“When I finally learned to embroider eyes, I spent a year practising only eyes.”

Leslie Rinchen-Wongmo, Textile artist

The time-consuming nature of creating these patchwork thangkas has always made them significantly rarer than painted thangkas. For this reason, they are considered by Tibetans to be especially precious.

East meets West

During my apprenticeship, I learned to create traditional images out of silk. However, I soon realised my colour sense was different from that of the Tibetans – slightly more muted, with more jewel tones and fewer primary colours. 

I also leaned toward simplified backgrounds and highlighting the central figure. This was partially due to aesthetic preference and partly because these thangkas take so long to produce that simplification was essential if I was ever to finish anything.

Over the years, I began to combine the traditional techniques I’d learned in my apprenticeship with inkjet printing and machine quilting, to create fabric portraits of real people in the Himalayan Buddhist world. I feel a mysterious kinship with Tibetans and their culture so, even in my non-traditional, non-thangka work, I play with imagery from that part of the world.

“As I incorporate new fabrics and machine quilting into my sacred works, evolving the traditional thangka form, I take care to respect and honour the qualities of the sacred images themselves.”

Leslie Rinchen-Wongmo, Textile artist

Developing my style

My ‘hybrid pieces’ fall broadly into two categories. First, traditional figures in quilted and/or printed surroundings (with idealised images of enlightened beings rendered in traditional Tibetan appliqué), such as Chenrezig and All In This Together. The figures are stitched by hand and their form is true to tradition, but the backgrounds and borders are machine quilted and sometimes embellished with printed words. 

In the second category, I’ve departed from traditional imagery and used a combination of quilting, printing and Tibetan appliqué techniques to create fabric portraits based on photos taken by friends. 

The first of this type was Three Mongolians. I became inspired when I saw a photo taken by a friend while on an architectural study tour of Mongolia. I was still in my apprenticeship learning to make fabric thangkas. I fell in love with the three figures in the photo and noticed they were wearing clothes that were made of the same satin I was learning to use to make thangkas. 

I immediately imagined these figures in fabric, but ten years passed before I got my hands on the photo and was able to make this completely hand-stitched piece. I projected the photo onto a wall and traced its outlines and the lines on the people’s faces. As I stitched those faces, I was very nervous and uncertain about how they might turn out. 

I had no idea whether it would be successful and was happily surprised by the result. For me, these three characters remain in perpetual lively conversation, and I know they bring great joy to the woman who ultimately bought the piece. Faces Of Pilgrimage and Pool Of Light incorporate photos by a dear friend, Diane Barker, whose photographs of Tibetan nomads can be seen in her book, Portraits of Tibet. With Diane’s permission, I printed her photos and applied hand-stitched fabric renderings of the figures onto the photo-printed fabric. This brings the figures to life as if they’re emerging from the photo.

Healing stitch

I started stitching a Medicine Buddha when my mother was in treatment for cancer, and many friends and loved ones were encountering health problems and loss. Each stitch was dedicated to their well-being.

When my mother recovered, I paused the work as I’d become indecisive about the background. I didn’t feel like moving forward with my original design but I wasn’t quite sure how to change it. I put the completed Buddha figure aside for a while to ponder and ended up leaving it undone for several years.

I finally returned to it during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic while we were all sheltering at home. The world clearly needed healing, and our interconnection was so tangible at that time.

“Spurred by the global pandemic to return to this thangka, I felt like the clouds and mountains wanted to offer the whole earth to the Buddha for healing.”

Leslie Rinchen-Wongmo, Textile artist

I became acutely conscious of global interconnection. The phrase ‘we’re all in this together’ kept coming to mind. 

At the same time, I was aware that different people were experiencing significantly different impacts from the shared crisis – depending on their work, health, race, socio-economic conditions, as well as whether they live alone or with others.

The virus interacted with imbalances at our roots. Tibetan medical practices are based on the premise that disease arises from physical imbalances caused by the mental poisons of ignorance, attachment and aversion. True healing must, therefore, be grounded in spiritual transformation. 

Buddhas are referred to as great physicians because they possess the compassion, wisdom and skilful means to diagnose and treat the delusions that lie at the root of all suffering.

One world, many voices

I reached out to friends all around the world asking how they would say, ‘We’re all in this together’ in their languages. I printed their responses on strips of cotton and created a border of their words, surrounding the Buddha with voices from around the world – 28 languages in all – expressing the unifying truth that we’re all in this beautiful, muddy mess together. 

It was deeply gratifying. Alone in my home studio, I felt like friends around the world were collaborating with me.

Many offered versions of ‘we’re all in the same boat’. This reminded me of the traditional Buddhist metaphor comparing the cycle of lives to an ocean, and our human body to a boat that can cross this ocean of suffering to the other shore of clarity and freedom. 

I printed, stitched, and quilted the words into a watery border representing the ocean of samsara in which our diverse experiences arise. Below the Buddha, I included a prayer from the great Buddhist commentator Shantideva.

The thangka quilt All In This Together has been travelling around the United States for two years in the Sacred Threads travelling exhibition.

“May the frightened cease to be afraid and all those bound be freed.

May the powerless find power and all beings strive to benefit one other.

May I be a guard for those without protection, a guide for those who journey,and a boat, a bridge or passage for those desiring the further shore.

May I be the doctor, nurse and medicine for all who are ailing in this world.

May the pain of every living creature be completely cleared away.”

Shantideva, Buddhist commentator

Documenting tradition

Early in my apprenticeship, I realised I was uniquely positioned to write a book about Tibetan appliqué thangkas. There are no books on this art form in any language, just a few articles and a paragraph or two in books about other Tibetan arts. 

As an English speaker with uncommon access to a little-known precious tradition, I felt a responsibility and a debt of gratitude to my teachers to document the form. It felt like a life assignment that I would need to fulfil one day.

I really don’t love writing – for many years I preferred making art over writing about it. Then, for another several years, I thought I needed to get some formal education in art history so that I could trace the art form’s origins and speak on it authoritatively. I looked into advanced degrees but was discouraged by a couple of professors from taking that path.

Finally, I realised my direct experience was the most accessible and interesting way to approach the topic. 

I started writing my memories of apprenticeship: of the tsemkhang or sewing workshop, of life in Dharamsala, and of my experience making specific thangkas. The story gradually took shape over the next few years and was published as Threads of Awakening: An American Woman’s Journey into Tibet’s Sacred Textile Art, in 2022.

I’m proud that I actually wrote and published a book that documents and honours the tradition I inherited. After two decades abroad, I now live in southern California near the beach with my three cats and enough fabric to last several lifetimes – but never enough for the next project.

I’m now in a period of transition, open to daily inspiration and listening for clues as to what I’ll create next.

Andy Warhol’s famous quote could be straight out of the mouth of Lauren Austin. Perhaps all true artists simply love making art for art’s sake.

Lauren began making quilts with her family at the age of seven and continued throughout her adult life whenever she could, in her spare time. After working as a computer consultant and then attending law school, she became a human rights lawyer and lecturer.

But one day, when she found herself thinking about fabric colour-matching while teaching her law students, she realised she couldn’t lead two lives.

A timely invitation to submit a quilt for a big show was the catalyst she needed to switch careers.

Today, Lauren is known for her quilts honouring her ancestors, family and friends. Along the way, she’s broken boundaries, fostering an unconventional array of techniques not usually associated with quilting, including stone lithography and beading.

All of which results in unique, effervescent works that speak to her life as an African American female artist. We delve into how Lauren manages a full-time career working on her art quilts – all from her apartment in Florida, USA.

Making quilting a priority

Lauren Austin: I call myself a ‘quiltist’, by which I mean a quilt artist, but I’m also a storyteller and instructor.

I use family photos and my hand-dyed, printed and painted fabric to make quilts and prints about my life as an African American woman artist, and about my obsessions with birds and leaves.

“Quilts are how I honour my ancestors, my family and friends. Making quilts keeps me alert, active and interacting with the world.”

Lauren Austin, Quiltist

A variety of different art methods add design and interest to my work, including raku-fired ceramic masks, retro photochemical processes like cyanoprint, and etching and burning fabric to create complex surface design.

Until 2004, I worked in other jobs, as a US foreign service officer, computer consultant and later as a human rights lawyer. While working in those jobs I made quilts at night and on the weekends.

That year I had an epiphany. I was explaining a law term to a group of students, while at the same time, my mind was on my art. I was thinking ‘Yellow next to magenta is so sparkly, how is that possible?’. It was like I was two people in one – I found myself thinking this can’t go on.

Soon after that, the curator, artist and founder of the Women of Color Quilters Network (WCQN), Dr Carolyn Mazloomi, called me. She was putting together a big show called Threads of Faith and invited me to contribute a quilt.

I hadn’t made a quilt in two or three years. I put my head on my desk and cried. An opportunity appeared, but I had nothing made.

I went home and told my husband. He said (or rather I heard): ‘You have to give it up, it’s too hard’. That’s the only time I considered divorce.

GIVE UP QUILTING??!! My husband stopped me and said no, it was time to stop that other stuff and just do the quilting. He is the best husband.

“I took my husband’s advice, quit my job and went to quilting full-time. It was hard – I had to hunt down teaching art gigs and commissions, but it was the best thing I ever did.”

Lauren Austin, Quiltist

Right now, I live and work with my husband in an apartment that is three-parts studio and one-part living space in Maitland, Florida, outside of Orlando. I work nine to five and treat my art quilt practice as a career.

I like working at home. It saves money, and it’s great to have all my tools and supplies available 24/7. One bedroom is a work area for linoleum and woodblock carving, and the other is a bedroom and living room. I have a longarm machine, two other sewing machines and several large design walls.

I’m lucky to have a life partner who is happy with this arrangement. By living within the workspace, I’m able to sit with my experiments and tweak them constantly. It’s a good setup for me. We have a nice, screened porch with plants and a lake at the back with birds, frogs and the occasional alligator.

My learning legacy

My mother, Elizabeth R Turner, was a lifelong learner and reader. My mother’s people were teachers. My maternal grandmother was one of the first black librarians in Chicago. My legacy from all of them is to learn new things all the time, forever.

My mother’s response to any idea or question I had was: ‘There’s a book in the library to help you do what you want to do’, and we would go to the library to find it. Searching for information and experimenting became second nature in life and in art. It brought me deep into quilting at a young age, leading to the creation of my first quilt.

“This philosophy of lifelong learning led me to see how different art-making ways could be used on fabric and incorporated in quilts.”

Lauren Austin, Quiltist

I was also greatly influenced by the group of textile artists that were my mother’s friends. These women came to our house every Tuesday evening to sew or make crafts together. Each one worked on her own projects, and sometimes they worked on a project together.

They told stories, laughed, and enjoyed each other’s company while making things. The feeling of touching fabric and sharing friendship are intertwined for me.

Kindness of teachers

Artistic development happens in many ways. No one approach has ever been enough for me. I was lucky to find people who were generous in giving their time, willing to share their skills if I wanted to learn, yet be open to applying their techniques to fabric.

I always found teachers who were strong and comfortable in their own art, so they didn’t want to change my aesthetic or force me to make exactly what they made.

For example, I learned the stone lithography printing technique from Charles Criner, who had only ever made prints on paper. This was during a hard time in my life. My husband was sick, and the printmaking was a respite from caregiving. Charles made sure that I didn’t have to worry about paper or tools and often bought me lunch at a time when I didn’t have money to spare.

“Charles never told me what to make. I am ever grateful for his kindness and for giving me the opportunity to learn. This is what art experiments can do.”

Lauren Austin, Quiltist

I made many drawings and prints in his studio, amassing a pile of paper prints that I liked, but with no idea how to use them. I asked Charles if I could print on fabric. Even though he’d never done so, he was open to the experiment and pleased with my results.

He had a more traditional view of quilts but came around to my way of making because of our work together. Even though his drawings and paintings had a similar background – black life and black history – they were very different from mine.

I’m also proud of the five years I spent living in Ningbo and Shanghai, China, working with other artists, learning about Chinese textile work, and experimenting with screen printing and dye painting on fabric.

I learned to make traditional Chinese baby shoes from a friend’s mother – she spoke no English and I spoke no Chinese. With patience, gestures, laughter and good strong tea, I spent several months of Saturdays sewing shoes for my first granddaughter.

Stitching black history

When I started out, I made a lot of quilts with images of African American history.

I’ve been a longtime member of the WCQN. Dr Mazloomi puts out a call for work on a certain topic and the artists respond to the topic. Her show and book And Still We Rise was a timeline of African American history from 1619 to the present, and for this exhibition, I made two pieces about Florida’s Black history.

His Instruments of Justice was about Harry T Moore, of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), who was murdered because of his work advocating for black people.

We Hid in the Woods and the Swamp was about the Rosewood massacre in 1923. I suggested Rosewood and Harry T Moore as subjects because Florida’s Black history is so complicated and mostly unknown. His Instruments of Justice is now in the collection of the Smithsonian Museum of American Art/Renwick Gallery.

I made these pieces while living in Shanghai and feeling homesick for Florida Black life. Making the pieces was a great way to stay close to my people, and to show my friends in my new home what my culture and history were about.

Sharing my work prompted my studio mate, Nini Sun, to ask me what I would make if I just made the art in my head, without a purpose in mind. It was an amazing ‘aha’ moment and unleashed a flurry of art-making that has been with me ever since.

I still make themed work – there are too many historic and important stories about black people all over the world that call to me to make something – but I now listen to my inner voice much more than ever.

“I want people to see the diversity of my experience as a black woman: that I have many facets that make up ‘me’.”

Lauren Austin, Quiltist

I think of my work as very personal self-expression. It isn’t theory or experimentation for the sake of saying ‘I can do this’. The processes serve to explore and show who I am now and how I got to this place.

Family stories

Idea development is both planned and intuitive. I work with issues I’m obsessed with – maybe a current event, maybe a deep dive into my feelings about something or someone.

For many years I’ve made pieces using my family photos going back seven generations but, as I age, it becomes more urgent that I make more, to be sure my descendants will understand who I was when I’m not here anymore.

I love making work about my family because they can give me a true response to my choices and how the work fits with their recollections. I sent photos of Beth’s Indoor Garden to my cousin while I was working on it. I didn’t say what it was about, or anything other than look what I’m working on!

I made the original sketches with a particular photo of my mom in mind where she is sitting at her dining room table with her cat, surrounded by her favourite potted plants. I thought I was done with the piece – that’s the point I usually show work to someone else.

My cousin looked at it and said: ‘That’s Aunt Beth! Excellent! Where’s the crossword puzzle?’. I just laughed! It’s such a joy when people recognise what you’re aiming for. Most of the time they will add something I hadn’t thought of, and that’s what happened here.

My mom always did the New York Times’ crossword puzzle at that table. I was able to go back and add a folded crossword puzzle page, and the work was complete.

My People: All Who Wander are not Lost was made as a memorial to my sister’s friend Susanne Davis, for her son Steven. Steven found the quilt top in her effects after she passed away. Susanne had dyed the fabric, Steven gave it to me and I quilted it for him.

Nature inspirations

In Mr Turner’s Dragons, I made a woodcut carving of my maternal grandfather, Alexander Laurent Turner. I’ve been looking at this photo and frame since I was small.

It sits on my ancestor altar in my home. I made a woodcut of the photo, with plans to print it on paper and fabric.

I also focus on nature and combine this with my family work. I spend time photographing plants for reference material and drawing objects and people that might go into a piece someday.

I like using printmaking and dyeing fabric in support of this. Experimenting with the process gives me natural looking palettes and imagery, which then becomes a piece about my mother and her potted plants, such as in Beth’s Indoor Garden, or my father’s sister in her prom dress in an abstract forest that became Queen of the Forest.

I’m always researching black history for new material – stories about black people in nature are particularly important these days. For example, I once spent the day in a gun shop drawing an antique gun of the make used by the Buffalo Soldiers, the black soldiers who made up the 9th and 10th Cavalry Regiments.

This drawing became a pattern for the pistol in View from a Camp Table, a still life about the Buffalo Soldiers. This work is now in the collection of The James Museum of Western & Wildlife Art in St Petersburg, Florida.

Sketch to stitch

I draw in a sketchbook all the time. Some sketches turn into quilts, either by scanning the drawing and printing it on fabric; by making a woodblock carving of the image that is printed on fabric; or fashioning a large scale figurative piece that starts from the sketch.

I started out hand piecing and quilting. I hand stitched many quilts, including king size quilts for my family. Now, I mostly use the machine for quilting because I do so many layers, and need the speed and efficiency to get through all the fabric I’m sewing.

I still use hand quilting and hand embroidery in my work. I love the textures created by handwork. Hand beading is really where I put in hundreds of hours. All the beading you see in my work is hand sewn by me. Beading is soothing and magical.

I use glow in the dark beads a lot. I can take it anywhere – doctors’ offices, gatherings – wherever I am I have a little bag with hand sewing, embroidery and beading supplies.

In my figurative work, I will start out drawing a large-scale image on a wall sized piece of paper. I like the images created this way – I must use my whole body to draw, not just my wrist and hand. My back, shoulders and whole arm are involved, and the lines are big, sweeping gestures.

When I have an image I like, I cut the paper into the shapes I’ve created and use these as patterns for the fabric. I sew the parts as mini quilts, the arms and legs, the faces, and then appliqué them to my background.

I may quilt the background first and then appliqué the figures on top, or I may save the quilting for last. Embellishments are usually added at the end – beading, couching and small 3D pieces that can stick out from the picture plane.

Artmaking for me is more than ‘sketch it out and reproduce the sketch’.

“I deliberately give myself time to respond to what I’ve made so far, and things then change within the piece. The result will be better than the original sketch or thought.”

Lauren Austin, Quiltist

I trust my process. I also understand that the work will never look like it does inside my head, and I’ve learned to accept that fact and be happy with the outcome.

Favourite materials

I love mixing dyes and experiencing the surprise of colour when the final work is removed from the washer or dryer and the tie dye is unbundled. It probably won’t be what I envisioned, but that’s a good thing.

I have to work with what I have. Everything can be overdyed or overprinted to add more texture, more interest and to be useful – if not in this piece, then in future work.

I have a huge stash of fabric, mostly West African prints and my own hand dyed yardage. I also like vintage dress fabrics, especially silk and handmade lace. I know I can make more yardage in any shade I need, though I first try to use what I have. Okay, it’s an aspiration!

I buy white PFD (prepared for dyeing) yardage and fibre reactive dyes from Dharma Trading. Most of my threads come from Superior Threads and I use Warm Company’s Warm & White Batting that I buy by the bolt.

These suppliers have come through with quality goods for me for over 20 years, so I stray very little from what they make. I’ll try something new, but these are the ones I count on for my day-to-day work.

Make time for your art

I would say to any would-be artists, believe in yourself. Trust yourself. Listen to your heart. Critique yourself but be kind to yourself.

“Make work that comes out of your head. Don’t worry about the message – just make it!”

Lauren Austin, Quiltist

I have worked for a long time in the arts, and I still get ‘suggestions’ from others – what to make, how to market, all sorts of unsolicited ideas from people who make art and from those who do not.

I listen and then mostly ignore what people tell me. I know what I need to do: I just must make time to do it.

When I trusted myself to know what I needed to do, say sketching in public while on the subway, I became braver than I had been before. It ceased being important how people reacted to the work or to me, and became more about concentrating on what I was learning from teaching myself.

This is how I develop, change what I do and still stay true to my vision and to who I am. Aspiring artists, this approach will work for you!

“Caring less about what people think means I can experiment more, learn more, and come up with new ideas and work.”

Lauren Austin, Quiltist

We already know you’re interested in the art of fabric and thread – why else would you be here? But perhaps you’re looking for a more tactile read, and the luxury of sitting down and reading a magazine cover to cover? If you’re interested in subscribing to a print (or digital) journal exploring textile art, there’s lots of gorgeous options to choose from. 

Here’s our list of the best textile art magazines. These publications are suitable for readers at all levels. High quality, beautifully illustrated, and aiming to inspire, engage and share, each title brings alive the latest developments and inspirations in textile art. 

Read on to discover these periodical gems: Embroidery, Selvedge, Fiber Art Now, Textile Fibre Forum, Quiltfolk, Quilting Arts and Surface Design Journal.

Embroidery

Embroidery is a beautifully presented long running magazine serving lovers of embroidery and contemporary textile art. It comes from the renowned Embroiderers’ Guild in the UK and was first published in 1932.

Over the decades, Embroidery has become the most well respected review of the art of embroidery and stitched textile art. This magazine inspires and impresses with its mix of textile art features, in-depth artist interviews and colourful artwork shots. There’s a listing of the best exhibitions and events around the UK and beyond, and all the latest news in the world of embroidery. 

Subscriptions are available for readers in the UK, Europe and worldwide. Published six times a year, it will bring you plenty of inspiration. Not to mention the option for incredible access to a vast, fully-searchable digital archive of back issues!

A digital downloadable version is available through Pocketmags, or a single issue pay-as-you-go option is available for those who don’t wish to commit to a long subscription.

Selvedge

Celebrate our communal love of cloth, culture and creativity in Selvedge, an attractive feast-for-the-eyes, square-format magazine. This internationally renowned magazine was launched in 2004 by textile obsessive Polly Leonard, and is published every two months in print and digital formats.

In a magazine as beautiful as the textiles represented within its pages, it features articles on textiles in fine art, craft, design, fashion and interiors, sharing the history and importance of cloth, and its place in the modern world. 

Print magazine subscribers receive complimentary access to the corresponding digital edition. Or subscribers can choose the digital-only version. Back issues are available to buy separately.

Great pride is taken in the printing process, using soy-based inks, paper and packaging produced in an environmentally friendly and socially responsible manner.

Textile Fibre Forum

Textile Fibre Forum is a long-running Australian textile art magazine, in print since the 1980s. Produced by ArtWear Publications since 2011, this quarterly magazine shares the work of textile artists, as well as promoting exhibitions and events, and exploring new techniques and innovations relating to textiles, fibres, and textile art. It has a strong focus on Australian artists and contemporary textiles, with articles from specialist contributors in each issue. 

The subscription price includes postage and handling within Australia. International purchasers pay postage at checkout. Alternatively, you can buy a digital subscription. Print format back issues are also available to purchase separately.

Fiber Art Now

This sumptuous magazine, published in the USA, has a broad remit – perfect for those who like a little bit of everything. It explores all types of textile art, including embroidery, crochet, weaving, felting, book arts, quilting, traditional techniques like shibori and sashiko, and more.

Covering installations, wearables, sculptures, vessels and basketry, wall and floor art, plus engaging artist profiles, there really is something for everyone. 

You’ll get four jam-packed magazines a year, as well as instant access to the archive of digital back issues. Shipping is free in the USA, and international subscribers can either pay for shipping or choose the great value digital-only subscription.

Quilting Arts

In Quilting Arts, you’ll learn more about textiles and techniques for contemporary art quilting and surface design. Published in the USA since 2001, this quarterly magazine is full of informative articles dedicated to promoting the art quilt movement, and is suitable for all levels, from novice to professional quilters and textile artists. 

It provides inspiration, technical information and mixed media insights; its aim being to elevate the visibility of art quilts through education, innovation and inspiration. 

Quilting Arts is available in print format, with a supplement to cover postage outside the USA. Back issues are available separately.

Quiltfolk

Travelling coast to coast from New Jersey to California, the quarterly magazine Quiltfolk visits a different state of the USA in each edition, exploring quilters and quilt stories unique to that region.

Beautifully designed and printed, this magazine is a tactile delight, with a soft cover and gorgeous images showcasing the art of quilting, and will appeal to all quilt makers and quilt lovers everywhere. 

This print-only magazine, first published in 2016, has 164 pages brimming with inspiration, and it is advert-free. Back issues are also available to purchase.

Surface Design Journal

If you’re looking to take your art to the next level, check out the Surface Design Journal from the Surface Design Association. This magazine will help to expand your knowledge on techniques and applications.

It covers textile art, design trends, exhibitions, as well as  interviews with artists, makers, curators and collectors. The journal is published in the USA, but has an international scope. 

This quarterly journal comes with membership of the Surface Design Association, which includes a range of other benefits.

Readers can choose print and digital, or digital-only subscriptions, at different price points depending on your location worldwide. Individual issues can be purchased at the SDA store.