Judy Elsley

I’ve made quilts for thirty years, gradually moving from commercial fabrics and other people’s patterns to designing my own quilts constructed from fabrics I’ve hand-dyed and printed.  These quilts, or “text(ile)s” combine my two great loves: fabric and language. Writing on the fabric was an important part of each quilt.

 

All the fabrics in these quilts began as white 100% cotton which I then dyed, over-dyed, discharged,  and printed. I use the following techniques:

·                       Dyeing, overdyeing and shibori with Procion MX dyes

·                       Screen printing, thermofaxing, and stamp printing, mostly using thickened dyes, and occasionally using

                        fabric paints. I make most of my own screens and stamps.

·                       Discharging

·                       Applique

·                       Fabric pens

·                       Beading

·                       Gel plate printing

 

 

Most of  the quilts were machine quilted by the amazing artist, Sue McCarty. I love making the fabric, designing the quilts, and then putting them together. I like hand quilting, too, but I’m overwhelmed by the idea of quilting larger pieces, so I take them to a professional. We talk about how to coordinate the quilting with the top, and then she works her magic. Since Sue retired from the machine quilting business, I take my quilts to Karlee Porter, a lovely woman and great machine quilter.