Expression Through The Art of Quilting
by Quiltworks
eBay Member

My artwork provides a way for me to express my feelings about events happening around me. I was on vacation in Florida during the last week of January. A trip to Kennedy Space Center was something I have wanted to do for a very long time. We scheduled our trip to the Space Center around the Shuttle Columbia landing on February 1, 2003.

I know the news of the Shuttle Columbia was shattering news for many people, but being there made it particularly acute for me. I have made a couple of art quilts as my tribute to Shuttle Columbia Astronauts. The images of these quilts are featured in this article.

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When most people hear the word 'quilt', they think of a bed covering … an heirloom passed on from their grandmother. In fact, the art of quilt making has continued to develop through the years, and nowadays takes many forms that are not restricted to bed coverings, and not bound by size or function.

My life's passion is art quilts. I started out my love affair with quilting as a traditional quilter and have honed my skills by making many traditional bed quilts using geometric designs. Eventually, I began experimenting with my own designs, which slowly became less geometric and looked more like paintings. I found that making quilts that depict landscapes, flowers, animals and nature in general allowed me to combine two of my life-long interests - sewing and painting, which I have been doing since I was five years old. Each quilt is started with a hand-drawn picture, and then the picture is used as my template to select the fabric so the shapes and colors are just right.

The fabric is my color palette, creating just the right color and mood for each little piece of the quilt. Then the fabric pieces are cut, placed, appliquéd and quilted. Lots of details to bring these creations to life! My favorite part of the process is the excitement of creating a new design and seeing it come to life in fabric color. This is the main reason why each one of my quilts is unique, never to be repeated again.

I discovered eBay four years ago quite by chance. I had made a special quilt for a friend's wedding. The wedding unfortunately was called off, and my friend did not want the quilt, as it was a reminder of this sad occasion. I did not want to give it to anyone I knew, so when someone mentioned to me that they discovered this interesting site where anyone can put anything on auction, it seemed like a perfect solution. I figured this was a good way to make sure that my friend would never see this quilt again.

I did not expect much, but to my utter surprise my quilt generated a lot of interest and began accumulating bids almost instantly. The quilt gained more than 30 bids, became a member of the exclusive "hot" category, and resulted in a final bid of many hundreds of dollars! Needless to say I was instantly hooked on eBay, and decided that, of course, all of my quilts would have similar success. Even though I have never again achieved the "hot" status, I find eBay a wonderful opportunity to share my artwork with other people.

The most rewarding part of the eBay experience is getting emails after the winner received the quilt and shares with me what they are going to do with it, and how it was even prettier in person than they anticipated. I also enjoy getting ideas on new themes for future auctions. This sometimes forces me to try something that I would not have thought of doing on my own. These suggestions lead me to experiment and to try new things, which in turn allow me to expand and grow as an artist.