Calm follows the slow halcyon descent of the sun. A gentle and forgiving earth encourages introspection and appreciation as we end our day observing illuminated and scraggly field weeds.


Machine pieced, thread painted and machine quilted; hand-painted cotton, commercial cotton; cotton, rayon and polyester invisible threads; cotton batting.

2006, Finalist, Grand National Invitation Quilt Exhibit, Wildlife, Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

Class – insecta
Order – odonata
Family – aeschnidae
Genus & Species - anax imperator

Dragonflies are ancient beings that have remained virtually unchanged for 230 million years. The fastest flying of all insects, the carnivorous dragonfly catches insects on the wing. Their territory is always over a freshwater pond or lake. Dragonflies are extremely susceptible to the effects of water pollution, their future and very survival depends on clean, uncontaminated water. This regal insect is lionized here in exuberant colour and exaggerated size.

Machine pieced, hand and machine appliqué, water soluble thread wings with couched jewelry wire; commercial cotton, hand-painted cotton, Burkinabe bassan cotton; cotton, rayon and polyester invisible threads, jewelry wire; cotton batting.

2006 Curator's Choice Award, Grand National Invitation Quilt Exhibit, Wildlife, Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, CANADA

2005, Finalist, Quilts=Art=Quilts Exhibition, Schweinfurth Memorial Art Centre, Auburn, New York, USA

A line . . . a curve . . . a number . . . and within the Fibonacci whole number sequence (1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,…) the shape borrowed from nature is most ingeniously and marvelously articulated. An abstraction of cold, mechanical numbers cannot hope to capture the grand, limitless beauty of art in the natural world that reveals itself in the swirl of a seashell. A sacred connection is made, patterns are discerned and a world of meaning is unveiled. You’ll find the golden spiral in the nautilus shell, fiddlehead ferns, the growth of sunflower seed heads, a ram’s horns . . .

Machine pieced, machine appliqué, machine quilted; commercial cottons, cotton, rayon & polyester threads; cotton batting.

2006 Musuem of American Quilter’s Society, Paducah, Kentucky, March through July 2006, Canada Uncovered - an exhibit of Canadian quilts curated by Kathleen Bissett for the Canadian Quilting Association.
2005 Finalist, World Quilt & Textile Competition, Columbus, Ohio; Manchester, New Hampshire; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and San Francisco Bay Area, Santa Clara, California.
2004 Honorable Mention, Grand National Invitational Quilt Exhibition, Constructions of Canada, Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, CANADA Selected quilt for all official invitations and publicity.

Tucked away in a wooded gorge on Matheson’s Brook at Balmoral Mills, Nova Scotia, is a three-storey grist mill where wheat, oats and buckwheat are ground on granite stones and sifted, as they have been since Alexander McKay opened the mill in 1874. In early fall, after months of warm, dry weather, the brook no longer flows over the dam. At this time the mill has a particular splendour, especially when it is backlit by rich afternoon light filtered through the tree canopy. In this quilt I highlight the disparate elements that I like most — the eroding stone foundations, the mill wheel, the weathered logs of the dam and bridge, all overlaid by the ghostly shape of a granite millstone. Through this quilt I pay homage to a remarkable historical structure and to the stalwart people who have been part of it.

Machine appliqué on a muslin foundation, machine quilted, credit for ghost layer technique to Katie Pasquini-Masapust; hand-dyed, hand-painted and commercial 100% cotton, Burkinabe bassan cotton; rayon, cotton, polyester and invisible nylon threads, beads, cotton batting, thread painting.

As guardians of northern waters, barometers of human pressure on our planet, harbingers of climate change, icebergs reveal no more than their majestic tips — we can only imagine what exists beneath the surface, knowing what we see is only a small part of the whole. Aurora borealis, ice and water offer a constantly shifting palette. The transient quality of Arctic blues is transformed when a single ray of light alters the depth of a colour.

Machine pieced, machine appliquéd, machine quilted; hand-painted, hand-dyed & commercial cottons, cotton, rayon and polyester threads; cotton batting.

2005 Grand National Invitation Quilt Exhibition Finalist, Airborne, Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

In this quilt, I wished to create an ode to elegance and eloquence, flight and form, motion and nature’s designs for flight. A Canada goose stretches its wings and reaches its neck skywards, ascending in an endless sky: a wild blue yonder that perplexes, hypnotizes and lifts. Maple samaras float at the mercy of the wind. Superimposed, a whirling propeller spins our age-old dreams of flight and our longing to be airborne. The goose and winged seeds are our inspiration; the propeller mimics nature’s ingenious designs. A simple one-piece, hand-painted sky is used to emphasize the focal point - one of nature’s strongest flyers - a Canada goose in full flight. All but the propeller is heavily stitched to set it apart with a minimum of definition. This simplicity makes the propeller visible in the same nebulous way we sense the rotation of a spinning blade that renders barely visible to the eye. The human dimension of our own dreams of flight is juxtaposed here against the powerful and limitless beauty of nature.

Hand appliqué, machine piecing, trapunto, machine quilting: hand painted cotton, commercial cottons, cotton, polyester and variegated rayon threads: cotton & polyester batting.

2004 Quilt Canada Juried Exhibition Finalist,Winnipeg, Manitoba, CANADA

On an increasingly fragile planet, Mother Earth struggles to sustain all living things. As the most creative but also destructive of creatures, we are entrusted with protecting the stability and longevity of life on our spinning globe. In the grand scheme of things, our lives are no more or less important than those of lowly insects. The earth has cradled mayflies for 180 million years - may they guard the earth for millions more.

Machine raw-edge appliqué, machine quilting, three machine-stitched 3-dimensional mayflies (credit to Katie Pasquini-Masupust’s ghost-layering and colour wash techniques); commercial cottons, cotton, rayon & polyester threads, cotton batting.

Machine pieced, machine quilted, water soluble embroidery, three dimensional dragonfly wings; commercial cotton, sun-print cottons, painted fabric; cotton, rayon and polyester threads; cotton batting.

Machine pieced, machine quilted, water soluble embroidery; commercial cotton, sun-print cottons, painted fabric, cotton, rayon and polyester threads, cotton yarn; cotton batting.

Machine pieced, machine quilted, water soluble embroidery; commercial cotton, sun-print cottons, painted fabric, cotton, rayon and polyester threads, cotton yarn; cotton batting.

Machine pieced, machine appliqué, machine quilted; commercial cottons, dyed cottons, painted cottons, cotton threads, variegated threads; cotton batting.

Machine pieced, machine appliqué, three-dimensional green leaf, machine quilted; commercial cottons, dyed cottons, painted cottons, cotton threads, variegated threads; cotton batting.

This quilt was created using the construction technique developed by Paula Nadelstern for creating kaleidoscopic quilts. It features fabrics from Singapore, a batik-like elephant print, as well as prints with mirror symmetry. The fern designs on the outer edges of the kaleidoscope were machine quilted with 12wt variegated cotton thread. The fern green background was heavily machine quilted.

Machine pieced, machine quilted; commercial cottons, cotton, variegated and invisible polyester threads; cotton batting.

A fanciful quilt made in the tradition of more traditional Amish quilts.

Machine pieced, machine quilted; commercial cottons, cotton, rayon and metallic threads; cotton batting.

Credit for quilt design and pattern to Kumido Sudo. It features Asian silk and cotton fabric from Burkina Faso, West Africa.

Machine pieced, hand appliqué, hand quilted; commercial cotton and silk, cotton threads; cotton batting.

Machine pieced, machine quilted; commercial cottons, cotton and rayon threads; cotton batting.