Contemporary Quilts

A visit to the Sydney Quilt show is usually a visual overload. And 2007 was no exception. So to be able to savour some of the delights we have arranged to show you 15 fabulous contemporay quilts that were on show. This will also give you an opportunity to see the types of quilts that may be entered in in the Guild's forthcoming exhibition The New Quilt 2008: Contemporary Quilt Textiles. . For more details on this go to either our news story The New Quilt 2008 or The Quilters' Guild of NSW Inc website. to find out more.

But in the mean time, get a coffee, put your feet up and and enjoy our selection of contemporary quilts from the 2007 Sydney Quilt show.

We have started with the winner of the Contemporary Art Quilt Award.

Next we have the winner of the Art Quilt (Open) category.

The Flood (150x150cm) by Dianne Firth
Art Quilt (Open)   1st Prize
Australia is a land of droughts and flood.  During heavy rains, creeks swell and flood - taking the colour of the earth with them.  This is my inspiration for my quilt.

And now we have 2 quilts by junior members followed by the rest of our selection.

Mosh (109x144cm) Nicolette Ahern
Junior Member B, 2nd Prize + Bernina Junior Encouragement Award
This quilt was my Year 12 major work.  It was influenced by my experiences at live concerts.

Sunset Foundation (110x125cm) Leigh Hall
Junior Member B
Hand-dyed and commercial fabrics were used to create sun rays over circular background,  Inspired by Darling Harbour fountain.

Backbone III : Agony (89x112cm)  by Barbara Gower
Art Quilt (Open)
This third in a series titled ‘Backbone’.  This represents this overwhelming pain of back injury.  The body recedes and pain takes over, forcing itself into all areas of life, clouding judgment and our perception of the world.  Cottons, organza, silk thread.  Hand and machine stitched.

Times Four (144x144cm) by Carolyn Sullivan
Art Quilt (Open)
Made for my upcoming book Quilted One Block Marvels to be published in August.  Each of the four quadrants uses the same block used in a different layout.

Journeys #3 (50x70cm) by Pamela Munday
Mixed Techniques (Amateur)
This is the third quilt in my ‘Journeys’ series, exploring the paths that we take and the events that we encounter along the way.  Some of our paths lead us to better things, others just go nowhere.

Gondwanaland (100x93cm) by Cathy Jack Coupland
Art Quilt (Open)
This quilt was inspired by a great photograph of cracked and coloured rock.  It soon turned into a study of this wonderful country depicting heat, dry river beds and tracks worn by time and tide.  All surrounded by water represented by the blue insert.

Crop Circles (170x100cm) by Brenda Gael Smith
Art Quilt (Open)
The shapes and colours of the irrigated crop circles in Washington State, when viewed from above, were the inspiration for this quilt made from free-form cut circles.

True Blue (210x170cm) by Sandy Price
Art Quilt (Open) Judges Commendation
True Blue is machine pieced with appliquéd and embroidered gum blossoms.  It represents a blending of cultures with a quintessentially Australian subject represented in Japanese and Balinese fabrics. The quilt has several layers of depth in varying colour values.

Landforms #4 (97x142cm) by Anna Brown
Art Quilt (Open)  3rd Prize
I'm inspired by our landscape - its colours and textures. Commercially printed and dyed cotton, silk and synthetic fabric.  Machine pieced and appliquéd, hand quilted.

Reflections on Connections (123x94cm) by Fiona Hammond 
Art Quilt (Open)
Fiona has used one design element, which sometimes connects in mirror image or with continuous flowing lines, while at other time has breaks in the connections.  This work represents Fiona's thoughts on the complexities of human relationships.

Dream (116x125cm) by Katherin Adams
Art Quilt (Open) 
Inspired by memories of my favourite music from the 70s and started in a workshop with Wendy Scott.

Fragments in Time (115x130cm) by Julie Haddrick
Art Quilt (Open) Judges Commendation
This series of three wall textile pieces examines fragments both past and present, taken from aspects of my life at Keith Road, Blackwood, home to three generations of Haddricks.  Photo transfers, hand painting, silk-screen printing, painting with hand-dyed and recylced fabrics.

A Hot Land (90x120.5cm) by Sue Dennis
Art Quilt (Open)
Judges Commendation
I wanted to capture the intense heat of an outback summer.  The metallic red created fabric hills and flame quilting motif in the sky add to the intensity of the colourful hand-dyed whole cloth background.    It's a hot land in which one can easily perish.