The Small Gallery
‘Enchanted’ Fabric - 2017, designer: Kaffe Fassett, maker: FreeSpirit Fabrics
Our small gallery has been transformed into a tented oasis of Kaffe Fassett fabric, also showing a video of the artist discussing textile design with collaborators Brandon and Philip.
Kaleidoscopic Vision
‘Shot Stripes’ fabrics, designer: Kaffe Fassett, maker: FreeSpirit. Fabrics & Marquee Diamonds Quilt 2011 – designer, maker, quilter: Kathy Doughty.
‘As a quilter I have always loved the graphic integrity of striped fabric and how it adds exciting visual impact. After a recent visit with Kaffe and Brandon I was examining the idea of using striped fabric to create the illusion of a string piece quilt.’ (Kathy Doughty, 2022).
Needlepoint cushions
Needlepoint cushions designed and made by Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably.
The Lollipop Tree
2005 - designer & maker: Kim McLean, commercially quilted by Kay Fernihough.
Kim McClean has been quilting since about 1990, mainly in appliqué, and began designing quilts in early 2000. Using colourful contemporary fabrics, her designs take inspiration from antique quilts. McLean has won awards at the Houston and Paducah Quilt Shows as well as her Sydney Quilt Show.
Grévy’s Zebra
2022 - designer, maker: Sophie Standing.
Sophie Standing is a British-born artist who has lived in Africa for over 20 years. She produces her art by combining appliqué and free-motion embroidery. The details of the animals are created with the use of different coloured threads. For the appliqué, Standing mostly uses cotton fabrics from the Liberty ‘Tana Lawn’ range and the Kaffe Fassett Collective collection. Her sewing threads are 100 per cent cotton and made by Aurifil of Italy. Standing produces work up to 2 metres in length, and a single piece of art this size can contain as much as 3,000 metres of thread.
Shimmer Star
2020 - designer: Kaffe Fassett, maker: Liza Prior Lucy, quilter: Judy Irish.
‘This version of the traditional ‘Lone Star’ quilt was designed for my book Quilts in Burano, published in 2020. Brandon’s ‘Bali Brocade’ makes the background so much more interesting, and his ‘Jumble’ dots really do make the star shimmer.’ (Kaffe Fassett, 2022).
Levitate
2018 - designer, maker, quilter: Danny Amazonas (a.k.a Danny C.H. Liu).
Sandra Sider, American quilt artist, author and curator described the piece as follows ‘This ebullient surface, more than six feet high, seems to float off the wall. Amazonas has expertly incorporated colour theory, so that the spheres in lighter and warmer colours appear to move toward the viewer. He created additional movement by varying the scale, with the smaller spheres appearing to recede into the background.’
Civil War Bride
2019 - designer: Corlissa Searcey, maker: Patty Harants, quilter: Judy Stone.
‘Always inspired by the colours of Kaffe Fassett’s fabrics and the famous ‘Birds of Paradise’ quilt (1858-63) from the American Folk Art Museum in New York, I created my own adaptation combining the two.’ (Patty Harrants, 2022).
Garden Reflections
2021 - designer, maker: Vicky Wozniak, quilter: Jamie Wallen.
‘Since discovering Kaffe Fassett’s fabric designs and colours, I have been inspired to create landscapes and colourwash quilts with hand-sewn piecing.’ (Vicky Wozniak, 2022).
Tickled Pink
2005 - designer, maker, quilter: Susan Carlson.
‘Tickled Pink was inspired by a woodblock illustration by fifteenth-century German engraver Albrecht Dürer. At a friend's house I saw a reproduction of his famous "Rhinoceros". Soon after, I was in a fabric shop where I picked up a luscious pink and flaming orange bolt of fabric. I immediately saw armour in the design, that was the inspiration for this piece. It took me a while until my palette was fleshed out enough with other pinks but once started, "Albie" materialised quite quickly. What always fascinated me with Dürer's rhinoceros was that he drew his based on a description of the animal - he never saw a rhino. As I find out with so many of my quilt subjects, these rhinos are having a challenging time in our world, I hope my pink specimen raises an awareness of these animals' plight, as it did for me.' (Susan Carlson, 2022).