Author: archivy

• Systolic/Diastolic

  

  

  This multiptych continues a series exploring the use of bargello to communicate changing data–in this case, my yearly blood pressure and hemoglobin counts at every Red Cross blood and platelet donation since I began donating in March 2020. Each panel is one year; the vertical movement is based on the systolic measurement and the width of each strip is based on the diastolic measurement. Custom digital quilting designs indicate whether the donation was blood or platelets, my hemoglobin count, and whether or not the count met the minimum level for donation.
  
  Commercial cotton ombre fabric, machine pieced patchwork, personal health data, custom digital longarm quilting
  
  60″ x 40″
  
  2023
  

  This quilt appeared in the following exhibitions:

  • Quilts Unlimited, View Arts Center 2023
  • AQS Paducah 2024
  • Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza 2024
  • Made In New York, Schweinfurth Art Center 2025
  • International Quilt Festival (Houston, TX) Judged Show 2025

  2023.09.10

• Indistinguishable

  

  

  Indistinguishable, my first foray into bargello, is a complex-looking work that was actually quite easy to create with simple mathematical and construction techniques. Yet the digital quilting–a complex dance of programming, graphic design, layout, and alignment–is usually assumed to be as easy as pushing a button. Arthur C. Clarke’s famous third law reminds us to revel in the magic of quilts while also explicitly acknowledging the incredible technological prowess required to create them.
  
  56″x82″
  
  Commercial cotton fabric, cotton and polyester batting, machine pieced patchwork, trapunto, custom digital longarm quilting
  
  This quilt appeared in the following exhibitions:

  • Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza 2023
  • International Quilt Festival 2025, Houston (TX)
  • Note: This quilt was juried into AQS Paducah 2025 but was withdrawn due to the organization’s censorship activities. See https://www.saqa.com/about/news/message-saqa-board-color-context-red-exhibition for more information.

  2023.08.12

• Magenta Muerta

  

  

   This piece was made in response to the 2023 Pantone color of the year. I found the choice of “Viva Magenta,” a color intended to “promote a joyous and optimistic celebration” and “encourage experimentation and self-expression without restraint” to be in poor taste given the ongoing global pandemic. The bargello design is informed by CDC data of weekly deaths from COVID-19 between January-May 2023 (when the emergency declaration for COVID–and thus mandatory data reporting–ended).
  
  
  42″x56″
  Commercial cotton solids, cotton thread, pearl cotton, cotton batting, public health data, machine pieced patchwork, custom hand-guided and computerized longarm quilting; hand embroidery
  
  This piece is available for sale
  

  This quilt appeared in the following exhibitions:

  • Asheville Quilt Show 2023
  • Fiber Arts Fiesta 2024
  • String Theory at The Cultural Center of Cape Cod (MA) 2024
  • And Still It Remains: A Long COVID Exhibition, Artworks Loveland (CO) 2025
  • Schweinfurth Art Center Member Show 2025
  • Creative Resistance: The Art of Protest, First Presbyterian Gallery, Fort Wayne, Indiana 2026

  2023.07.31

• New Year’s Resolutions

  

  

  This quilt begins a series exploring the use of bargello to communicate changing data–in this case, my weight everyday in the month of January.
  
  38″x75″
  
  Commercial cotton ombre fabric, personal health data, machine pieced patchwork; custom digital longarm quilting
  
  This quilt appeared in the following exhibitions:

  • World of Quilts XLII 2023
  • AQS Grand Rapids 2023
  • Fiber Arts Fiesta 2024
    • 3rd Place, Abstract
  • International Quilt and Fiber Arts Festival 2024
  • Earlville Annual Quilt Show 2025

  2023.03.24

• HB 1557

  

  

  

  

  HB1557 (named for the infamous Florida “Don’t Say Gay” bill) is made from traditional swap blocks from quilters in a traditionally conservative district. Blocks are arranged in a modern colorway and quilted to say “gay” in myriad sizes, fonts, and styles, including my own handwriting.
  
  38.5″x56.5″
  
  Commercial cotton batiks, wool batting, machine pieced patchwork block from community members, custom computerized longarm quilting
  
  This quilt is available for purchase
  
  This quilt appeared in the following exhibitions:

  • Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival 2023
  • Broward Quilt Expo 2023
  • International Quilt & Fiber Arts Festival 2023
  • Big Gay Art Show 2023, Sedona Arts Center 2023
    • First Place/Best in Show award

  2022.12.21

• Easy As ASL

  

  

  In summer 2020, I was inspired to take up embroidery again. I was inspired by sets of things, such as alphabets, that would make good quilt squares. Each of these letters was hand-embroidered by me and machine pieced into the quilt. By the time this work was completed, it was no longer 2020! I decided to capture the time span of work in the quilting.
  
  50″ x 56″
  
  Commercial cotton fabric; cotton batting, DMC embroidery floss, machine pieced patchwork, hand embroidery, custom hand-guided longarm quilting
  
  This quilt is available for purchase
  
  This quilt appeared in the following exhibitions:

  • Genesee Valley Quilt Fest 2022
  • Tompkins County Quilt Show 2022
  • Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza 2022
  • Indiana Heritage Quilt Show 2023
  • Schweinfurth Member Art Show 2023

  2022.05.08

• Stars of Social Media

  

  

  This quilt draws on traditional conventions of redwork to present the most frequented online media sites in the US during 2020, juxtaposing the data-driven online world with slow textile traditions.
  
  52″ x 52″
  
  Commercial cotton fabric, cotton thread, cotton batting, embroidery floss, U.S. social media usage data, machine-pieced patchwork, hand embroidery, hand-guided longarm quilting
  
  This quilt is available for purchase
  
  This quilt appeared in the following exhibitions:

  • Uncommon Threads, Carlisle Learning Arts Center 2022
  • Atlanta Quilt Festival 2023

  2022.02.19

• What Is Essential Is Invisible To The Eye

  

  

  This wholecloth panel quilt uses traditional quilting techniques like trapunto–often considered feminine skills– to contrast the typically masculine professions lauded in American culture and to surface invisiblized professions that are consistently ignored, under-resourced, and scorned, yet arguably more essential to a functional society.
  
  38.5″x32.5″
  
  Commercial cotton panel, cotton batting, cording, cotton thread, trapunto, custom hand-guided longarm quilting

  View a viral TikTok video about this quilt made by an AQS Des Moines attendee: https://www.tiktok.com/@glamourviking/video/7144426454355381550
  
  This quilt appeared in the following exhibitions:

  • Great Wisconsin Quilt Show 2021
  • Quilts = Art = Quilts, Schweinfurth Art Center 2021
  • AQS Des Moines 2022
  • Quilts Unlimited 2022
  • New York State Fair 2023

  2021.06.28

• These Colors Should Run

  

  This patchwork quilt represents the (lack of) gender and racial diversity in the US Senate during the 116th Congress (2019-2021). Every blue triangle in the star field represents a female senator; the red stripes represent the proportion of non-white senators.
  
  28.5″ x 22.5″

  Commercial cotton fabrics, cotton batting, cotton thread, machine pieced patchwork, custom hand-guided longarm quilting, trapunto
  
  This piece appeared in the following exhibitions:

  • Art Quilts: Going Forward 2021
    • Juror’s Choice Award
  • Vermont Quilt Show 2021
  • Fantastic Fibers 2021
  • Shifting Tides: Art That Speaks To Our Ever Changing Times 2021
  • Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival 2022
  • New York State Fair 2022
    • Second Place – Small
  • Quilts Unlimited 2022
  • Made in New York 2023
  • Indiana Heritage Quilt Show 2023
  • Original Sewing and Quilting Expo Quilt Contest 2023
  • Creative Resistance: The Art of Protest, First Presbyterian Gallery, Fort Wayne, Indiana 2026

  2021.01.07