Quilts

My drawings have appeared in many forms throughout my life, but it was love of the handcrafted object that inspired me to combine drawings with quilts. Quilting with thread creates texture and structure and at the same time, communicates symbolic images and motifs.

Quilting is a meditative process. I think of the quilted line as a thread of thought wandering over the surface of the entire quilt …images of grass, wind, water, noses and kneecaps guide my hands and needle as I sew.

I enjoy working large so I have room to add jokes and stories within the story. Sometimes I find myself laughing out loud when working alone in my studio. I’ve always believed that humor and creativity are linked — they both seem related to the ability to step outside of ourselves and look at things from a different or surprising viewpoint.

In many of my quilts there is a woman I call PaMdora — she views the world around her with a strange mixture of astonishment, dismay, and amusement. My everyday life is the seed for these quilts, a weird combination of worrying about important things like alien invasions or small things like being late for a date.

Although these stories are embellished for entertainment and to fantastic ends, elements of each of these stories are real to me, and I find, to many people. I enjoy sharing these connections. It’s a way to bring us a little closer together, and if I also happen to make you smile or laugh, that’s even better.

Here are a few of my quilts, but many more are hanging out over at Quilts at PamRuBert.com so check that out too.