Bill Stearman, Quilt Maker

Artist's Statement While in Australia recently, I fell absolutely and totally in love with the Sydney Opera House.   I dragged my poor husband onto boats, through gardens, up a bridge, across a harbour, into a train station, onto a roof top, and to a zoo ... just so that I could view and photograph it from all angles! Of all the views captured with my camera, I love this iconic view of the sails of the Opera House best.  The sails are traced from an enlarged copy of one of my own photographs.  To me, this view captures the grandeur of the structure, as it reflects over and over in the waters of Sydney Harbour, and in the hearts and minds of visitors from all corners of the world. There is the most amazing and positive energy under the sails of this UNESCO World Heritage site and I never tired of viewing or visiting it.  For me, it needed to be incorporated into a quilt that I could wrap myself up in. With this quilt I have attempted to ca...

While in Australia, I fell absolutely and totally in love with the Sydney Opera House. To me, it is quilt, after quilt, after quilt, waiting to be made! I dragged poor Larry onto boats, through gardens, up a bridge, across a harbour, into a train station, and to a zoo ... just so that I could view and photograph it from all angles! And from all of those different angles and views, this is the one that I've decided to capture in a quilt first! I realise that it is the 'standard' Opera House photo ... but it just seems to say ...  'START HERE'. :-) I'll keep you posted if my idea gels!

I have this wonderful bin of Japanese fabrics that I've collected, mostly from my friends at Kallisti Quilts . I had no idea what I'd ever do with them. Then, I came across Tula Pink's City Sampler book on a shelf in my studio, and an idea began to gel. I don't usually like patterns ... or projects that take a long time ... but this idea is totally fun! Tula Pink is known for her bright, modern colours.   So ... I decided that the dichotomy of a Tula  quilt ... made with traditional Japanese fabrics ... would definitely keep me smiling. I'm doing the blocks whenever I have just a few minutes to sew, and as a warm-up exercise before longer sewing sessions. Here are the first nine blocks out of the 100. I can't believe how much I am enjoying this!

'Jet Lagged' I had the strips for this quilt cut out before we left for a month in Australia. The plan was that it would be fairly regular in layout. After a month away from my machine, I went at it like a mad fool the first day home. And then ... jet lag set in.   I have difficulty putting the concept of jet lag into words ... but this quilt pretty much sums it up for me. It is ready for my quilter, Deanna Gaudaur . :-)

'It Should Be As Simple As This' I made this quilt for the Threads of Resistance Show.  Deanna Gaudaur ( quintestudios.com ) did an amazing job with the quilting. The response to the Threads of Resistance Show was phenomenal.  They had over 500 entries, for 62 spaces. Mine was not selected for the show, but all of the quilts entered in the show, and the artist statements, are posted on the Threads of Resistance website. The folks running this show get top marks from me for the class that they have shown with this event!