I have been an art quilter for twenty-five years. My work is shown regularly in major quilt shows across the country, including Visions, Quilt National, and numerous SAQA shows. Articles and photos of my work have been published in most of the quilting magazines in the US, as well as in a number of national and international books and calendars on art quilting. I have also been featured in two documentary films (one by the American Quilters Society and the other by Lifetime TV in conjunction with the Vagina Monologues production) and on the Alex Anderson show.
I am the recipient of two art-related awards in Mendocino County- the Women’s Art: Women’s Vision award in 2008 and the Art Champion award in 2012.
I have lived all of my adult life in Mendocino County, where I worked for 30 years as a teacher of the visually impaired. In that capacity I won the Schoolmaster of the Year award in 2011. I am now retired.
I was an art history major at UC Berkeley, with a minor in art, and I have a Masters in Education from CA State University-San Francisco. I am mostly a self-taught quilter, though I studied briefly under Natasha Kempers-Kullen many years ago. I currently lecture and teach art quilting classes and retreats throughout northern California.
SPECIAL 2 DAY COLLAGE WORKSHOP!
When Laura last visited with us in 2022, her workshop sold out and there was a long waitlist. Don't miss out this time! Our friends at Village Sewing have offered to let us hold Laura's workshop in their space, so students can work on their projects uninterrupted for 2 days. After Laura's talk on "Creating Depth in Landscape Quilts" with SRQG on Thursday, Oct 17, head over to VSC and take a deep dive into Collage Quilting.
Expect this to be a fun, creative, beginner-friendly, out-of-the-box class. You do not need to have any quilting skills besides basic knowledge of how to do freehand machine quilting on your home sewing machine, nor do you need to be a recognized artist. You will discover the “artist within” as you play with the fabrics of your choice to create a small (about 18”x24”’) collage wall quilt. Subject matter can be a landscape, a still life, or even a fantasy scene… whatever moves you to want to create it in fabric. You will start with a photo of your chosen scene for inspiration and beyond that your own imagination is the limit. (One caution though… for beginners it is smart to avoid subjects that include people, pets or complicated architecture. You will get frustrated trying to get the perspective and details “right.” It will be more fun to stick to nature scenes, where nothing you do can possibly be “wrong.”)
Basic technique is raw-edge fabric collage, where cut or torn pieces of fabric (and/or other materials) are layered and freely arranged to create as much or as little detail in your piece as you see fit. Nothing is pinned or sewn until you are happy with your design, so the stakes are low and the composition can be changed infinitely. There are no patterns, no directions, and no rules.
The piece you create in class can be machine quilted in class or at home.
Check out 2022 video interview with Laura about her collage technique. Note the date I'm referring to attached video is from the 2022 workshop. Correct dates for 2024 workshop are Oct 17 & 18