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Appliqué Patterns!
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Gone Fishin',
Best of Show, PIQF 2007
Permanent collection
Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum
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Kathy McNeil
6813 Totem Beach Rd
Marysville, WA 98271-9714
E-Mail
(360) 659-4002
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ARTIST’S STATEMENT- I wake up every day excited about how many hours or minutes I will have to Quilt.
Minutes count in this incredible passion of mine. Twelve years ago, my world became infinitely richer in color, texture, line, and shape.
My work is traditional in technique, and pictorial in style. My quilt tops begin as a sketch, which I enlarge to the size of the finished quilt. About 75% of the finished quilt will resemble the sketch as I work out each little area or character, listening to the fabric and how it can best reveal the heart and soul of the piece. Hand applique is my technique of choice. All my edges are turned under and appliqued, usually, with silk thread. I love the rhythm and serenity it gives me. I love being able to easily rip it out when a new idea or inspiration carries me away. I love honoring generations of women who have gone before me and share this passion.
Quilts have been the medium for many centuries and in many cultures for women to express their own artistic vision, to give their life color, to make political or social statements, and to preserve family stories. My work is energized and inspired by this rich tradition. I get to combine the elements of painting with the tactile and emotional response we all have to fabric. I am truely insipired by the world around me. Mother Nature is a brillant artist. The process of expressing texture, shape, high lights, and shadows that make up every living object in fabric is a never ending mystery and joy. I may be incredibly frustrated at times in the process but never ever bored. Each quilt reveals more of myself to me. I’ve learned to trust the fabric and to listen with every cell of my being.
Hiding little details for viewers to discover is like a game to me. It helps wile away the 400-800 hours I spend on making each quilt. Design is one of my favorite classes to teach. After factoring in basic design principles, it is all about the story telling for me. I start making my major characters first. (Most people start in the background first.) Then I think about the supporting cast or landscape accents. After I have all of these free objects made, I begin appliqueing small sections together. This is the same approach most piecers take when attaching one block to another.
I am passionate about the health benefits of creativity. Think about how you feel after several hours of combining colors and fabrics, working away on a beautiful quilt that makes you so happy. While loosing yourself in that creative project you started relaxing. You lowered your heart rate, you lowered your blood pressure, and some studies even suggest that your levels of serotonin rise. That quiet and focused state of mind may reduce pain and does bolster your immune system. Quilting is healthy and I quilt about 50 hours a week!
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