The New Quilt 2024 Preview: Suzanne Laird

Truth Decay by Suzanne Laird of Lawson, New South Wales considers some of the tactics used against truth.

Suzanne made her first quilt in 1978 for her daughter without realizing that this would become the focus of her stitching for years to come. Family, work and career generally took priority, however she didn’t stop sewing, collecting fabric and ideas along the way. Through the 80’s and early 90’s her learning focus was on technique and design rather than replicating given patterns. Her career took over until retirement, when she revisited her awareness of more recent quilting developments, making small quilts to explore possibilities. Engagement with small and large quilt groups were significant in re-energising her passion. Several entries in the annual QuiltNSW Exhibition were well received to her surprise and pleasure. Never one to mince words, nor fail to express an opinion about a personal passion, she has more recently seen the possibilities of quilts in response to societal challenges. Collections of notes, quotes and clippings inspired her first foray into this area, and then led to the sometimes tortuous development of Truth Decay, her entry in The New Quilt. Suzanne’s design process is fluid, each step evolving rather than planned. Colours emerge first from her notes, then design possibilities requiring exploration on a design wall where changes, rejections, and more ideas respond to her intent. Her topical notes and quotes are growing, instigating ideas for more quilts to come. 

 Follow Suzanne on Instagram at: @suzanne.laird

Plan an art excursion!  

The New Quilt 2024, on exhibition at Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Windsor, NSW from 4 May to 23 June 2024. Official opening and awards ceremony from 6pm on Friday 3 May 2024. RSVP to the gallery. 

Gallery hours: Open 6 days a week Monday, Wednesday-Friday 10am-4pm Saturday-Sunday 10am-3pm. Closed on Tuesday and public holidays.

 

The New Quilt 2024 Preview: Judy Hooworth

Secret Correspondence by Judy Hooworth of Morriset, New South Wales features spidery 'writing' on scribbly gums suggesting a clandestine correspondence.

Judy’s main body of work is influenced and inspired by Dora Creek and the surrounding Lake Macquarie area near her home. Her work encompasses drawing, mono printing, painting, and discharge techniques and is extensively stitched and quilted. Judy has maintained a studio practice for over thirty five years, and has been involved in in quilt textiles as a teacher, lecturer, exhibition organiser and author. She has exhibited and been published widely; her work is held in collections here and overseas, including the Powerhouse Museum, Tamworth Art Gallery, Wangaratta Art Gallery, the Museum of Arts and Design New York USA, San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles USA. 

View more of Judy's artwork at:

•  www.ozquiltnetwork.org.au
• @judyhooworth1
  

Plan an art excursion!  

The New Quilt 2024, on exhibition at Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Windsor, NSW from 4 May to 23 June 2024. Official opening and awards ceremony from 6pm on Friday 3 May 2024. RSVP to the gallery. 

Gallery hours: Open 6 days a week Monday, Wednesday-Friday 10am-4pm Saturday-Sunday 10am-3pm. Closed on Tuesday and public holidays.

The New Quilt 2024 Preview: Emmanuelle Holmes & Others

On 14 October 2023 Australians voted in the Referendum to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in our Constitution through a Voice to Parliament. The Voice Quilt was created by Emmanuelle Holmes as a community textile project in the lead up to the election. It embodied the positivity, joy, colour and collaborative nature of working together with a common goal to support a yes vote in the Referendum. Emmanuelle’s work in mental health convinced her that the Voice would support better health outcomes for First Nations People by giving them more say and agency on matters that affect them. The idea grew organically after Emmanuelle, wondering whether she could express her support through her art, put out a call on social media, and to family and friends in July 2023. People were invited to make a quilt block of a certain size, using any textile technique and combination, whether that be piecework, machine or hand applique, fabric printing or dyeing, embroidery or collage. Sewing expertise was not a prerequisite and individual block design was determined by each maker. Emmanuelle received 25 blocks over a couple of months from 14 makers and textile artists living on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. The project was time limited so it could be completed by Referendum Day on October 14. Emmanuelle writes: "Despite the heartbreaking referendum outcome, the Voice Quilt stands as a permanent reminder of who we are today."

Plan an art excursion!  

The New Quilt 2024, on exhibition at Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Windsor, NSW from 4 May to 23 June 2024. Official opening and awards ceremony from 6pm on Friday 3 May 2024. RSVP to the gallery. 

Gallery hours: Open 6 days a week Monday, Wednesday-Friday 10am-4pm Saturday-Sunday 10am-3pm. Closed on Tuesday and public holidays.

 

The New Quilt 2024 Preview: Lynne Hargreaves

Of cabbages and kings by Lynne Hargreaves of Legana, Tasmania celebrates her father and his veggie patch.

Born in the UK, Lynne worked as a graphic designer moving into design training in 1978. 20yrs in vocational and tertiary education followed. Joining the cultural sector and arts management in 1998 she retired to Tasmania in 2017 from the position of Director of Exhibitions & Collections at the Art Gallery of WA. She has worked in partnership with institutions such as the Louvre, Tate, V&A, St Petersburg State Theatre and most recently the MoMA, New York to present renowned artworks in Perth. Entering a new chapter of her career she now has a focus on her own textile art practice. 

Art quilting draws upon her design background and she is excitedly discovering the wonders of thread and fabric. Her current experiments feature combinations of thread-painted photographs with varying contemporary and traditional piecing techniques. Working from her own or family photographs images are manipulated, printed in large scale then pieced and over worked with machine and hand stitching.

 

Plan an art excursion!  

The New Quilt 2024, on exhibition at Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Windsor, NSW from 4 May to 23 June 2024. Official opening and awards ceremony from 6pm on Friday 3 May 2024. RSVP to the gallery. 

Gallery hours: Open 6 days a week Monday, Wednesday-Friday 10am-4pm Saturday-Sunday 10am-3pm. Closed on Tuesday and public holidays.

 

The New Quilt 2024 Preview: Margery Goodall

Future Proof Suite (quartet) by Margery Goodall reflects a traditional formal garden design and is designed to raise awareness of how our consumer choices affect the natural world.

Margery is a prize-winning Western Australian textile artist whose work has been exhibited in selective exhibitions in Australia and internationally since 1999, including the Alice Craft Award, the City of Joondalup Art Prize and the York Botanic Art Prize (2020, 2023). Margery has a longstanding creative practice focusing on stitched cloth, with a more recent addition of assemblages of found objects and waste materials. 

Since 2020 a focus of Margery’s work has been in response to the increasing fragility of the Australian landscape, and the challenges around use of packaging and subsequent disposal of packaging materials. While Margery continues to stitch scraps and discarded fabrics, she currently transforms waste materials, such as plastic bottle lids and plastic packaging, into stitched works which reflect on the web of connections between our relationships with modern living and the natural environment. Follow Margery on Instagram at:  @margery.goodall.about_art

Plan an art excursion!  

The New Quilt 2024, on exhibition at Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Windsor, NSW from 4 May to 23 June 2024. Official opening and awards ceremony from 6pm on Friday 3 May 2024. RSVP to the gallery. 

Gallery hours: Open 6 days a week Monday, Wednesday-Friday 10am-4pm Saturday-Sunday 10am-3pm. Closed on Tuesday and public holidays.

The New Quilt 2024 Preview: Fiona Gavens

 Today we highlight Ghost Blanket IX, the artwork of the second juror/judge Fiona Gavens. This work is made from felted woven alpaca, wool, wool blend yarns, silk and organza.

Fiona Gavens is a textile designer based in Melbourne. She has broad experience developed over a lifetime of involvement with textiles, particularly patchwork, quilting, embroidery, knitting and dressmaking. Her multiple careers include being a freelance quilt artist, exhibitor and teacher for many years; manager of a regional conservatorium; and university and arts administrator. As a self-taught artist she embraced the opportunity to develop formal design skills in her studies of B.A. (Textile Design), RMIT University, graduating in 2018.

Plan an art excursion!  

The New Quilt 2024, on exhibition at Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Windsor, NSW from 4 May to 23 June 2024. Official opening and awards ceremony from 6pm on Friday 3 May 2024. RSVP to the gallery. 

Gallery hours: Open 6 days a week Monday, Wednesday-Friday 10am-4pm Saturday-Sunday 10am-3pm. Closed on Tuesday and public holidays.

 

The New Quilt 2024 Preview: Jan Frazer

Today we highlight Waratahs in White by Jan Frazer of Elwood Victoria which incorporates hand screen printed cottons designed by Reece Scannell.

Plan an art excursion!  

The New Quilt 2024, on exhibition at Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Windsor, NSW from 4 May to 23 June 2024. Official opening and awards ceremony from 6pm on Friday 3 May 2024. RSVP to the gallery. 

Gallery hours: Open 6 days a week Monday, Wednesday-Friday 10am-4pm Saturday-Sunday 10am-3pm. Closed on Tuesday and public holidays.

 

The New Quilt 2024 Preview: Dianne Firth

Inspired by Canberra's Floriade, Dianne Firth created Floriade #4 from handcut pieces of felt assembled between layers of net.

Dianne Firth is an artist, landscape architect and academic and is Adjunct Associate Professor with the Centre for Creative and Cultural Research at the University of Canberra. Her minimalist layered and stitched textile art is informed by her desire to portray landscape qualities that she finds in urban and rural environments. Form and colour are important in her compositions and she likes to use non-traditional materials such as net, felt, paper and foil in a symbolic manner. 

Dianne exhibits regularly in solo and juried exhibitions in Australia and internationally. Her work is held in major public and private collections.View more of Dianne's artwork at:  www.ozquiltnetwork.org.au

Plan an art excursion!  

The New Quilt 2024, on exhibition at Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Windsor, NSW from 4 May to 23 June 2024. Official opening and awards ceremony from 6pm on Friday 3 May 2024. RSVP to the gallery. 

Gallery hours: Open 6 days a week Monday, Wednesday-Friday 10am-4pm Saturday-Sunday 10am-3pm. Closed on Tuesday and public holidays.

 

The New Quilt 2024 Preview: Rachaeldaisy Dodd

Scraps Devine by Rachaeldaisy Dodd of Wallace, Victoria transforms fabric remnants, strips and small pieces that might normally be discarded, to create a graceful dancing vine.

Rachaeldaisy Dodd has been lucky to follow a creative path, from delving into crafts as a child and then working as a creative florist for more than 20 years. She discovered patchwork and quilting in the early 2000’s, and that was it, she was hooked! 

Since then, Rachaeldaisy has become synonymous with bold, colourful, eye popping quilts. Whilst honouring the tradition of quilting she continues to find fresh ways and new techniques to interpret conventional designs. Her use of 3D elements such as folded and gathered fabric techniques, YoYo puffs, prairie points, RicRac, wool felt and denim come together to create beautifully, unique textured work. 

Rachaeldaisy’s fresh interpretation of the art of quilting has seen her quilts exhibited in quilt shows and galleries and featured in many publications both nationally and internationally. They have received many prizes including awards for Best in Show at both the 2015 and 2016 Australian Modern Quilt Show, Best in Show at the 2016 QuiltNSW Members Quilt Show. Most Innovative at 2017 Dare to Differ Contemporary Textiles Exhibition, Houston Quilt Show 2018, Runner-up Pro-Hart Outback Award 2019, Best Use of Colour and Viewers Choice Awards. 

Her book 'Whizz Bang! Adventures in Folded Fabric' published with Quiltmania, focuses on the techniques that create her folded fabric quilts. 

When she isn't travelling to teach, Rachaeldaisy resides on the traditional lands of the Wadawarrung people, surrounded by a garden of dancing trees. 

See more of Rachaeldaisy's artwork at: www.rachaeldaisy.com

 

Plan an art excursion!  

The New Quilt 2024, on exhibition at Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Windsor, NSW from 4 May to 23 June 2024. Official opening and awards ceremony from 6pm on Friday 3 May 2024. RSVP to the gallery. 

Gallery hours: Open 6 days a week Monday, Wednesday-Friday 10am-4pm Saturday-Sunday 10am-3pm. Closed on Tuesday and public holidays.

 

The New Quilt 2024 Preview: Ruth de Vos

Today we preview A New Thing, a botanical artwork by Ruth de Vos, one of juror-judges on The New Quilt 2024 selection panel. Ruth is an award winning artist, a quilt-pattern designer, and a published picture book illustrator. She loves to focus on the beauty of ordinary every day things, including the flora that forms her local streetscape. "There is so much beauty in the sturdy, slender gum leaves, and the verdant clusters of fibrous eucalyptus blossoms bursting from their wooden shells." View more of Ruth's artwork at www.ruthdevos.com

Plan an art excursion!  

The New Quilt 2024, on exhibition at Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Windsor, NSW from 4 May to 23 June 2024. Official opening and awards ceremony from 6pm on Friday 3 May 2024. RSVP to the gallery. 

Gallery hours: Open 6 days a week Monday, Wednesday-Friday 10am-4pm Saturday-Sunday 10am-3pm. Closed on Tuesday and public holidays.

 

The New Quilt 2024 Preview: Sue Dennis

Today we highlight Tempest by Sue Dennis of Brisbane. Sue's passion for surface design in the quilt medium is evident in this work which was handprinted with plant matter.

Sue has had a long and varied career in quilting, beginning in Mt Isa Queensland in 1990. Having learnt the basics of patchwork, she began teaching classes for beginners using rotary cutting, machine piecing and machine quilting, which was in its infancy. Thirty years on and she has been a writer for quilt magazines, national and international tutor, exhibitor and prize winner. Sue has taught in Australia, the USA, New Zealand, China, South Korea, Taiwan and Mongolia. The dramatic Australian landscape influenced her early designs, which were rich in colour and texture. Hand dyeing her fabric and adding meaning via printing, rubbed surfaces and stitch are dominant features of her work, which has been well received in national and international exhibitions. 

Plan an art excursion!  

The New Quilt 2024, on exhibition at Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Windsor, NSW from 4 May to 23 June 2024. Official opening and awards ceremony from 6pm on Friday 3 May 2024. RSVP to the gallery. 

Gallery hours: Open 6 days a week Monday, Wednesday-Friday 10am-4pm Saturday-Sunday 10am-3pm. Closed on Tuesday and public holidays.

The New Quilt 2024 Preview: Susan Cunningham

Today we highlight Baranbali 1 by Susan Cunningham of Stawell, Victoria. Susan's latest body of work has resulted from her acquisition of old family textiles. She tells stories using these textiles to embody her reactions to the world around her: matters of social and environmental importance nationally and internationally, and also to explore her personal background. Baranbali 1 focuses on the use of recycled materials at the family level. Used work-a-day items reflect the hard working and thoughtful life of her parents on a dairy farm, along with their plans for a new house, and her mother’s CWA interests which extended to teaching knitting and embroidery.

 

 
Plan an art excursion!  

The New Quilt 2024, on exhibition at Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Windsor, NSW from 4 May to 23 June 2024. Official opening and awards ceremony from 6pm on Friday 3 May 2024. RSVP to the gallery. 

Gallery hours: Open 6 days a week Monday, Wednesday-Friday 10am-4pm Saturday-Sunday 10am-3pm. Closed on Tuesday and public holidays.

 

The New Quilt 2024 Preview: Vivienne Crisell

Today we highlight A Walk in a Park by Vivienne Crisell of Coffs Harbour, New South Wales. This artwork features hand dyeing, screen printing, machine piecing, applique and quilting and embroidery.

Vivienne teaches fashion design, patternmaking and textile art practices. She has a Diploma in Fashion and Technical Teaching, with over twenty-five years experience within the fashion industry as a patternmaker and designer, and taught Fashion at TAFE for over twenty years. She has a Diploma in Colour and Design, and completed post-graduate work. Exhibiting since 1989 in solo and group shows.

Plan an art excursion!  

The New Quilt 2024, on exhibition at Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Windsor, NSW from 4 May to 23 June 2024. Official opening and awards ceremony from 6pm on Friday 3 May 2024. RSVP to the gallery. 

Gallery hours: Open 6 days a week Monday, Wednesday-Friday 10am-4pm Saturday-Sunday 10am-3pm. Closed on Tuesday and public holidays.

 

The New Quilt 2024 Preview: Sandra Champion

For the purposes of The New Quilt exhibition, a quilt is defined as "stitched and layered materials using any technique".  In the case of a rare and strange wattle by Sandra Champion of Tasmania, the artwork is made from recycled paper and cardboard, vintage Japanese kimono silks, scrim, gauze, acrylic mediums, inks, stencils and cottons

Sandra first explored the medium of paper textile while at Art School in the 1980s. She draws on ordinary recycled papers and cardboard to explore their capacity to meld together in unexpected ways. Papers are soaked in water, sometimes for months, to deconstruct them. They are then reconstructed in a variety of ways, exploiting their resulting shapes and texture while retaining their inherent familiarity. Used in conjunction with a range of textiles, such as vintage kimono silk remnants, scrim and butter muslin they inspire the paper textile design process. 

See more of Sandra's artwork at: www.ozquiltnetwork.org.au/gallery

 

Plan an art excursion!  

The New Quilt 2024, on exhibition at Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Windsor, NSW from 4 May to 23 June 2024. Official opening and awards ceremony from 6pm on Friday 3 May 2024. RSVP to the gallery. 

Gallery hours: Open 6 days a week Monday, Wednesday-Friday 10am-4pm Saturday-Sunday 10am-3pm. Closed on Tuesday and public holidays.

 

The New Quilt 2024 Preview: Anita Brown

The New Quilt 2024 features Stripes and Struts 2, a double-sided work by Anita Brown.

Anita has been quilting for 26 years and comes from a background of drawing and printmaking. She started her first quilt in 1998 and has finished almost 100. In 2016 she joined Sydney Modern Quilt Guild and has been president for the last few years. Her practice has changed over the years, but quilting has always been paramount to the design of her quilts and she uses a combination of machine and hand quilting. Anita also likes to reflect the top design on the back of the quilt and has started to stitch on the back which does not go through to the front. It has always been important to her to design her own quilts and to keep progressing with both skills and designs, and she sees quilting as drawing with thread. In an age of computerised machines and a myriad of tools, she thinks that making a quilt totally herself which is reflective of her skills is an important message that “hand made really still matters”.

Plan an art excursion! The New Quilt 2024, on exhibition at Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Windsor, NSW from 4 May to 23 June 2024. Official opening and awards ceremony from 6pm on Friday 3 May 2024. RSVP to the gallery. 

Gallery hours: Open 6 days a week Monday, Wednesday-Friday 10am-4pm Saturday-Sunday 10am-3pm. Closed on Tuesday and public holidays.

 

The New Quilt 2024 Preview: Anna Brown

The New Quilt 2024 includes Canopy 27 by Anna Brown, one of the founding artists of The New Quilt exhibition. 

Anna has produced a body of work studying eucalyptus canopies and more recently the impact on them by catastrophic fires. Using photographs from Anna’s immediate environment and a deliberate high contrast colour selection, Anna draws shapes directly onto cotton fabric. Her favourite technique of reverse applique enables her to cut away at the layers and to reposition the shapes until she’s happy with the composition. 

See more of Anna's artwork at: www.annabrown.net.au and IG @annabrown1554

 

 

 

Plan an art excursion! The New Quilt 2024, on exhibition at Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Windsor, NSW from 4 May to 23 June 2024. Official opening and awards ceremony from 6pm on Friday 3 May 2024. RSVP to the gallery. 

Gallery hours: Open 6 days a week Monday, Wednesday-Friday 10am-4pm Saturday-Sunday 10am-3pm. Closed on Tuesday and public holidays.

The New Quilt 2024 Preview: Jenny Bowker

Today's preview is O Holy Night by Jenny Bowker (www.jennybowker.com), a commentary on the Gaza-Israel conflict.

Jenny Bowker is a textile artist, quilt teacher, writer and textile tour leader. She has lived for 19 years in Arab and Islamic countries. This has contributed to a large part of her work. She loved her time in the Arab world. Some of the things happening to people there at the moment are difficult for her to watch.  She says: "Not all quilts need to be warm and comforting. There is a strong message in a blanket that has a disturbing story to tell."

 

Plan an art excursion! The New Quilt 2024, on exhibition at Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Windsor, NSW from 4 May to 23 June 2024. Official opening and awards ceremony from 6pm on Friday 3 May 2024. RSVP to the gallery. 

Gallery hours: Open 6 days a week Monday, Wednesday-Friday 10am-4pm Saturday-Sunday 10am-3pm. Closed on Tuesday and public holidays.

 

The New Quilt 2024 Preview: Sheila Beer

Negative Space by Sheila Beer is made from photographic negatives, book cover plastic, thread. 

Sheila Beer online: @thingstitcher

Plan an art excursion! The New Quilt 2024, on exhibition at Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Windsor, NSW from 4 May to 23 June 2024. Official opening and awards ceremony from 6pm on Friday 3 May 2024. RSVP to the gallery. 

Gallery hours: Open 6 days a week Monday, Wednesday-Friday 10am-4pm Saturday-Sunday 10am-3pm. Closed on Tuesday and public holidays.

The New Quilt 2024: Previews, Profiles and Public Program

QuiltNSW proudly presents The New Quilt 2024 at Hawkesbury Regional Gallery, Windsor, NSW from 4 May to 23 June 2024. The New Quilt is a juried survey exhibition showcasing the art of quilting. The exhibition features 36 quilts by contemporary textile artists from across Australia highlighting the rich diversity of stitched and layered materials. This includes two invitational works by jurors Ruth de Vos and Fiona Gavens. Starting on 28 March, we will be sharing a daily social media preview of each of the quilts along with an introduction to the relevant artist(s).

Plan an art excursion! Hawkesbury Regional Gallery is open 6 days a week. Here are the gallery hours: 

• Monday, Wednesday-Friday 10am-4pm
• Saturday-Sunday 10am-3pm 
• Closed on Tuesday and public holidays (eg King's Birthday)

Hawkesbury Regional Gallery is situated at 300 George St, Windsor and is accessible by car and public transport.  See the gallery's How to Find Us page for more information.

The public program at the gallery includes the following events:

• Friday 3 May from 6pm: official opening and awards ceremony for The New Quilt Prize and The New Quilt Prize Runner Up. (RSVPs will be coordinated via the gallery's website closer to the time.)
  
• Thursdays 1-3pm: meet an artist - more details to come
• Sunday 19 May 2024 from 1-3pm: artist floor talks
  
• Saturday 1 June: Artful Stitching with Sustainable Materials, a workshop with Jessica Wheelahan with a focus on hand stitching techniques and processes for the sustainable use of materials - more details to come.

For information about exhibition tours and group bookings, please contact the gallery directly at: gallery@hawkesbury.nsw.gov.au

 

The New Quilt 2024: Entry Form Now Open!

Call for Entries

QuiltNSW recognises the quilt medium as an art form and is committed to providing opportunities for textile artists to share their artwork in a gallery setting.  The New Quilt online entry form is now open and closes at 5pm on Thursday 1 February 2024 (Sydney time). 

The New Quilt 2024, a juried survey exhibition showcasing the art of quilting, will be on exhibition at Hawkesbury Regional Gallery in Windsor, NSW from 3 May – 23 June 2024. The selectors are textile artists Ruth de Vos and Fiona Gavens together with a representative of Hawkesbury Regional Gallery. 

Please share this announcement with others. The New Quilt is open to all artists resident in Australia regardless of whether they belong to QuiltNSW. (Current QuiltNSW members get a discount on entry fees.) All selected entries are eligible for consideration for two new prizes:

• The New Quilt Prize $1500
• The New Quilt Prize Runner Up $500

Note:

• artists may enter 1 or 2 quilts. Only 1 work per artist may be selected;
• there is no prescribed theme – submit your best work reflecting your creative practice;
• a quilt means stitched and layered materials using any technique; and
• 2–D, 3–D, installation work, ceiling hung work, work on stretcher bars and framed work are eligible subject to certain size restrictions.

Download Conditions of Entry or see www.quiltnsw.com for more information 

Inquiries to: thenewquilt@quiltnsw.com