Izix Design

(2018) This large macramé quilt is one of my most ambitious projects. I designed it to be displayed on my sister’s sloped living room wall, matching the angle of the ceiling (see photo below). The design is based on a photo I took of the giwa (clay) rooftops in Bukchon Hanok Village, a neighborhood of traditional Korean houses in Seoul, South Korea (see below). I tried to play with perspective by making it look like the top section is further in the distance.

To construct it I made six fabric sections and connected them with macramé strips, and then stitched a different quilting pattern on each segment of the rooftop sections. It was a challenge to make sure all the sections lined up so the quilt is plumb and lays flat.

Size: 62” wide x 78” tall at the peak, 36” tall at the shorter end

Materials: Batik fabric, nylon macramé cord

Recognition: Giwa Rooftops was selected to be part of “Historic Detail, a 2023 online exhibit sponsored by Studio Art Quilt Associates (SAQA).

In 2019 Giwa Rooftops was exhibited at the Pacific International Quilt Festival in Santa Clara, California.

(2021) Zion’s Chisel was inspired by a hike I took to Yant Flat Cliffs, just outside of Zion National Park in Utah (see photo below). It is a magical place with undulating waves of sandstone forming layers of checkerboard patterns that merge and diverge. At dusk the hills glow like the embers of a massive campfire and I tried to capture that feeling in this quilt.

I incorporated two strips of macramé to convey the many textures formed by the sandstone. I was lucky that I happened to have the perfect fabric for the middle section, and I enhanced it with a little embroidery around some of the circles. The top and bottom sections reflect the gradient of colors in the intersecting layers of sandstone.

Size: 38” x 27”

Material: Batik fabric, hemp macramé cord, embroidery thread forming circles in the middle section, metallic thread used on the top and bottom section.

Recognition: Zion’s Chisel won the “Best Use of Color” award at the 2021 Pacific International Quilt Festival in Santa Clara, CA.

It was also included in the Autumn 2023 issue of Art Quilting Studio magazine.

(2024) Octopus' Garden was a gift to my step-daughter. I let her loose among my fabric stash and she chose a selection and suggested a design with grass waving in the breeze. I started with a literal take on that idea but found it uninteresting, so I chopped up the vertical strips and added many more strips of grass. Then I had the idea of adding piping to separate the sections, and that brought it together but it still needed something. I went to a craft fair and happened to see a technique where yarn is sewn on top of a quilt with zig zag stitches. I tried it here and I thought it brought it all together, making the broken-up lines into a background against the continuous curves of the yarn.

The quilt is mostly comprised of batik fabric but also includes strips of gold-inlaid sari fabric for the blades of grass and some of the piping. I also used gold thread to sew on the yarn.

While the quilt started out as a field of grass it ended up seeming like a colorful underwater kelp forest, so I decided to call it Octopus' Garden. I hope she'll like to be in this octopus' garden in the shade!

Size: 32w x 41h

Material: Batik fabric, sari fabric, wool and cotton yarn

(2023) Fertile Diversions explores the idea of going down different paths and staying open to where they take you. Often I’ve found that this attitude leads to better outcomes than what I originally had in mind, in my quilting and in life.

The design of this quilt developed in just this way. I had the idea of branching a wide strip of macrame and played around with different colors until I found an unexpected combination I liked. I wasn’t sure how I wanted the fabric to respond to the macramé until the strip was done. It took a few attempts until I settled on the double rows of cyans and teals. When it was done I noticed how the brighter inner colors make the branches look like they’re glowing.

Some people have told me they see this quilt not just as a branching tree, but also as an aerial shot of roads through farmland. I like that image as well, as it evokes the idea of growth and nourishment and abundance. And that’s what usually comes when we stay open to possibilities.

Size: 25.5” x 36.5”

Materials: Batik fabric, hemp macramé cord

(2021) Excelsior! was inspired by a photograph I took of a stairwell in the New York Museum of Modern Art (see below). After discovering the macramé pattern that I used in Metamorphosis, I realized I could simplify it to make a stair-step pattern. I used a thick cotton macramé cord to build the “stairwell,” surrounded it with a solid piece of beige fabric, adding a few simple points of interest. Then I stitched various stair-step quilting patterns to match the macramé and fabric designs, using thread colors to match the macrame cord.

Excelsior! is quite a departure for me in that it has very little color and minimal piecing, with a focus on the quilt stitching. But it is consistent with my interest in architecture and is part of a series I’m developing that includes Seoul Rooftops, Atrium Aglow, and Turning Point.

The name Excelsior! comes from New York state’s motto, and it means “upward and onward,” which seems appropriate for a quilt dedicated to a staircase in New York.

Size: 38” x 48”

Materials: Cotton macramé cord, cotton and batik fabric.

Recognition: Excelsior! was exhibited at the 2021 Pacific International Quilt Festival in Santa Clara, CA.

(2020) With Cascade, I first came up with the wavy macramé pattern and made several strips using different widths and colors. I figured I would pair it with this perfectly matched wavy batik fabric, but I wanted to give it a little more depth. Then I remembered a quilt I’d seen at the 2019 Pacific International Quilt Festival that used this undulating ribbon technique. I’d never done it before so I had to experiment to figure out how to create the effect.

In my first version, all the macrame strips and the ribbons were shades of teal and cyan, but the quilt wound up looking monochrome so I decided to add splashes of yellow. That meant re-doing the side macramé strips to incorporate the yellow line in the middle but I think it was worth the extra effort. I added the curved yellow stitching along the sides of each panel to give the quilt a bit more interest.

Size: 36” x 35”

Material: Batik fabric, hemp macramé cord

Recognition: Cascade was featured in the summer 2022 issue of Art Quilting Studio magazine.

(2019) This quilt was inspired by a photo (below) of a giant leaf I found in a botanical garden. The leaf’s veins are made of macramé strips, and I used a leaf-style quilting pattern for the lamina (leaf sections). I call it Gold Leaf because of the thin strips of gold fabric separating each shade in each section (see detail photos). The gold fabric comes from the border of Indian saris, which my dear young friend asked me to incorporate into her quilt. The back (shown below) is made of larger patches of those saris. I didn’t plan it that way, but I think she may want to hang it backwards from time to time.

Size: 48” x 36”

Material: Batik fabric, gold sari fabric, hemp macramé cord

Recognition: Gold Leaf was exhibited at the 2019 Pacific International Quilt Festival in Santa Clara, California

(2021) Strata was inspired by a gorgeous mesa called Yant Flats near Zion National Park in Utah. I tried to suggest its many layers of glowing sedimentary rock by layering multiple sections of orange gradients. These sections are separated by two strips of macramé, which start out thick and branch off into several thinner strips. My hope is that the mixture of macrame and fabric enhances the multi-layered effect.

I made Strata for an exhibit called “Prism Play.” Artists were given the challenge of making a quilt in a single color range and the quilts were displayed in rainbow order around the room.

Size: 15” x 45”

Materials: Batik fabric, hemp macramé cord, cotton and metallic thread

Recognition: Strata was included in SAQA’s Northern California Regional exhibit called “Prism Play” from May 20-July 31, 2022 at the Peninsula Museum of Art in San Bruno, CA. The exhibit will appear again January 11-April 27, 2024 at the Texas Quilt Museum in La Grange, Texas.

It was also included in the Autumn 2023 issue of Art Quilting Studio magazine.

(2023) I made this quilt for my niece as a way to honor her grandparents (my parents). My father, Stan Isaacs, was a sportswriter for Newsday in the 1900s and early 2000s. He covered many important sporting events and the big sports personalities of the day, usually writing with irreverence, flair, and humor. He wrote a regular column called “Out of Left Field,” so named to convey his approach, which was often to come at stories from a different point of view. My mother, Bobbie Isaacs, was a prolific quilter and a crossword puzzler. So this quilt is meant to honor both of them.

To make the quilt, I went through the archives of my father’s columns and chose many of his most important, creative, and colorful ones. I clipped out the headlines and had them printed on fabric. Then I cut them out and sewed them together into strips, interspersed with black squares that suggest a crossword puzzle. The color scheme is a nod to the riddle, “What’s black and white and re(a)d all over?”

I’m sure my niece will treasure this quilt and I hope it will keep the memory of my parents alive for generations to come.

Size: 49.5” x 41”

Materials: News articles printed on cotton fabric along with batik fabrics.

(2021) During my travels I’m often drawn to the foliage in different parts of the world, and I’ve snapped many a photo of interesting leaf patterns (see photos below). There was one leaf in India that stayed with me and I had the thought that I could create its vein pattern by making a thick strip of macramé and branching it into thin strands. I created a subtle gradient of green fabric across the leaf and used contrasting colors to create the veins within each section.

Since making Nature’s Rhythm and Turning Point, I’ve learned that by sewing wire into the binding I can create interesting shapes that protrude from the wall. An artist friend suggested curling the quilt edges, so I tried it and liked the effect because it conveys a sense of hopefulness that I’m just beginning to feel.

As fires, floods, and storms become more frequent around the planet, I’m starting to notice ways that individuals, companies, and other organizations are making meaningful changes to their behavior to mitigate climate change. While governments may be so polarized that they can’t legislate change, people are adopting more responsible practices out of social pressure and maybe even a genuine recognition that our future depends on it. In this I feel hope unfurling.

Size: 37” x 24”

Material: Batik fabric, hemp macrame cord

Recognition: Hope Unfurling is part of SAQA’s Pennsylvania Regional exhibit called Textiles Unleashed. The show runs from April 28 - July 15, 2023 at The Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art in Loretto, Pennsylvania.

(2020) This quilt didn’t start out as a butterfly but it seemed to transform itself as I constructed it. I started by making the center macramé strip and then, fascinated by the pattern created by the different colors, I replicated it in fabric. The left wing matches the macramé pattern diamond for diamond, and the right side has the symmetric pattern.

When I laid out the fabric on either side of the macramé it reminded me of a butterfly, so I went with that idea. I cut the fabric into wing shapes, stitched a Monarch butterfly pattern for the quilting, and added a point to the top of the macramé. For the binding, I wrapped a soft cotton rope around some sheathed wire and sewed that inside the fabric, allowing me to shape the wings so they stand out from the wall.

I think it’s interesting how the macramé and fabric patterns are exactly the same and yet they appear quite different at different scales. This seems to be a common theme in nature.

Size: 30” x 24”

Material: Batik fabric, hemp macrame cord

Recognition: Nature’s Rhythm was exhibited at the 2019 New Quilts of Northern California exhibit in Santa Clara, CA.

(2023) I made this table runner for a new friend whom I met through my sister. It incorporates strips left over from six quilts I’ve made over the years for other friends and family members. So just as one friendship leads to another, one quilt leads to another in a contiguous sequence.

I was delighted to learn that my friend’s favorite colors are the same as mine — cool jewel tones — so I got to play with the fabrics I love most. I incorporated a strip of black macramé down the middle to give the quilt a little more texture and interest.

Size: 60” x 26”

Materials: Batik fabric, nylon macramé cord

(2020) I made this quilt for some dear friends who moved away into a house with a beautiful water view. They sent me photos of their view (see below) and those inspired my design. The quilt is hanging in their entry stairwell (also shown below).

On this quilt I had fun playing with ways to use the quilt stitching to “draw” on top of the design. Below the orange and yellow reflections on the water I used matching thread to suggest sunlight shimmering on the water. I stitched radiating lines above the sun to suggest sun rays, a curlicue design along the surface of the water, and wavy lines in the deeper area, getting wider and less wavy toward the bottom (see detail photos).

I like the illusion of depth in this quilt, and its abstract suggestion of a sunset.

Size: 31” x 84”

Material: Batik fabric

Recognition: Bay Window was included in the Autumn 2023 issue of Art Quilting Studio magazine.

(2020) This quilt is based on a photo I took in an atrium lobby of the Sydney Opera House (below), the most beautiful building in the world in my opinion. I created curved pieces of macramé to highlight the structural elements of the building and used batik fabric for the interior materials. My hope was that the quilt would appear to mimic the depth of this dramatic atrium.

In this quilt I used metallic thread for the first time, creating the waves along the black ribs of fabric, and colored thread to make the quilting patterns on the slats to the right.

Size: 48” x 36”

Material: Batik fabric, nylon macramé cord, metallic thread

(2018) This is the fourth quilt I’ve made that includes macramé. I started with the idea of making a macramé piece that got wider and shifted as it grew, and I figured out how to add cords as I went. Then I designed the quilt around that shape, working with related colors. I like how this one integrates the two materials and gives them equal importance in the design.

Size: 29" x 16"

Material: Batik fabric, hemp macramé cord

Recognition: Snake in the Grass was exhibited at the 2018 Pacific International Quilt Festival in Santa Clara, CA.

(2020) This bedspread quilt would not have happened if not for the COVID-19 pandemic. I was on a Zoom call with some old friends checking in to make sure everyone was okay. I had been coping by diving into my quilting work, and after hearing about it one friend asked me to make a quilt for her. We collaborated to come up with this design, meant to suggest water and motion and reflection. The idea for the streak of light came from a quilt I saw in a Zoom meeting with other Studio Art Quilt Association (SAQA) members, which I probably would not have attended in person. The quilting pattern suggests wave fluctuations and bubbles from turbulence.

With quilt stores closed it was a challenge to get enough fabric in the right colors - when you order online the colors don't always match what you see on the screen! But we made it work and the collaborative process brought us closer together. Once again I learn to focus on the good things that come from misfortune.

Size: 80" x 82"

Material: Batik fabric

(2014) I made this wall quilt for some close friends and now it is mounted in their bedroom. I had no pattern in mind, I just built it one scrap of fabric at a time, often letting the shape take form based on the size of the scraps. Then I quilted it to match the abstract patterns, one of the first times I didn't just stitch in the ditch. This one took a long time and was a bit of a struggle but in the end I was delighted with the result.

Size: 71" x 50"

Material: Batik and cotton fabric

This was my first experiment incorporating macramé into my quilts. I had made this multi-panel wall quilt in 2012, exploring the idea of "painting with fabric" to create an abstract sunset scene. Later, in 2016, I came back to it and added the strips of macramé to connect the panels.

Size: 52" x 30"

Material: Batik fabric, nylon macramé cord

Recognition: Tahoe Sunset was included in the Autumn 2023 issue of Art Quilting Studio magazine.

(2012) This wall quilt is a QR code, but of course I couldn't use the traditional black and white squares, I had to add rich, vibrant colors. If you read the quilt with a QR Code reader, it says the name of the quilt, The Art of Technology. It is an homage to two things I love.

Size: 50" x 50"

Material: Batik fabric

(2012) This is a table runner that sits on my dining table. I started out making a completely different design but didn't like how it was developing, so I tried cutting it into strips and swapping them around. I added the middle section to make it slightly less frenetic. It's now one of my favorite pieces.

Size: 42" x 21"

Material: Batik fabric

(2011) This is the first quilt I designed myself rather than using a pattern. I explored using strips of different widths and lengths to create a feeling of growth and movement. I used my favorite colors and my favorite fabric - batik prints.

Size: 51" x 47"

Material: Batik fabric