In the Company of Cloth | Contemporary Quiltmakers

There’s something deeply compelling about how artists are working with cloth today — not just for warmth or decoration, but as a way to express, record, and connect. Quiltmaking has long held space for memory and meaning, and that continues in rich and varied ways across contemporary practice.

I’m especially drawn to quiltmakers whose work feels considered and grounded — thoughtful in process, open in form, and rooted in material. These are artists working in textiles who explore shape, colour, and surface with sensitivity, often using fabric as a way to mark time, hold emotion, or tell stories.

This journal entry brings together a group of modern quiltmakers whose work I return to often. Some are widely known, others are working quietly and independently. What connects them, for me, is a shared attention: to process, to surface, and to the potential of fabric as both structure and language.

ON COLOUR, FORM, AND THE QUIET COMPOSITION

Here, colour takes centre stage — but always in relation to form. Whether washed-out or richly toned, it's never decorative. It’s structural. These artists use shape and hue in tandem, allowing stillness and softness to speak without losing impact.

Tessa Layzelle Tessa’s quilts are bold yet tender — dyed fields and stitched shapes that speak to memory, joy, and place. Her work balances play with precision, making space for emotion in every curve and colour.

Miglė Slėny Miglė’s quilts are vibrant and full of character — bold colours, playful forms, and hand-stitched details that bring joy. Her work feels spontaneous yet considered, always led by intuition and touch.

Catherine Marie Longtin brings a crisp clarity to her work. Her eye for graphic composition is exacting, but the result never feels cold. Each piece is confidently constructed, with a rhythm you feel before you see.

Jessie Cutts – Cutts & Sons Working from her home studio in Kent, Jessie Cutts of Cutts & Sons creates bold, improvisational quilts using repurposed fabrics and antique remnants. With a strong sense of colour and form, her work sits between domestic craft and contemporary design, always grounded in the physicality of process and place.

Improvisation and movement

These works are alive with motion — lines that shift, colours that clash or sing. There’s a looseness to the making, a sense of trust in the hand and the moment. Each piece unfolds with energy, instinct, and rhythm.

Adam Pogue creates architectural, complex quilts that hold both structure and looseness. His use of repeated forms and layered shapes brings a sense of rhythm and balance, while his colours invite softness and warmth. Each piece feels carefully constructed, yet still playful — a conversation between intention and spontaneity.

Russell James Barrett brings a similar energy, blending pattern and symbol in a way that feels rooted in personal and cultural memory. His quilts are vivid and heartfelt, with layers of story stitched into their design.

Zak Foster works intuitively, often using worn clothing and salvaged fabric to create quilts that hold memory and meaning. His work has an openness — raw, generous, spiritual — that speaks to transformation and care.

Heidi Parkes uses quilts as visual diaries. Text, garments, and marks come together in works that are as much about memory as material. Her approach expands the definition of what a quilt can hold.

Studios rooted in place and material

These practices are grounded — shaped by landscape, community, and the materials close to hand. The work feels settled, thoughtful, and slow. Whether rural or urban, each studio holds a sense of place that speaks through the things it makes.

Forest & Found, a joint practice, Abigail Booth, brings natural dye and stitch together in a way that feels elemental. Each quilt speaks to landscape, rhythm, and material memory.

Farm & Folk works in dialogue with the seasons, using natural fibres and dyes in a way that’s earthy, raw, and ceremonial. Their quilts embrace imperfection and reflect a deep connection to place.

Quiltmaking as structure and design

Here, quiltmaking meets graphic clarity and formal decision-making. These artists explore composition, balance, and repetition — using the quilt as a site for structure, precision, and intention. Pattern becomes a language, and design holds the emotional weight.

Tuckitin Quilts brings a poetic sensibility to reused cloth. Their pieces are quiet, honest, and full of presence — worn materials reassembled into something whole again.

Working Cloth explores repetition and slowness. Their practice centres process over outcome, with quilts that feel grounded in time spent with the material — gentle, gestural, and deeply considered.

Carson Converse works with precision and restraint. Her minimalist designs draw on symmetry and repetition, resulting in works that are calm, refined, and architectural.

Meg Callahan merges digital patterning and traditional technique to create quilts that feel bold and expansive. Her sense of scale and structure gives each piece a strong presence.

KTWP brings together colour, tactility, and graphic form. Their compositions feel deeply their own — layered, assured, and quietly powerful.

Historic weight, quiet presence

These works hold a sense of time — drawing from tradition, inherited techniques, and materials with memory. There’s a quietness to them, yet they carry depth. Rooted in history, they speak softly but with lasting resonance.

Deb McGuire blends traditional forms with softness and mood. Her quilts feel familiar and new at once, drawing from history while holding space for feeling.

Mitsugu Sasaki, working within Japanese boro traditions, brings grace and subtlety to every layer. His quilts show time and touch — not in concept, but in the very fabric of the work.

Public Library Quilts bridges making with research. Their quilts often explore cultural and political themes, treating the quilt as both object and site of dialogue.

A Living Practice

Quiltmaking today is vibrant, diverse, and deeply personal. The makers featured here each bring their own voice—through color, form, material, and memory. Some work with bold improvisation, others with quiet precision. All are connected by a deep respect for cloth and its capacity to carry meaning.

This is not a definitive list, but a glimpse into a growing, evolving practice. If you're curious about contemporary quiltmaking, these artists offer rich perspectives. And if you know of others whose work should be seen, I’d love to hear from you.

Explore more

→ Textile Works — my own quilted work
→ Journal — more reflections and writings
→ House & Garden article on the history of quilting