Heather Allen Hietala's Gallery

Our Quilt: "Our Quilt" art quilt - cotton, rayon, silk, dye, immersion dyed and over-dyed, machine pieced, hand quilted 88" x 81 Available

About this Gallery: This series was inspired by the wonderful quirky architecture Heather encountered when she was living in New Bedford, MA, in the early 90's. She began sketching, recording unusual architectural spaces in the houses she lived in and visited. Many of the houses were historic, built in the time before the current building codes. The titles often refer to the address of the original sketch. The staircases, hallways, doorways and loading docks she sketches from her life become the muse for the narrative spaces in her work. They become metaphors for expressing various journeys, transitions, and thresh-holds within her life's journey. Seasonal landscapes, the textures and colors found in the natural world, especially the intense vibrant colors of flowers serve as the inspiration for her colorful palette. Heather's innovative work can take many forms, sometimes the fabrics are pieced into a quilt top or woven into a rag rug "canvas." She enjoys spending time mixing her dyes, this allows her to fine tune the value and relationship of each color in a piece. Sometimes the image is painted with thickened dye and other pieces begin with hand dyed cloth. In both cases she enjoys layering numerous surface design techniques using dyes and textile inks to build up layers of vibrant color and pattern. The construction of the piece can include a combination of hand and machine sewing, collage, embroidery, and hand and machine quilting. The physical layering of the surface design processes and stitching reinforce the visual and tactile sense of architectural space. Her work begins as white or light colored cotton, linen, silk and antique fabrics. She is a collector and a firm believer in recycling, often combining wonderful old antique textile fragments with new fabrics. She draws her inspiration from her life and the environment around her, the rich surfaces and architecture of the historic buildings in Asheville, NC.