Cheryl FitzGerald Art Quilter

I became interested in quilts because I am visually attracted to the qualities in them--color, shape, line, and repetition, as well as their tactile qualities--texture, softness, and the lines of quilting. The way different colors look when they are placed next to each other is endlessly fascinating to me. My intent is to use color in the form of fabric to visually captivate the viewer.

I began making quilts in a traditional style to learn the skills involved, and then turned to a more contemporary approach to working with fabric. I have used piecing, applique, and collage, any technique that helps me create the image I am trying to achieve. An integral part of my quilting is the use of free motion quilting, in which the sewing machine needle and thread are used as a drawing tool by moving the fabric to create the design with thread as the needle moves up and down. This aspect of the quilt is as important as the fabric and overall design.

My current work involves transforming scenes I have imagined or photographed into fabric and saturating them with color. My most recent piece uses five photographs I took in Santa Fe and Taos, New Mexico and collaged together to make a montage of architectural impressions.

Biography

Cheryl FitzGerald began making quilts in 1990, beginning with traditional styles, evolving into a more contemporary approach as she experimented with different techniques, including applique, fabric collage, and watercolor (using fabric to create a wash of color). She has taken classes at Quilt Surface Design Symposium in Columbus, Ohio and Alegre Retreat in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Cheryl’s expertise is in free motion quilting, in which the sewing machine needle and thread are used as a drawing tool by moving the fabric to create the design with thread as the needle moves up and down. Thus the stitch length and shapes are determined by how the fabric is moved, not by any programmed stitch on the machine itself. The process has been described by many quilters as “drawing with a needle”, because the mental process is similar to drawing with a pencil and paper.

Cheryl has taught quilting classes, including free motion quilting, color, fabric collage, and watercolor. She has exhibited in local and national quilt shows, as well as several group shows in galleries. She is a member of Studio Art Quilt Associates and the International Quilt Association.

Weather or Not, SAQA group exhibition, Macey Center, NM Tech, Socorro, NM, April 15-May 31, 2023.
Weather or Not, SAQA group exhibition, Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival, Hampton, Virginia, February 23-26, 2023.

Weather or Not, SAQA group exhibition, Capitol Rotunda Gallery, State Capitol Building, Santa Fe, NM, September 16-December 16,2022.
Weather or Not, SAQA group exhibition, National Weather Center, Norman, OK, April 4 - June 30, 2022.

Weather or Not, SAQA group exhibition, Carlsbad Museum and Art Center, November 2, 2021- February 7, 2022.
Life Along the Rio Grande, SAQA group exhibition, Pennsylvania National Quilt Extravaganza, September 16-19, 2021.

Life Along the Rio Grande, SAQA group exhibition, March 1-September 20, 2020, Hubbard Museum of the American West, Ruidoso, NM

Out of the Blue, NM Art Quilters group exhibition, April 26 - August 9, 2019, Capitol Rotunda Gallery, State Capitol Building, Santa Fe, NM
Life Along the Rio Grande, SAQA group exhibition, August 1, 2019-Jan 4, 2020, Farmington Museum, Farmington, NM

How Does Your Garden Grow?, Studio Art Quilt Associates of New Mexico group exhibition, April 6-August 5, New Mexico Farm and Ranch Museum, Las Cruces, NM
Life Along the Rio Grande, Studio Art Quilt Associates of New Mexico group exhibition, April 3-June 9, Branigan Cultural Center, Las Cruces, NM; June 23-August 4,First Unitarian Church, Albuquerque, NM; October 1-November 9,Macey Center, Socorro, NM; December 1, 2018-January 26, 2019, Roswell Museum, Roswell, NM

Made in New Mexico: Structural Diversity, Studio Art Quilt Associates of New Mexico group exhibition, Capitol Rotunda Gallery, State Capitol Building, Santa Fe, NM, Hubbard Museum of the American West, Ruidoso, NM

Tactile Architecture, International Quilt Festival, November 2-5, Houston, TX,
Cultural Red and How Does Your Garden Grow?, NM Art Quilters group exhibition, April 30 - October 10, Hubbard Museum of the American West, Ruidoso, NM
Healing Quilts in Medicine, Selected quilts from Natural Healing, NM Art Quilters group exhibition are traveling to:
National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, July 9 - Sept 9 2016
Innova Cancer Center, Fair Oaks Hospital, Fairfax, VA Sept 19 - Dec 9, 2016
University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, MI, Dec 19, 2016 - Mar 12, 2017

Cultural Red, NM Art Quilters group exhibition, Capitol Rotunda Gallery, State Capitol Building, Santa Fe, NM
How Does Your Garden Grow?, NM Art Quilters group exhibition, Silver City Fiber Arts Fiesta, Silver City, NM
Natural Healing, NM Art Quilters group exhibition, First Unitarian Church, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Beyond Tradition: An Exhibition of Contemporary Fiber Art, Studio Art Quilt Associates of New Mexico, Hubbard Museum of the American West, Ruidoso, NM

A Walk in the Wild, NM Art Quilters special exhibition, International Quilt Festival, Houston, TX
A Color Runs Through It, Silver City Fiber Arts Festival, Silver City, NM
New Mexico Unfolding, NM Art Quilters group exhibition, Capitol Rotunda Gallery, State Capitol Building, Santa Fe, NM
Tactile Architecture, International Quilt Festival, Houston, Tx. The exhibit is also scheduled to travel in 2014 to various International Quilt Festival and Market sponsored shows.

Enchanted Threads featuring A Walk in the Wild, NM Art Quilters group exhibition, City of Albuquerque Open Space Visitor Center Gallery, Albuquerque, NM
Quilt Expo Beaujolais, Invited to exhibit three quilts, Lyon, France

Tactile Architecture, International Quilt Festival, Houston, TX, also traveled to Cincinnati and Long Beach in 2012
This is a Quilt!, traveling exhibit by Studio Art Quilt Associates, 2011-2012
Timeless New Mexico, NM Art Quilters group exhibition, Capitol Rotunda Gallery, State Capitol Building, Santa Fe, NM
Material Matters, NM Art Quilters group exhibition, Albuquerque Fiber Arts Fiesta Special Exhibit, Albuquerque, NM

Finding Solace, NM Art Quilters group exhibition, Branigan Cultural Center, Las Cruces, New Mexico
Uncommon Threads, NM Art Quilters group exhibition, First Unitarian Church, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Juried into show Good, Good, Good, Good Fibrations! at the Wooden Cow Gallery, Albuquerque, NM.
BIAS, Going Against the Grain, NM Art Quilters group exhibition, Santa Fe Community Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Articulate Threads, NM Art Quilters group exhibition, South Broadway Cultural Center, Albuquerque, NM

TEXTile Messaging, NM Art Quilters group exhibition, Branigan Cultural Center, Las Cruces, New Mexico
New Mexico Fabrications at the Capitol Rotunda Gallery, NM Art Quilters group exhibition, State Capitol Building, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Seams Unusual, NM Art Quilters group exhibition, Fuller Lodge Art Center, Los Alamos, New Mexico

Flow, SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) Mountain Zone Regional Show, Translations Gallery, Denver, Colorado

Earth, Air, Fire, and Water, NM Art Quilters group exhibition, Fuller Lodge Art Center, Los Alamos, New Mexico

Juried into International Quilt Association Judged Show, Houston, Texas

Juried into Blue Ribbon Quilts of New Mexico, traveled to Eldorado, Portales, and Ruidoso, New Mexico.

Shades of Gray, NM Art Quilters group exhibition, Museum of Fine Arts and Culture, Las Cruces, New Mexico

Shades of Gray, NM Art Quilters group exhibition, The Johnson's of Madrid Galleries, Madrid, NM
Juried into International Quilt Association Judged Show, Houston, Texas

Awards

National Quilting Association 35^th Annual Show, Peoria, Illinois, Friendship Window, Honorable Mention Wall Quilts, Mixed Technique

Albuquerque Fiber Arts Fiesta, The House from the Garden…After Monet, Best Machine Quilting Award and 3^rd Place, Large Art Quilts; Friendship Mandala, 1^st Place, Innovative Small Quilts

National Quilting Association 34^th Annual Quilt Show, Columbus, Ohio, Friendship Mandala, Judge’s Recognition Award

Northern New Mexico Quilters Guild Quilt Fiesta, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Friendship Mandala, First Place Innovative Wall Quilts

Northern New Mexico Quilters Guild Quilt Fiesta, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Backyard Sanctuary, Best Machine Workmanship Award and 2^nd Place, Wall Quilts

Publications

Quilt Inside the Capitol Dome published in International Quilt Festival Quilt Scene magazine, 2016-2017

ABOUT

Artist Statement

Biography

Awards

Publications