When visiting Santa Fe, NM, I met a lovely young woman who was wearing a full set of “Zuni Sun” jewelry, from earrings to necklace to bracelets to belt. I was awestricken at their beauty. When she found out I was in town to show my art quilts in Chama, she suggested that I do a Zuni Sun quilt, so I did.

 As I worked, Zuni Sun became an expression of sunlight in the pueblos. The fabrics contain many Native American symbols, and I added self-programmed embroideries of Hopi bear claws, which are symbols of power, for balance. The "feathers" were created by digital-printing a feather image onto a pale yellow batik fabric. I pressed the images in and soaked the fabric in water. When dry, I sprayed them with oil pastel fixative to keep the edges from fraying when cutting them out. They were then stitched to create dimension, and attached to the quilt with thread, using authentic stone beads for transition.

It is my profound hope that I did the Zuni Sun icon justice in this composition. After piecing and embroidering just one such sun, I believe that the artistry and care taken to create an entire set of this beautiful jewelry is exceptional.

Quilt History: Selected for  December, 2009, Studio Art Quilt Associates virtual mini-exhibition, “Jumping outside the Borders,” Mary McBride, Guest Curator. Presented in Walla Walla Valley Quilt Festival, 2010.

Zuni Sun Gets Nod

"One of the most important 'quilt rules' broken by the fiber artists is that of jumping outside the frame. Some artists are rather timid and only show a wonky edge or sneak a peek under a frayed corner. A few use a recognizable form such as the kimono silhouette. Other artists can hardly be contained on a flat surface and jump right into 3-D structures. Their works were not selected here.

"This exhibition focuses on the artists who seem to find that there isn’t enough surface space and their passion and/or design can’t be contained within the boundaries of the square or rectangular frame."