Salli McQuaid: Fiesta de los Angeles (Festival of the Angels), 46"w x 72"h, 2011. R-detail.

Artist 's Statement

This piece was created specifically for the 2011 Walla Walla Valley Quilt Festival. The theme of the exhibition was "Fiesta, Fiesta." The art quilt incorporates dozens of fabrics. It utilizes extremely difficult en pointe blocks and asymmetry to achieve unusual shapes and juxtapositions of forms. Two self-authored embroideries of angels are included for relief and to further carry out the "angel" theme. To balance the shaped bottom border, which was also asymmetrical, was for me truly a fait accompli.

When I was finished, my brain was "fried," but I felt fulfilled. I love the Mexican culture: its language, color, costumes, dance, music, and spiritual overtones. It was a joy working with fabrics, threads, and imagery that I used to represent this culture.

Materials: textiles (26 fabrics), specialty threads (metallic, haloshimmer, variegated, cotton, rayon, invisible, poly), ⅛" braids, paint.

Techniques: machine piecing, lettering, original embroidery, appliqué, couching, and painting. Machine and long-arm free-form quilting.

Quilt history: Walla Walla Valley Quilt Festival, Walla Walla, WA, USA, 2011. American Quilter's Society, Paducah, KY, USA, 2012.