Fiberworks - A Celebration of South African
Fiber and Textile Artists

Title: Birdsong (2018)

Description: A flock of birds nestle in a "weeping willow" tree. The tree was made by machine couching multiple strands of fringed yarn onto a base and then hand-stitched onto a background of maroon velvet. The base of the tree was woven from various fabrics and embellished with braids and applique. The birds were fashioned from hand-made thread fabric, created from the nest of threads generated during the stitching of the piece.

Title: Winter Sunrise (2018)

Description: A bare-branched tree is silhouetted against a sunrise-streaked sky. Materials used for evening dresses and metallic fabrics were used to create the texture of the tree bark and the glow of the sky. A machine-pieced and hand-quilted work made in 2010 was repurposed as the background for the tree, which was first machine appliqued onto Vilene and then hand-stitched onto the quilt. The sunrise was hand appliqued and couched, with shashiko stitching for added effect.

Title: Brazen Tree

Description: Chinese and Thai silks were used to create this appliqued tree on its pieced background of hand-dyed fabrics and gold lame.

Title: Tree & Labyrinth

Description: At Hogsback there is a labyrinth that is an inspiration to walk. The background to this quilt was stitched in homage to that walk. At Hogsback there is also an Ecoshrine that has a sculpture of the Yggsdrasil tree. The fabric tree was appliqued over the quilted labyrinth, also in tribute to the original work by Diana Graham. So, a set of transitions are stitched into this quilt.

Title: Kokerboom

Description: This representation of these ancient, miraculous trees was inspired by a trip to the Richtersveld and a night at Kokerboom Kloof. Frayed Thai silk gives the rough bark effect, and silver lamé the luminosity. Taffeta is used for the leaves and the tree is placed on a closely hand quilted linen background. Ostrich egg shells are used as a subtle embellishment.

Title: Gold Tree

Description: Flamboyant and ostentatious, this tree is a celebration in gold. The very gold leaves and fronds are from a patterned evening dress fabric. The trunk is gold lamé. The inner gold frame and the gold rings add to the flamboyance.

Title: A Green Tree with Birds (2017)

Description: The translucent greenness of those first oak leaves each Spring was the inspiration for this quilt. Bright embroidered birds nestle amongst three dimensional leaves

Title: In Memoriam

Description: At a workshop I learnt how to make traditional Road to California stars without any sewing. The secret is fusible appliqué. The shiny fabrics used for the stars are accentuated by the black background and stippled quilting.

Title: A Book of stitches (2016)

Description: This work contains a set of experimental stitcheries made, month by month, during 2015. The 12 pieces have been bound into a book to show that they tell a story about the delights of stitching for the sake of stitching. The book also contains a frontispage and a dedication. The work is about slow stitching and the discoveries along the way.

Title: Wedding Dress (2010)

Description: A statement about recycling and renewal, meditation and memory, nostalgia and nurture. Scraps of raw silk are hand pieced and layered on a backing of melkdoek. This is in turn laid and stitched onto a quilted cotton counterpane. Silk and silver thread and old, fine crochet cotton hold the layers together. The creams and whites provide a canvas for a pair of hand beaded red shoes.

Title: Baobab

Description: A thread sketched representation of a Baobab tree and its roots. Inspired by a Kathryn Harmer Fox workshop.

Title: Window to the future.

Description: House renovations inspired this quilt. The stained glass window represents sunlight flooding the new stairwell and – metaphorically – hope for the future

Title: "Nature's Book"

Description: This textile work is a layered representation of Diane Armstrong's 10-ton outdoor metal sculpture Page that graces the indigenous garden at the Amazwi Museum of South African Literature. Strips of woven fabric provide the background for the curved lines of the sculpture. Hand stitched, quilted and couched.

Title: Honky-Tonk Blues

Description: This work echoes the Fibonacci series contained in an octave of a piano keyboard and is named after the Ragtime music played in honky-tonk saloons. Machine pieced and hand quilted

Mariss Stevens







Website:- https://marissthequilter.wordpress.com