Pigment, Dye, Thread

Pigment, Dye, & Thread

Pigment, Dye, & Thread explores the remarkable ways artists use color, surface, and stitch to transform cloth.

Featuring 19 quilts selected from The National Quilt Museum’s collection of more than 700 works, the exhibition brings together artists who combine painting, hand-dyeing, and threadwork to create richly layered compositions. Fluid washes of color and unpredictable hand-dyed surfaces meet the precision and control of the sewing needle, revealing the creative possibilities that emerge when different techniques intersect.

Throughout the exhibition, pigment and brushwork introduce bold lines, delicate washes, and expressive movement. Hand-dyed fabrics create atmospheric color and depth, while dense stitching and thread painting add texture, dimension, light, and detail.

From abstract compositions and geographic terrains to forms inspired by the natural world, these quilts demonstrate the extraordinary versatility of contemporary quilting, and the ability of artists to use pigment, dye, and thread as distinctive yet interconnected forms of artistic expression.

Among the artists represented are Katie Pasquini Masopust, Colleen Wise, and Libby Lehman, whose works illustrate dramatically different approaches to painting, dyeing, stitching, and constructing with cloth.

All 19 quilts featured in Pigment, Dye, & Thread are part of The National Quilt Museum’s permanent collection.

1. Cellular Structure VI by Sue Benner
2. Dancing in the Light by Ellen Anne Eddy
3. 13 by Pamela Studstill
4. Allegretto by Katie Pasquini Masopust
5. Terraced Landscape by Hollis Chatelain
6. Dusk by Colleen Wise
7. Garden Blossoms by Yvonne Porcella
8. Composition VII by Diedre Adams
9. Up or Down by Denise Labadie Snell
10. Incommunicato by Esterita Austin
11. Glorious Winter by Karen Linduska
12. Summer Garden by Cynthia Morgan
13. Trees: Summer/Winter by Chris Wolf Edmonds
14. Emerging for Tea by Valerie C. White
15. But Can He Sing? by Roberta Williams
16. Berry Patch by Marilyn Badger and Claudia Clark Myers
17. Harmony by Erika Carter
18. Forest Fire by Heide Stoll-Weber
19. Escapade by Libby Lehman

Terraced Landscape by Hollis Chatelain