Biography

Early memories of seeing her Czechoslovakian grandmother’s colourful embroideries, sewing lessons at school, fashion design & dressmaking for herself & her young family gave Sue a love of creating & sewing, which remains strongly with her today as she designs & stitches her contemporary art quilts.

Sue began her quilting career in 1990 while living in the remote mining town of Mt Isa, north-west Queensland, Australia.

In the isolation, fabric & books were mail-ordered from out of town, appliqué & piecing techniques were tried & firm quilting friendships developed. Traditional patterns using bright colours, machine piecing & machine quilting were a starting point. Sue began teaching workshops in Mt Isa & outlying rural centres spreading the love of rotary cutter patchwork techniques & machine quilting.

A transfer to Sardinia, Italy in 1995 for husband Bob immersed Sue in the artistic side of Italian life resulting in her quilt, La Finestra su Tuili being part of the Cagliari City Permanent Collection.

On return to Australia, experimentation & finding her own voice has lead Sue to favour numerous surface design techniques, free motion stitching & bold design that catches the eye & imagination.

In 2001 Sue’s quilt What Would You Take? was the winner of Australian Quilts in Public Places & acquired by the Immigration Museum, Melbourne.

Sue has been awarded many prizes for her distinct, original art quilts & has been invited to exhibit in international exhibitions. Juried & group exhibitions throughout Australia, New Zealand, the United States of America, Great Britain, Europe, South Africa, Taiwan & the Middle East & a wide publication history add to her portfolio.

Other professional activities include judging, jurying & curating, Australian coordinator World Quilt & Textile, Professional Artist Member of Studio Art Quilt Associates, SAQA Oceania representative, Chair of 2QAQ [ Queensland Quilters Art Quilts], Quilters’ Guild of NSW Inc. Accredited Teacher- Special techniques & membership of Quilts International Inc, Queensland Quilters Inc, The Quilters’ Guild of NSW Inc, Ozquilt Network & Sunnybank Quilters.

For more recent updates of Sue's activities, see the news & calendar sections. Also see Artist Statement and Resume.