Judy B. Dales started quilting in 1970 and since then has built an impressive career as an exhibiting artist, author, international teacher, respected judge, juror and curator. She has served as co-Director of the Fine Focus Exhibitions since 1999 when Fine Focus 02 was envisioned. Judy’s book, Curves in Motion (C & T, 1996), has introduced a generation of stitchers to the joys of working with curves and her classes taught around the world have inspired a whole new style of art quilts. Many of her quilts are in corporate collections and museums, including The Newark Museum, The Morris Museum of Arts and Science, Chubb Corporation, Squibb, and the White House Craft Collection. Her commission work includes three quilts incorporated into a donor panel for the National Institute of Health, and in 1999, one of her quilts was chosen as one of The Hundred Best Quilts of the Twentieth Century. Her quilts have won numerous awards at shows such as International Quilt Festival, Houston and the AQS show in Paducah, KY, and she has received two Fellowship Grants from the New Jersey Arts Council.
Moon Dance
$425

Silk and nylon chiffon, tulle, rayon thread, metallic fabric
Stitched

I combine my distinctive curvilinear style with an unusual palette to create dynamic art quilts that are full of complexity, movement and dimension. The undulating shapes create a rhythm that is enhanced with a painterly flow of color, and the dense stitching emphasizes each flowing curve. My quilts begin with spontaneous and intuitive drawings. Translated into fabric, these designs have an intimate, spiritual quality, but their abstract nature leaves much to the viewers’ imagination, providing a universal appeal.

My fascination with curves and circles continues. The endless roundness of circular forms combined with the delicate nature of transparent fabrics creates a dreamlike effect that has strong appeal. Our world is full of hard things: rocks, guns, jails, landslides, war, and attitudes. I prefer to escape to the softness of fiber.