Superior Star

Pat Durbin

Pat finds inspiration for her artistic quilts from the beauty of creation. She uses fabric and thread to bridge the gap between fine art painting and traditional quilts. Pat is known for experimenting with new ideas and encourages her students to do the same. Pat has won over 50 awards for her colorful and inspiring quilts. Although she has been quilting since 1993, she has focused on her current passion of artistic quilting since 2004. She is continually searching for inspiration, doodling ideas in her sketch book, and looking for opportunities to share her knowledge and talents with others.

Pat tells us, "Do what you love. My style is to "paint" with my thread. I want to add details to enhance the picture with the thread as I sew the layers together. These quilting details become a reward for people who look closely at the piece. I love using Superior's trilobal threads including Nature Colors, Fantastico, and Magnifico. I love the beautiful colors and the touch of shine they add to my quilts. The variegated colors are wonderful for making a more realistic picture. I love using Bottom Line in the bobbin when thread painting."

- Pat Durbin -

www.patdurbin.com

Favorite Thread: Nature Colors, Fantastico and Bottom Line

Non-Quilting Hobby: Music

Quilting Since: 1993

Pat's Recommendations

Pat's Featured Quilts

Sanna

My dear mom, Sanna. She was a beautiful lady. This photo was taken when she was sweet 16. I was so excited about this pictorial quilt that I completed it in about two weeks.

I used thread painting on this portrait quilt to add texture and interest. I put stabilizer behind the quilt top and added most of the thread before it was quilted. The coat has a stipple with the zig zag turned on to help the wool look "rich". The fur was the most fun. I used several gray/brown/black variegated colors of Rainbows (now Fantastico). The variegated colors really bring the fur and hair to life. Then I added batting (with extra behind the figure) and backing.

While I am piecing or thread painting, my mind is constantly thinking about the steps ahead. Many times I've figured out what approach to take when I get to the quilting stage. Sometimes plans change after I get started. When I was ready to quilt, my strategy was to make the quilting sculpt the figure. I used fine stippling in the background to "lift" the person toward the front. I loved the results.

Sequoia Duck Pond

I have visited this duck pond for as long as I can remember. This place stores many happy moments with my family. The quiet little pond surrounded by giant redwoods stirs memories and inspires the artist's heart.

Sequoia Duck Pond has so many techniques, it's hard to share them all. The tree boughs were embroidered. Once embroidered, I appliqued the branches to the quilt using MonoPoly. The ducks in the foreground have a lot of detailed thread painting which enriches the feathers. The vine at the bottom right has a dimensional effect due to the stitching around the edges.

With my detail quilting, I love using Superior's high-sheen trilobal polyester threads, including Rainbows (now Fantastico) and Nature Colors. I need a large color pallet and Superior provides it. I want my threads to show so I bring in lighter and darker values. Once I have colors selected I do free motion quilting mostly without markings. Since I am free to design as I go, I find it very relaxing.