About

Meet the Artists

Teresa SchlabachTeresa Schlabach is a fiber/textile artist that has been sewing since she was 10 years old. She first learned to sew garments through a local 4H program and then with the help of her parents, continued to sew clothing throughout her high school years. After receiving her degree in communications from Southern Nazarene University, Teresa learned how to sew traditional quilts on the sewing machine. In 2013, she began exploring the artistic side of textiles and combining her passion for photography with her sewing skills. Teresa’s technique involves thread painting based on her original photos.

Teresa currently resides in Alma, Arkansas.

Michael Rowland Michael Rowland is a fiber artist residing in Van Buren, Arkansas.

About The Process

First I choose one of my original photos and then have it printed on fabric. This becomes my base pattern. The piece is actually stitched through 3 layers – the base patterns, quilt batting, and a piece of canvas due to the heaviness of the stitching. Then I choose different threads to begin stitching on top of the fabric. I lower the feed dogs on the sewing machine so I can manually control where the thread is stitched. My goal is to make the photo ‘come to life’ so to speak by enhancing the details of the photograph. After all the stitching is done, I like to embellish the piece with different threads and fibers such as, Angelina, wools, yarns, silks etc. Depending on the piece, I will mat and frame the piece myself, have a custom frame made for it, or have a custom frame made to place the piece on top of.

Awards

  • 2017 – Special Award – Doris Echols color award Adult Competition – Art Quilting
  • 2016 – 3rd Place – Center for Art and Education Adult Art Competition – Art Quilting
  • 2016 – 1st and 3rd Places – Belle Point Quilter’s Guild – Art Quilting
  • 2014 – 1st Place – Belle Point Quilter’s Guild – Art Quilting
  • 2005 – 1st and 2nd Place – Crawford County Quilt Show – traditional quilting
  • 2002 – 1st Place – Crawford County Quilt Show – Original Design
  • 2002 – 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Places – Crawford County Quilt Show – traditional quilting
  • 1988 – 1st Place – Arkansas Oklahoma State Fair – traditional quilting
  • 1987 – 2nd Place – Arkansas Oklahoma State Fair – traditional quilting