Wednesday, November 12, 2025
“Midnight in the Garden”
“Midnight in the Garden”
The
decision to bear children was, for me, partly a decision that humanity
was worth continuing. These days, I’m not so sure. As a mother, I yearn
for my children – all children – to live in a world of beauty and peace
(represented by the flowers at the bottom). But our world is filled with
horrors, too. Wars and genocide; government corruption; the influence
of neo-Nazis and white supremacists; degradation of civil rights, human
rights, women’s rights and voting rights; school shootings; poisoning of
our water, air and land; and environmental catastrophes brought on by
man-made climate change. What will we choose for our children and their
descendants as the clock strikes midnight?
Monday, October 20, 2025
“I Told You So”
“Swimming at the Pink Pony Club"
Sunday, October 19, 2025
“Sugar Junkie”
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"Sugar Junkie" |
This is another piece in the series I’m doing called “Short and Sweet” – short phrases on my painted/stenciled fabric backgrounds. They are so fun!
Have a phrase you’d like? I do commissions!
White cotton fabric, acrylic paint, cotton thread, interfacing, cotton batting. Wholecloth painted, stenciled, free-motion machine quilted.
“Nobody’s Free”
“Nobody’s Free” (copyright Susan Brubaker Knapp 2025) 18” x 11” |
White fabric, acrylic paint, cotton batting, interfacing. Wholecloth painted, stenciled, free-motion machine quilted.
Wednesday, September 24, 2025
Sugar Maple series
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“Sugar Maple
2” |
I'm working on a series of pieces featuring sugar maple leaves, using the same techique – I paint white fabric, stencil it, paint around the imagery, then free-motion quilt.
White cotton
fabric, acrylic textile paint, cotton thread, cotton batting. Wholecloth
painted, stenciled, free motion machine quilted.
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“Sugar Maple 1” |
Tuesday, August 26, 2025
“Our House”
“Our House”
Copyright Susan Brubaker Knapp 2025
17” x 25”
White fabric, acrylic textile paint, interfacing, cotton batting, cotton backing. Painted, stenciled, free-motion machine quilted.
These words are from the song “Our House” on Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s 1970 album, Déjà Vu.
You place the flowers in the vase
That you bought today
For hours and hours while I listen to you
Play your love songs all night long for me
Only for me
And rest your head for just five minutes
Everything is done
Such a cozy room (such a cozy room)
The windows are illuminated
By the evening sunshine through them
Fiery gems for you, only for you
With two cats in the yard
Life used to be so hard
Now everything is easy 'cause of you
And our
La-la-la-la, la-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
La-la, la-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la, la-la-la-la-la
La-la-la-la-la-la-la
With two cats in the yard
Life used to be so hard
Now everything is easy 'cause of you
And our
While you place the flowers in the vase
That you bought today
Sunday, August 10, 2025
“Kintsugi”
Just finished this piece, “Kintsugi,” last night.
Kintsugi (金継ぎ), or kintsukuroi (金繕い), is a Japanese method of repairing cracks or broken pieces of pottery. After the repair, the crack is lacquered, then dusted with powdered gold, silver or platinum. The idea is that the imperfections can also be beautiful, and that cracks are not flaws.
I pieced “Kintsugi” with cotton fabrics —
dyed, painted, marbled and stenciled — and then used cotton thread, perle cotton,
sequins, and beads to embellish it. Free-motion
machine quilted, hand embroidered.
The fabrics in those three appliquéd circles are by Melissa DeLisio. She's on Instagram @lostmymarblesfabric.
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| “Kintsugi” (detail) |
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| “Kintsugi” (detail) |
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| “Kintsugi” (detail) |
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| “Kintsugi” (detail) |
Thursday, July 31, 2025
Moon Moths
| “Moon Moths” – 41x56" Copyright Susan Brubaker Knapp 2023 |
I realized today that I had not posted about this piece, “Moon Moths,” which I made in 2023!
My fascination with moths and butterflies has spanned decades, and I have been making art about them since I started making art quilts around 2005. (The first was “Gossamer,” which I made in 2006. It featured a woman’s body on a Blue Morpho butterfly, soaring through a spiral of thread and hundreds of glass beads.)
“Moon Moths” features four spectacular moths: Luna (green moth at the top, Io moth on the right, Madagascan moon moth on the bottom, and Emperor moth on the left). They encircle the moon and the moon phases. It is a wholecloth painted piece.
It was purchased before I could exhibit it, and perhaps that is why I forgot to post about it!
Monday, July 21, 2025
Shooting "Quilting Arts TV" Series 3200
I’m just back from Denver, where we shot the latest series of “Quilting Arts TV.” I shot three segments for this series, which will come out this fall.
I have been the host of Quilting Arts TV since 2014. I was also a guest on the show several times (Series 500 in 2009; Series 700 in 2010; Series 1300 in 2014) while Pokey Bolton, the founding editor of Quilting Arts magazine, was host.
QATV is shown on more than 400 PBS stations across the U.S., as well as Create TV, and showcases the work of expert art quilters who explain and teach innovative surface design, construction, embellishment, and hand and machine stitching techniques. Novice and professional art quilters alike can learn something new from the wide variety of topics explored on the show.
We have some fabulous guests in Series 3200!
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| David M. Taylor |
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| Diana Fox |
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| Kestrel Michaud |
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| Mel Beach |
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| Pat Bishop |
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| Sarah Spencer |
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| Sondrasa |
Several artists who shot last year have segments in Series 3200 as well (this is the series where I caught Covid just before the shoot, so Brandy and Vivika Hansen DeNegre stepped up as co-hosts):
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| Vivika with Kimberley Pierce Cartwright |
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| Brandy with Shannon Conley |
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| Cindy Lohbeck with Vivika Hansen DeNegre |
There’s more information about QATV on my website here: https://susanbrubakerknapp.com/quilting-arts-tv
Wednesday, May 28, 2025
“Beach Access”
“Red Rocks”
“Red Rocks” (Copyright Susan Brubaker Knapp 2025).
Cotton fabric, cotton thread, cotton batting, interfacing, ink. Fusible appliqué, free motion machine quilted.
Asilomar Sunset
“Asilomar Sunset” (Copyright Susan Brubaker Knapp 2025)
Cotton fabric, fusible adhesive, ink, cotton batting, interfacing, cotton thread. Fusible appliqué, free-motion machine quilted.
“Blue Mountain Lake, 1968”
“Blue Mountain Lake, 1968” (Copyright Susan Brubaker Knapp 2025) 11” x 9”
Cotton fabric, interfacing, cotton batting, cotton thread, ink, acrylic textile paint. Fusible appliqué, free-motion thread sketched and quilted.
Saturday, May 10, 2025
“‘Marsh View”
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| Marsh View Copyright Susan Brubaker Knapp 2025 11" x 9.5" |
This piece is based on a photo I took last summer from one of my favorite vantage points to view the marsh on Bald Head Island. It’s the dock at the Creek Access on North Bald Head Wynd, just east of Old Baldy lighthouse.
I love this view best in summertime, because the blues and greens really make my soul sing. It’s also very peaceful. Last winter, when there was no one around, we saw a river otter there.
I’m doing a series of small landscapes right now, in preparation for shooting a segment for Quilting Arts TV in a few months.
Sunday, April 20, 2025
“Common Buckeye”
“Mascara”
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| “Mascara” Copyright Susan Brubaker Knapp 2025 9"x9" |
This is my daughter Julia’s eye. I created this piece for a segment on Quilting Arts TV several years ago, and just quilted it today. White cotton fabric, acrylic textile paint, cotton batting, interfacing,
cotton thread. Wholecloth painted, free-motion machine quilted.
“Scissors at the Disco”
Thursday, April 17, 2025
“American Robin”
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| “American Robin” Copyright Susan Brubaker Knapp 2025 23.5" x 33.5" |
I have loved robins since I was a child, and have made several pieces featuring them and their nests. The background fabric for this piece is one I made in a class with Pat Pauly – screen printing with thickened dyes.
Hand-dyed cotton fabric and commercially printed fabric, glue, paint, ink, cotton thread, fusible adhesive, interfacing, cotton batting. 3-D elements made from cotton thread on water-soluble stabilizer.
Fusible and raw-edge appliqué, free-motion quilted.

















































