Member Profile: Sandy Gregg

Sandy Gregg is a member of SAQA and has been making art quilts since around 1976. Her website is  www.sandygregg.com. She kindly answered some questions for our ongoing blog series: member profiles.

Sandy Gregg

When did you start making art quilts?
I first began quilting in 1976 when I moved to Lebanon, NH and took a quilting class to meet new people. I had been a sewer since home economics class in junior high and needed a new creative outlet after my two sons were born. I took classes with Rhoda Cohen, Nancy Halpern, Ruth McDowell and others at the Vermont Quilt Festival when I tired of the repetitive blocks of bed quilts, and that was the beginning of making art quilts. I continue to take a lot of classes, mostly in surface design these days, and prefer a five day class over a one day class.

What is your work like? What styles or techniques do you use?
My work is abstract and I dye or paint my own fabric so it shows the hand of the artist and has a unique look.

Golden Glow

Do you have a favorite color palette? Not really.

Are you working on a particular theme or series now? (Offer a description of the work if you would like.)
I usually work in a series, and right now I am working on the theme of migration which is timely and fits the SAQA call for entry for the show that will be presented at the Textile Museum in Washington, DC next spring. My work may not be accepted for the show, but it’s given me a starting point for the series. Some of these pieces are text based, and I go to Wikipedia when looking for text to include in my work because there is no copyright involved.

How do you work? What is your design process?

I start with fabric and work intuitively. I never work from a sketch which allows me to veer off in any direction that seems right at the time.

Sea Swirls

What are your sources of inspiration?
Inspiration is all around us. Look around at your surroundings and listen to what’s going on. I make a lot of art (10 big quilts last year, and 150 paper collages) and I’m not afraid to fail. All I do is start and it doesn’t take much to be absorbed by whatever project I’m involved in. Since I retired in 2002 I’ve made over 150 quilts, and exhibited widely, so it’s all about doing the work.

Navigating the Crosswalk

What is your studio like and when do you like to work?
I have a three story house in Cambridge, and the top floor is where my studio is located. There is a a lot of natural light and I can leave my mess behind when I’m finished working for the day. I only work during daylight hours. For wet processes, I work in my kitchen and make sure that I have food ready for the microwave so I don’t have to cook while I have fabric batching.

What are your goals or aspirations for your art?

I am a retired college administrator and I make art to keep myself happy and occupied. It’s nice to be able to have my work shown and accepted into exhibits, but that’s not my motivation for making it.