She turns quilting into art

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CLAYTON — Michiyo Vangellow of Clayton has transformed her passion for sewing into a creative outlet that turns fabric into art.

Vangellow, 68, started sewing when she was young. “My mother was a professional tailor,” she said. “So I’ve always grown up around fabric, and I knew how to sew.”

One day, Vangellow, who dabbles in photography, decided to use her skill to make a wedding present. And soon, one wedding gift became more. “I’d take pictures at weddings and turn that into quilts as wedding a gift for the new couple,” she said.

Vangellow had a creative side before delving into quilts. “I have my background in education, but I’ve always had an interest in art,” she said. “I was a potter at one time. I think that creativity is what kind of led to the blending of fabric in a creative outlet.”

With quilting, Vangellow started with the basics — cutting and putting colors together — to make traditional quilts from patterns. But “even within that genre, there’s so much you can do,” she said. “Every piece is quilted differently. You can have simple designs with up and down stitching, or you could get a lot of texture in the background by more difficult designs.”

After making hundreds of traditional quilts, Vangellow wanted to express her creativity more freely through what are known as art quilts, which create a focal point — say, an animal — using different artistic techniques. “I decided I really would like to be more expressive in my love for quilting, fabrics and sewing,” she said.

Art quilts soon became her focus. “I started with the dog portraits,” Vangellow said. “My first art quilt was my son’s dogs.”

As more people saw her work, interest grew. “People then being asking, ‘Well, do you sell them,’ ” Vangellow said. “I was like ‘Well, you know, I do sell them.’ Since then I’ve made a lot of them, but they take a long, long time.’ ”

When working on a commissioned piece, Vangellow requests multiple photos to capture the subject’s likeness. “I ask for five or six pictures of the dog, cat, guinea pig, or whatever animal in different positions and lighting so I can see the features,” she explained.

Vangellow also enjoys working with natural settings — flowers, waterfalls, landscapes and the like. “If I go somewhere, then I stop and take a picture to use for a piece later,” she said.

Choosing the fabric depends on the project — and the store, Vangellow said. “Certain fabric stores have more of a modern twist, and some have a more traditional,” she said, which means every store will provide a different range of possible fabrics. “Some stores will have brighter fabrics versus the more calm fabric.:

“I like to shop locally for my fabric,” Vangellow added. “Clayton has her own little fabric store, which makes me so happy.”

After choosing the fabrics, she tests her design. “I’ll make a sample block so that I know that it looks right, fits, that it’s going to work,” she said.

But art quilting allows for a lot deviations from that sample block, “I might be laying out pieces, moving them, and seeing where a light source might be coming in,” she said.

Quilts generally have three layers. “The top layer is called the top, and then there’s the batting, which is the poofy stuff, and then there’s backing,” she said. “So it’s a three-layer situation, and then you bind it with the ribbon on the outside.”

The time needed to make a quilt varies, Vangellow said. “Everyone asks, ‘Well, how long does it take to make a quilt?’ ” she said. “There is no answer. I can spend a couple of months on a quilt or a year.”

Vangellow is currently working on a massive project. “I’m designing a large piece for a 72-inch by 36-inch frame,” she said. “It’s for a quilter friend, and her husband, who is a wonderful photographer, sent me a picture of Yosemite Park with a waterfall.”

She continues to enhance her skills by taking classes. “It’s probably the education part in me, but I always try to learn something new,” Vangellow said. “So whether it’s taking new fabric, different types of fabric or different tones, I want to keep pushing myself to try new things.”

No special talent is needed to quilt, Vangellow said. “Anybody can quilt, which is wonderful,” she said. “You can enter it at any level, and you can kick off from there.”

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