Gallery - April 2011 - Diane Rubenstein

Diane Rubenstein started quilting around 2003 after going to the Museum of the City of New York and seeing some of Empire Quilters members in a working exhibit. Diane was invited to come to a guild meeting and decided to attend as she thought that quilting would offer me a creative new way to work with color and fabric given that her current passion, rug hooking (which she had been doing for several years) was becoming too hard on her her wrists.

Diane's career background was textiles — working with fabric prints and yarn dyes. Although she was in the textile industry most of her working years, Diane had never collected any fabric. She has since made up for that, amassing a large stash that has taken over her living space. For that reason most of Diane's work remains in top form unless destined for a future home.

Diane prefers to work with bright clear colors and tends to collect and store fabric in groups waiting to be worked on. She never knows which pile will be calling out to "make me next." She has well over 50 quilts waiting their turn. Diane mostly makes traditional quilt patterns — some with a bit of embroidery — most hand quilted and many whimsical in feel. One of the things she really enjoys is naming her quilts. Having fun is the main reason that Diane quilts — she is not obsessive about perfecting techniques but rather loves quilting for the pure joy of the process!

Click on any image below for a larger picture.