Marge Tucker is an international award-winning quilt artist and quilting instructor.  Learning how to sew clothes from her mother, the first quilt she made was for friends expecting their first child over thirty years ago.   “At that time, I didn’t know that quilting would become my passion and now my profession.  I feel so fortunate to be able to share and continue the tradition of quilting with my students.”

“I started with traditional pieced quilts but am now focused on abstract improvisational design in my work. My work is about color and small compositions. Each block in a quilt is made as its own element, independent of the other blocks. After all of the blocks are constructed, my goal is to arrange the small compositions to play off each other and work together to create a larger whole. What keeps me engaged is watching how the project changes and transforms with the addition of each color and texture.  The resulting quilts are contemporary works, set in this time and place, which reference the rich tradition of quilt making.

This exhibit showcases a portion of my contemporary improvisational quilts, from an earlier improv quilt (Urban Cabins) to some recent finishes (Solstice and Bright Boxed Diamonds) as well as quilts that were inspired by antique quilts in my collection. My process when creating quilts is to start with an idea and some colors and see where I am led.  I often do not have a definitive idea of what the finished quilt will be, for me this allows  experimentation and the ability to add or subtract elements as I form the composition.  I quilt all of my quilts myself.  Once the top is completed I then quilt on a domestic machine (Bernina) with my walking foot or I use the BabyLock Sashiko machine for a hand quilted look.I started collecting quilts around 2006.  I have always loved going to antique shows and stores  and, with quilting as a passion, I started to look for quilts as I browsed.  When I started working improvisationally in my quilting I looked for older quilts made in an improvisational manner, where the quilt maker wasn’t using a recognizable quilt block or else was taking creative license with a commonly known quilt block. As my collection grew, I became so inspired by some of these antique and vintage quilts that I began to recreate and reimagine them.  Shown in this exhibit are an antique Crazy Quilt top that inspired Redux 117.  Other quilts in this exhibit that were inspired by an antique/vintage quilt or top are Bright Boxed Diamonds, Solstice and Burst. When making my version of an older quilt, my goal was not to exactly duplicate it but rather to capture its spirit, essence, or defining design element, or else to reimagine it in a different colorway.  

Marge teaches throughout the United States and also from her studio in Rockland, MA.  She lives in Norwell, MA and Phoenix, AZ.You can read more on Marge’s website:  margetuckerquilts.com.