Ann S. Lainhart

Ann S. Lainhart considers herself a contemporary traditionalist when it comes to quilting. Much of her work is based on traditional quilt blocks — such as card trick, mariner’s compass, and eight-pointed Star. By using modern cottons, hand-dyed fabrics, border prints, and fussy cutting, she imparts her work with a very contemporary feel. In the last few years, she has been adapting Chinese lattice designs to quilting. These designs have been used in China for thousands of years, so Ann is basing her work on an old tradition. See her article in American Quilter, Spring, 1998. 
 
Ann's bargello designs go back to the needlepoints of the Middle Ages, but in her color-shift bargellos, she makes use of all the marvelous new designs seen in modern cottons, including batiks and metallics. These color-shifts have at least 90 different fabrics and often more than 200. Ann's approach to color-shift bargello designs is described in American Quilter, Fall, 2001.  Ann is the author of “Fussy Cut Mariner’s Compass,” which combines the elegance of the classic mariner’s compass block with the up-to-the-minute technique of fussy cutting for dramatic results.
 
Ann has been quilting since 1978 and teaching since 1987. While living in Boston, Ann S. Lainhart was a member of the Proper Bostonian Quilters. Now, she is a member of the Bayberry Quilters of Cape Cod, the East Coast Quilters Alliance, and the American Quilter’s Society. Ann has had quilts in the Vermont Quilt Festival (a third place ribbon); the New England Images shows; and the East Coast Quilters Alliance, A Quilter’s Gathering (a blue ribbon on a bargello jacket in 1998 and a white ribbon for hand quilting in 2001).
 
From 1999 through 2002, Ann was the proprietor of The Quilted Gallery in Rocky Neck Art Colony, Gloucester, Massachusetts. While there, she explored new ideas in her own work and met many wonderful people! She misses her studio overlooking Smith Cove, but she has now set up a studio in her home.
 
Quilters and sewers can still visit and shop from The Quilted Gallery online. Quilters can find art quilts, contemporary quilts, quilted clothing (wearable art), and more. Featured quilts are hand-crafted and can be used as bed coverings or wall hangings to adorn a home or office. If sewing or pieced quilting is your hobby, or if you're already an experienced quilter, take a look at the quilt patterns available, which include mariner’s compass, Chinese lattice designs, quilted bargello jackets, quilted bargello vests, and Ann's Christmas Ornaments pattern, which makes use of fabrics with metallic gold. Special delights include the color-shift bargello quilts and Ann's new line of sweep bargello quilts. Many are one-of-a-kind. Also featured are handmade kaleidoscope art cards and handmade fabric purses.
 
Ann enjoys giving slide shows, trunk shows, and workshops to quilt guilds and other groups.
 

Links:

The Quilted Gallery

Quilted Bargello Wall Hangings