She uses quilts to raise awareness of social injustices, stir emotions, and explore new techniques. Two of Diana’s quilts have been purchased by the Michigan State University Museum as part of their permanent collection: “Portrait of a Man who will Change the World” exhibited at the Conscience of the Human Spirit: The Life of Nelson Mandela Exhibition; and, “Ubuntutu” exhibited at Ubuntutu, Life Legacies of Love and Action, Quilt Tributes to Desmond and Leah Tutu (The organizers included the word “Ubuntutu”, which Diana conceived, in the exhibition title and signed a Non-Exclusive License Agreement to use the word for future marketing). Her “Hillary Quilton” quilt, juried into QuiltCon 2016, received much attention at a time of political polarization, and was interviewed, along with other quilter’s making political statements, by the Los Angeles Times.
Diana is a frequent contributor to the Modern Quilt Guild, with her patterns being featured as block and quilts of the month. Diana’s quilts and designs have been published in numerous places, among them, Modern Quilts: Designs of the New Century (Hillary Quilton, Spin!, Log Cabin Quilter Unknown); 50 Little Gifts: Easy Patchwork Projects to Give or Swap; Simply Moderne Magazine; Curated Quilts; the QuiltCon Magazine; and, Make Modern Magazine - her latest pattern “Bars” will be published in September 2021.
Diana won the Award of Merit for Outstanding Achievement in Quiltmaking (Grandmother’s Life on Mars) from the National Association of Certified Quilt Judges, and both second (Grandmother’s Life on Mars) and third (Lollipop) place in the Modern Traditionalism category at QuiltCon 2018. Her quilts Thoroughly Modern Ginny and Log Cabin Quilter Unknown were in the Modern Quilt Guild Showcase at the International Quilt Festival, Houston, 2016 and 2017 respectively.
Diana’s has had thirteen quilts juried into QuiltCon over four years; invited to participate in the FynArts Textile exhibits since 2018; represented South Africa in the World Quilt New England 2019; collaborated with Cape Town fashion designer Laura Ferriera of House of Lucent to create a quilted coat for South African Fashion Week 2020. She was invited to exhibit at the “Toward Abstraction” Modern Quilt Exhibition at Gallery 76, Sydney, Australia, May 2021 (Grandmother’s Life on Mars; and, Grandmother’s Freakin’ Garden).
AWARDS
National Association of Certified Quilt Judges, 2018 Award of Merit for Outstanding Achievement in Quiltmaking, “Grandmother’s Life on Mars”.
QuiltCon, Pasadena, USA, 2018, 2nd Place Modern Traditionalism “Grandmother’s Life on Mars”.
QuiltCon, Pasadena, USA, 2018, 3rdPlace Modern Traditionalism “Lollipop”.
PUBLICATIONS
“50 Little Gifts” Compilation, Lucky Spool Media, ISBN 978-1-940655-33-8. Pattern Weights Pattern.
“Modern Quilts: Designs of the New Century”, C&T Publishing, ISBN 978-1-61745-599-5.
Make Modern Magazine: Issue 42 “Bars” Quilt Pattern; Issue 38 Hand Piecing and Stitching Gallery; Issue 17 Pantone Challenge.
Simply Moderne Magazine: Issue 13, QuiltCon Report.
QuiltCon Magazine: 2018 “Prickle” Quilt Pattern.
Curate Quilts Magazine: Issue 01 Quilt Challenge.
The Modern Quilt Guild: 2017 Quilt of the Month “Oblique” Pattern; 2017 Block of the Month Pattern.
SOLD WORKS
“Clash: Negated Parity v. A Noteworthy Citizen - There’s Bound to be Trouble", private collection.
“Ubuntutu”, Michigan State University Museum.
“Portrait of a Man who will Change the World”, Michigan State University Museum.
“Themba”, private collection.
EXHIBITIONS
2021 “Toward Abstraction” Modern Quilt Exhibition, Gallery 76, Sydney, Australia.
2021, 2018, 2017, 2016 QuiltCon, USA.
2020 Sydney Craft Week, Collaborative Climate Action Project.
2020 South African Fashion Week, Collaboration with House of Lucent, Quilt Coat.
2020, 2019, 2018 FynArts Festival, Hermanus.
2019 World Quilt New England, Springfield, MA, USA.
2019, 2017, 2014 Fiber Artists Cape Town
2017, 2016 Modern Quilt Guild Showcase, International Quilt Festival, Houston, USA.
2016 “Ubuntutu, Life Legacies of Love and Action” Desmond and Leah Tutu. Michigan State University Museum and the Women of Color Quilters Network. Mandela Gateway Museum.
2014 “Conscience of the Human Spirit: The Life of Nelson Mandela". Michigan State University Museum and the Women of Color Quilters Network. IQCA, Johannesburg.
2021
Make Modern Magazine, Issue 42, “Bars” Quilt Pattern (September).
Gallery 76, Sydney, Australia, “Toward Abstraction” Modern Quilt Exhibition, “Grandmother’s Life on Mars” and “Grandmother’s Freakin’ Garden” (May).
“Smashing Triangles” Sew Along Pattern, Seaside Quilters, Fish Hoek, South Africa.
QuiltCon Together, USA. “Grandmother’s Freakin’ Garden”, “A Trip to Dresden”, “Sharp Sharp”, “Log Cabins and Prairies”, “The Miscalculation Quilt”.
Profile: Modern Quilters by Carolina Oneto Quilts. https://www.instagram.com/p/CKL8Uy_Hq0T/
“Cape Wildflowers” Mystery Quilt Pattern, Good Hope Quilters Guild, South Africa.
Make Modern Magazine, Issue 38, Hand Piecing and Stitching Gallery “Grandmother’s Freakin’ Garden”.
2020
Zeitz MOCAA, Cape Town, South Africa, “Home Is Where The Art Is” Exhibition, “Wild Thing”.
Sydney Craft Week, 107 Projects Inc., Redfern, Australia. #scomosprayerflags Collaborative Climate Action Project, “Dear Mr Morrison, Having a great time, wish you were here… Aloha”.
South African Fashion Week, Johannesburg, South Africa. House of Lucent collaboration, Quilt Coat.
FynArts Festival, Hermanus, South Africa, “Design Matters” Exhibition, “Kintsugi I” and “Shattered”.
SAQG Teachers’ Forum, Hands Up Collection, “It Is In Your Hands to Create a Better World”.
Curate Quilts https://curatedquilts.com/blogs/news/you-can-go-your-own-way
Modern Quilt and Matchstick Quilting Workshop, Helderberg Quilters Guild, Somerset West, South Africa.
2019
Modern America Trunk Show, Good Hope Quilters Guild, Edgemead, South Africa.
Modern Quilt Trunk Show, Helderberg Quilters Guild, Somerset West, South Africa.
World Quilt New England, Springfield, MA, USA, “Crazy in Love”.
Fiber Artists Cape Town. Cape Town, South Africa, “Living Coral” Exhibition, Constantia, South Africa. “Fragile Existence”, “Coral Garden”, “Wild Thing”, “Gilded Coral I/II/III”, “Protea Silhouette I/II/III/IV” (sold).
Modern Quilt Trunk Show, Seaside Quilters, Fish Hoek, South Africa
11th South African Quilters Guild Travelling Exhibition of Quilts, “Modern Brutalism”.
20th South African National Quilt Festival “Interchange”, Johannesburg, South Africa. Teaching “Minimalist Improv Wedding Ring Quilt” Workshop.
20th South African National Quilt Festival “Interchange”, Johannesburg, South Africa. “Modern Brutalism”, “The Urban Sampler Quilt”.
FynArts Festival, Hermanus, South Africa, “Art of Thread” Exhibition, “Wild Thing”.
South African Art Times Magazine, Hermanus Fynarts Festival, “The Thin Red Line”.
2018
“50 Little Gifts” Susanne Woods, Lucky Spool Media. ISBN 978-1-940655-33-8. Pattern Weights Pattern.
FynArts Festival, Hermanus, South Africa, “A Thread Runs Through It” Exhibition, “Themba” (sold).
Profile: The Creativity Project by Leland Ave Studios. http://www.lelandavestudios.com/2018/06/29/thecreativity-project-week-26-diana-vandeyar/
Simply Moderne Magazine, Issue 13, Pasadena QuiltCon Report, "Grandmother’s Life on Mars" and "Oblique".
National Association of Certified Quilt Judges, Award of Merit for Outstanding Achievement in Quiltmaking, "Grandmother’s Life on Mars".
QuiltCon, Pasadena, CA, USA, 2ndPlace Modern Traditionalism “Grandmother’s Life on Mars”, and 3rdPlace Modern Traditionalism “Lollipop”.
QuiltCon, Pasadena, CA, USA. “Grandmother’s Life on Mars”, “Lollipop”, “Tropical Delirium”, “Prickle”, “Oblique”.
QuiltCon Magazine 2018, “Prickle” Quilt Pattern.
2017
Organizing Committee (Show Program and Advertising Chair) Quilters Unlimited (Northern Virginia) 45thAnnual Quilt Show June 2018, Dulles Expo Centre, Chantilly, VA, USA.
“Modern Quilts: Designs of the New Century” The Modern Quilt Guild. Riane Menardi, Alissa Haight Carlton, Heather Grant, C&T Publishing, ISBN 978-1-61745-599-5. “Hillary Quilton”, “Spin!”, Log Cabin Quilter Unknown”.
Modern Quilt Guild Showcase, International Quilt Festival, Houston, TX, USA. “Log Cabin Quilter Unknown”.
Fiber Artists Cape Town. Cape Town, South Africa. “Thin Red Line” Exhibition. “The Thin Red Line”, “Lay of the Land 2017”, “Degradation of a Nation”, “Protea I/II/III”.
Curate Quilts Magazine, Issue 01. Mini Quilt Challenge, “Urban Perspectives”.
The Modern Quilt Guild, September Block of the Month, “Vise” Block Pattern.
Make Modern Magazine, Issue 17, Greenery Pantone Challenge, 2ndPlace, “Flamingos in the Shrubbery”
The Modern Quilt Guild, February Quilt of the Month, “Oblique” Quilt Pattern.
QuiltCon, Savannah, GA, USA. “Log Cabin Quilter Unknown”, “Spin!”, “Rats Nest”.
2016
Quilters Unlimited (Northern Virginia) 43rd Annual Quilt Show, Dulles Expo Centre, Chantilly, VA, USA. “Thoroughly Modern Ginny”, “Hillary Quilton”, “The Brook Trout”, “I’m Delightful”.
Modern Quilt Guild Showcase, International Quilt Festival, Houston, TX, USA. “Thoroughly Modern Ginny”.
Exhibition: “Ubuntutu, Life Legacies of Love and Action” Quilt Tributes to Desmond and Leah Tutu by South African and American artists. The Michigan State University Museum and the Women of Color Quilters Network. Mandela Gateway Museum, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town, South Africa. Catalogue ISBN 978-0-944311-26-4 “Ubuntutu” quilt purchased by Michigan State University Museum.
Quilt Journalist Tells All, Meg Cox, The 2016 Election Quilt Report, “Hillary Quilton” https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Quilt-Journalist-Tells-All--for-May--2016.html?soid=1104232497756&aid=T2F3xR1mW_w
Quilters Newsletter, Sean at QuiltCon 2016, “Hillary Quilton”
LA Times Newspaper, 20 February 2016, Quilts Made To Discomfort, “Hillary Quilton”. In print and also online https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-cm-gun-violence-quilts-20160220-story.html
QuiltCon, Pasadena, CA, USA. “Thoroughly Modern Ginny”, “Hillary Quilton”.
2014
Accredited Teacher, South African Quilters Guild (SAQG).
Exhibition: Art in the Heap and Fiber Artists Cape Town. Cape Town, South Africa. “Clash: Negated Parity v. A Noteworthy Citizen - There’s Bound to be Trouble" (sold).
Exhibition: “Conscience of the Human Spirit: The Life of Nelson Mandela" Tribute quilts from South African and US quilt artists. The Michigan State University Museum and the Women of Color Quilters Network. International Quilt Convention Africa (IQCA), Johannesburg, South Africa. Catalogue ISBN 978-0-944311-25-7 “Portrait of a Man who will Change the World” quilt purchased by Michigan State University Museum.
Exhibition: “Stitched” Fiber Artists Cape Town. Casa Labia Art Gallery, Muizenberg, South Africa. “Rubbed Out - A Still Life”, “A Common Cloth”, “Gotham Reflections”.
Weaving Workshop – Stitch n Stuff, Claremont, South Africa.
Art Quilts Trunk Show – Creative Quilters, Plumstead, South Africa.
Easy Art Quilt Portraits – Good Hope Quilters Guild, Sampler Day, Tygerberg, South Africa.
COMMITTEES, MEMBERSHIPS, AFFILIATIONS
2019-current Committee, Good Hope Quilters Guild - South African Quilters Guild, South Africa. Newsletter and PR/Marketing; and 2022 National Quilt Festival Committee Judging Organizer.
2017-2018 Organizing Committee (Show Program and Advertising Chair) Quilters Unlimited (Northern and Virginia), 45th Annual Quilt Show June 2018, Dulles Expo Centre, Chantilly, VA, USA.
2015-current The Modern Quilt Guild, USA.
2015-2018 Quilters Unlimited of Northern Virginia (Fairfax Chapter), USA.
2014 SAQG Accredited Teacher.
2011-current Fibre Artists Cape Town, South Africa.
2010-current Good Hope Quilters Guild - South African Quilters Guild, South Africa.
2010-2014 Cape Quilters Guild, South Africa (Committee).
2007-2010 Bangkok Quilt Group, Thailand (Coordinator).
2006-2010 Nichada Quilt Group, Thailand.
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