About

 

Sujata Shah, a graphic designer and textile artist, is originally from Mumbai, India. The mother of three grown children lives with her husband in San Francisco Bay area.

 
She has won awards for her quilts in local and national quilt shows and designed quilt patterns under the name of Rangoli Designs. Her teaching experiences include workshops inspired by the quilts of Gee's Bend, needle-turn applique based on her original designs and color and design workshops in Seattle area and Philadelphia. Her quilts have been shown at AQS in Lancaster and Padukah and the Pacific Northwest Quilt-Fest.
 

In 2003, She found an instant connection between the abstract utilitarian quilts of Gee's bend and Godharis from India. Her instinctive ability to work with colors and textures combined with education in graphic design has helped her develop a unique style as a designer.

She draws her inspirations from imperfections and irregularities of free-spirited folk art and crafts from around the world. As a calligraphy major, she believes that each handmade craft has a stamp of the maker. In 2014 she wrote the book, Cultural Fusion Quilts - A Melting Pot of Piecing Traditions. In which she introduced free-form blocks, an abstract interpretations of traditional quilt blocks to reflect her theory.      
  
Talking about the process of finishing quilts, she says, ''I find hand stitching therapeutic and nourishing to the soul. Through my quilts I remain connected to my past, my culture and heritage. More I hand stitch, stories of my daily life get stitched into my quilts. I rarely have a plan before the start of a quilt. Designing a quilt is an evolving process. I believe as the quilt evolves, I simply become the instrument in the making of that quilt.''

Worked At -    

Quiltworks Northwest, Bellevue, WA 2002-2006

Spools, Philadelphia, PA 2010

Mid Appalachian Quilters Conference in Gettysburg, PA 2015

Pacific Northwest Quilt and Textile Museum (La Conner, WA) 2017

Quilter's Affair 2016, Sisters, OR

Quilter's Affair 2017  Sisters, OR  

Featured Artist at Pajaro Valley Quilt Show 2018 

Featured Artist at San Francisco Quilters Guild 2019

The Quilt Show (#2705) - 2020

Workshop at Iowa Quilt Museum 2021

Presentation and workshop at Vermont Quilt Festival 2021

Presentation and workshop at The Quilter's Guilds of British Isles 2021 

Quilter's Affair  2022

Madeline Island School of Arts 2022

 

Quilts Exhibited at - 

 

New England Quilt Museum at Lowell, MA (2022)

String Theory exhibit at Iowa Quilt Museum (2021)

Pacific Northwest Quilt and Textile Museum, Laconner, WA - 2018

AQS Paducah (2015)

AQS Lancaster (2014)

Bush Barn Art Center, Salem, OR. (2011)

PNQF Seattle 2004