Studio Art Quilt Associates, Inc. (SAQA) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote the art quilt: "a creative visual work that is layered and stitched or that references this form of stitched layered structure." Our vision is that the art quilt is universally respected as a fine art medium. SAQA’s core values are: excellence, innovation, integrity, and inclusion. Over the past 35 years, SAQA has grown into a dynamic and active community of over 4,000 artists, curators, collectors, and art professionals located around the world. With our exhibitions, resources, publications, and membership opportunities, we seek to increase the public's appreciation for the art quilt and to support our members in their artistic and professional growth.

Andrea Barrett is a contemporary quilter and lover of color, shape, and composition. While many of her quilts reflect a close adherence to the "tyranny of geometry," and are characterized by precise cutting, piecing, and quilting, she also revels in embracing the uncertainty and adventure of improvisational work. She aspires always to put color in motion across the space of a quilt. Andrea has been quilting since 2019 and lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Bobbi creates textile art from her studio in DeLand, Florida. Bobbi is a graduate of Stetson University in DeLand, with undergraduate majors in studio art and speech communication. She earned her MAT degree from Stetson in Education/Humanities. Following graduation Bobbi had a 35+ year career in commercial printing and stationery product design. She now devotes all her time to her studio practice. Bobbi discovered art quilting around 2011. She brought to her textile work her interest in visual storytelling. Her methods are mostly self-taught, involving original surface design with acrylic paints and collage construction. Bobbi exhibits widely, receiving numerous awards. She is a juried art member of Studio Art Quilt Associates.

"My journey as a quilter began in 1997, and ever since I have worked to nurture quilting communities while sharing my work in exhibitions across France, the United States, Chile, Argentina, and Brazil. Shaped by a family history of diaspora, war, and resilience, I am drawn to the ways people create beauty even in the harshest of times—a thread that runs through all of my art. Quilts, with their visceral familiarity, provide the framework through which I explore this balance of struggle and beauty, whether by giving presence to overlooked individuals or drawing from the utilitarian traditions of women whose needlework was often their only artistic voice."

Janice Chiaffredo lives in Gainesville, Georgia with her husband, Bob, and has been part of SAQA since 2016. Her fiber art is all about rich textures and layering sheer fabrics with recycled and repurposed materials. Influenced by her work in theatrical costuming, her pieces have a playful sense of drama and movement. Janice also draws inspiration from her anthropology studies, and is especially fascinated by ancient dwellings and their connection to architecture, which shows up in her work. Waterways—like oceans, rivers, lakes and waterfalls—that Janice has lived next to inspire her with their ever-changing patterns and textures, weaving an organic rhythm into her designs. Her art invites you to explore textures while thinking about history, sustainability, and change. With her creative mix of influences, Janice continues to explore new possibilities in fiber art.

"I am a textile artist deeply inspired by the expressive possibilities of fabric and thread. After 30 years teaching art to children, I’ve devoted myself to the daily practice of artmaking in my mountain studio, where I strive to create beauty and uplift viewers through each piece. My work is rooted in curiosity and technical challenge—every quilt or collage begins as a fresh problem to resolve, never repeat. I am passionate about hand stitching: the meditative rhythm connects me to long traditions and allows me to improvise with color, texture, and embellishments. Cotton, silk, and beadwork—often repurposed or precious materials—find layered meanings in my creations as I explore new collage and slow-stitching techniques. Being part of Studio Art Quilts Associates (SAQA) connects me with a talented community of fiber artists committed to mutual growth and creative collaboration."

Tanya fell in love with traditional quilt making over 25 years ago inspired by the ability to form pattern through fabrics. Her goal is to create works of textile art that incorporate her passion for learning using various textile art techniques. By combining her engineering roots with an intuitive approach, she hopes to share with others her love of colors, textures, and patterns, combining the beauty and intricacies of the natural and man-made worlds in thoughtfully designed works of art.

Maggie Dillon is a textile artist who fell in love with fabric while working in a quilt shop during college. Her journey began with self-taught experimentation and has evolved into creating nature-inspired, narrative-driven art quilts. After a fifteen-year series of appliqué portraits, she has embraced pieced designs featuring organic curves and natural scenes. A proud member of SAQA and MQG, she values the connection and inspiration found in community and is passionate about sharing her process through teaching and workshops. Her goal is to inspire a sense of creativity in others. Maggie has won a number of awards in fine art exhibitions and textile art shows. She has a B.A. in Fine Art from Flagler College, Saint Augustine and is a Juried Artist member with Studio Art Quilt Associates.

"Creativity started at a young age, painting my nails, paint by numbers, embroidery, making doll clothes. Today I work with fabric, dyes, beads, ribbon, found materials, paper, and anything I think I can turn into something. My passion is fabric textiles; I am inspired by the tactile feel of the fabric in my hand and the ability to manipulate it to the desired image in my head. Color enhances a mood, bright, fun and cheery—or somber and reflective. The balance of both captures a time and place or a quiet moment to enjoy."

Maxine Hess is a mixed media artist originally from Boston, Massachusetts, currently living and working in Woodstock, Georgia. Hess has exhibited nationally and internationally including Shenyang, China, New York City, Los Angeles, and other major cities in the U.S. Her work has been reviewed in HyperAllergic, W Magazine, ArtsATL and has been featured in a number of other publications. Hess has received numerous awards.. Her work can be found in several private collections in the U.S.

"My textile story begins in Montana where I grew up in a large family. Some of our dresses were made from flour sacks, and I thought it was rather wonderful that the flour came in fabric that could be made into clothes, the scraps of which were then made into quilts by my mother and grandmother. From this early love for fabric, it was a natural progression to quilter and then art quilter. Life has taken me from Montana to many corners of the world. Wherever I go, I search out the textiles of that place because, for me, the textiles tell the story. In my art that is the whole idea: let the textiles tell their story."

"Drawing from my experiences as an avid scuba diver and a former nurse, my artwork is shaped by the mysteries that exist beneath the surface—whether it is the world beneath the waves or the complexity found in the human body. These experiences have fostered a profound curiosity about the natural world and our place in it, and my hope is to awaken that same curiosity in others through my art. By employing layered color and form, I aim to create pieces that encourage viewers to look closer, rediscovering the beauty that often remains unseen."

This artist’s fiber arts journey began 25 years ago when she began to blend her early experience in sewing with skills from a long career in business communications, photography, graphic arts, and print production. Her recent fiber art focuses on images from nature and abstract concepts— expressed through fiber and surface design techniques. She lives in Lutz, Florida and has lived in the Tampa Bay area most of her life.

Karol Kusmaul (b. 1954, Bloomington, Illinois) M.F.A. in Painting, Savannah College of Art and Design, has practiced fiber art for decades, exhibiting in solo and group exhibitions worldwide. Specializing in collaged portraiture, and activist art with themes against gun violence in the United States and violence and war in general, Kusmaul also enjoys creating landscapes and still life work both by hand and machine. Her work often melds fiber, collage, and paint, as well as vintage and upcycled materials. She is the proud founder of a small international group of fiber artists called Cloth in Common, clothincommon.com. Kusmaul has been an active member and held leadership roles for years in Studio Art Quilt Associates, a large international group of fiber artists. Kusmaul currently lives and works in Inverness, FL.

Laura Leiden is an award-winning artist working across calligraphy, painting, jewelry, and fiber art quilts. She holds a BFA from the Massachusetts College of Art and an MAE from the Rhode Island School of Design and was a Fulbright Art Scholar. Her quilts have been featured in solo exhibitions at the Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation and the Sautee Nacoochee Center and juried into the International Quilt Festival in Houston. Inspired by nature, poetry, and texture, Laura’s work is an evolving exploration of color and form across diverse media.

Candi started sewing in 2007 after taking a beginner traditional quilting class. In 2015, she had her first taste of improvisational quilting during a workshop with Sherri Lynn Wood and was hooked. Patchwork and piecing are her passions. She uses her science background in her creative approach: creating a formula, testing a hypothesis, and asking “what if” as she improvisationally creates her compositions on the design wall.

After retiring as a high school art teacher, Suz Mariano is now a Florida-based art quilter and fiber artist. Having come from a fine arts background rather than traditional quilting gives her a rich design foundation and unique perspective to explore her new niche in the creative world. Her art quilts demonstrate a unique vision of form, color, texture, spatial contrasts, layering, and always a bit of the unexpected. She loves to surprise her viewers with unusual embellishments and secondary materials that push traditional boundaries and add a distinctive touch to her work. Suz views all of art to be a conversation between maker, material and viewer. She encourages viewers to experience her work and, hopefully, realize that art resists singular meaning and response. Suz has begun slowly showing locally but is a three-time Cherrywood finalist and First place winner in an AQS group challenge.

Phyllis (Perlie) Petrillo Maheu is a fiber artist with a deep passion for surface design and fabric manipulation. Her work explores the endless possibilities of cloth through dyeing, screen printing, cyanotype, and an evolving array of experimental techniques. Phyllis has earned Best of Show awards, has been featured in Fiber Arts Magazine, and has had a solo exhibition at Broward Art Gallery in Fort Lauderdale. Each piece created reflects her imagination and her commitment to exploring new ideas, while inviting viewers to connect with the beauty and complexity of surface design.

Born in Afghanistan, Natalie moved, at the age of five, to Paris, France where she lived for 10 years. Her elementary and secondary education took place in French schools, until she was sent to a boarding school in North Wales for the final two years of her schooling and a crash course in English. She later worked in research and development for a small company in Oklahoma and is now retired. The first few years of retirement were devoted to caring for her granddaughters and learning traditional patchwork. She quickly gravitated towards portraiture and landscapes. In recent years, she has continued to explore this style, often using slides taken by her parents in Afghanistan. These images have inspired narrative quilts, using her own hand-dyed fabrics. Her artistic journey has continued to evolve through screen printing on fabric, adding a new layer of depth and dimension to her work.

"I am a Florida artist working in improvisational design using commercially printed textiles. Areas of interest include geometrics, high contrast colors, applique, and free motion quilting. I have been a SAQA member for eight years and thoroughly enjoy the continued high-quality resources, training, and events while thriving upon its wonderful global community."

Sandy is a self-taught fiber artist whose work is distinguished by vibrant color, whimsical forms, and playful sensibility. She has cultivated a unique artistic voice through curiosity, experimentation, and an intuitive approach to materials. Her work includes wall hangings, soft sculpture, and mixed-media textile works, each infused with imagination and joy. Drawing inspiration from folklore, nature, and everyday wonder, Sandy transforms yarn, thread, fabric, and other textiles into expressive pieces that blur boundaries between fine art and craft. Emphasizing texture, bold palettes, and unexpected combinations, her work invites viewers into spaces of delight, surprise, and discovery. Celebrated for her distinctive perspective, Sandy continues to expand her vision through exploration and storytelling. Her art is both visually striking and emotionally uplifting, encouraging audiences to embrace creativity, play, and wonder. Through each piece, she reimagines the tactile language of fiber as a vessel for imagination and connection.

Candace Hackett Shively’s work emerges from insistent, tenacious thoughts: about interactions, injustices, current events, an experience, a place, or a question. Ms. Shively uses fabric, drawings, paint, and photographs to montage images, sometimes working directly with the materials and sometimes digitally montaging media before printing onto fabric. She then “draws” on the compositions with thread. The stitching is where the work finds life. Ms. Shively has lived all over the U.S., but she credits her childhood in the San Francisco Bay Area for nurturing her creativity. She studied printmaking and photography as an undergraduate while completing a degree in English with an unofficial Art minor. She found her true medium, the art quilt, in a breakthrough graduate exhibit for her interdisciplinary Master’s degree in Humanities, focusing on writing and art. After retiring from a career in education and moving to Georgia, she is relishing more time for her art quilts.

Ellen Simon has been making quilts since the mid-1970’s. In 1996 she started a retail quilt business, Carolina Quiltmaker, in Columbia, SC. Now called Coastal Quilter, Ellen and her husband work out of their home studio in Parrish, creating t-shirt and memory quilts, and providing long-arm quilting services. Ellen’s first love is making art quilts. She enjoys working in a series, experimenting with surface design techniques and different materials. Ellen is currently serving as co-rep for the SAQA Florida region and the leader of SAQA Pod 3-Sarasota. She is also a member of Friendship Knot Quilters.

Marian Zielinski is a fiber artist in Macon, Georgia whose subjects merge natural and urban landscapes with evocative themes. She earned her MFA in Costuming from Illinois State and her BA in Theatre from the University of Buffalo before launching her career as a college professor and set, costume, and lighting designer. In 2016, Marian earned the rank of Professor Emerita at Mercer University, exiting academia to begin her journey as a solo artist. Her art quilts have been included in many international juried exhibitions, including SAQA’s Global Exhibitions and Quilt National. She received numerous awards, including the First Place—Fiber in Uncommon Threads, Best in Show at the 2nd Biennial National Fiber Art Exhibition, the Surface Design Award at Quilts=Art=Quilts, and a Merit Award at Artfields. Marian’s artwork has been published widely, and she has published essays and presented papers about the arts across the globe.