Design Concept

This quilt began with a small pencil sketch made in 1989, shortly after returning from Australia and the Great Barrier Reef for the first time.  I have kept the sketch for many years and have made several different interpretations of it. The shape of the fish bodies and tails are a kind of fantasy amalgam of many different species. The colors and patterns were inspired by parrot fish and other brilliantly colored tropical fish.
The full-size design was drawn and painted digitally in Corel Draw. I incorporated images from some of my own one-of-a-kind, dye-painted fabrics. The design was digitally printed by Spoonflower. It is heavily quilted with dozens of different colors of polyester and acrylic thread. The binding was designed especially for this quilt and printed at the same time as the quilt top. The back of the quilt is one of my one-of-a-kind dye painted fabrics.

Exhibitions:

• Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival, Hampton Roads Convention Center, Hampton, VA, February 23-26, 2023 ( Best Use of Color)
• Celebration of Color, (Quilts Inc. Juried Show)
• Long Beach Quilt Festival, Long Beach Convention Center, Long Beach, CA, July 6-8, 2023
• International Quilt Festival, Houston, TX, November 1-5, 2023
• Photos, Pixels, & Pizzazz: Recent Quilts by Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry, Iowa Quilt Museum, Winterset Iowa, December 12, 2023 - March 10, 2023
• Photos, Pixels, & Pizzazz: Recent Quilts by Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry, Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum, Golden CO, 7/22 – 10/19, 2024

Publications

• Art Quilt Quarterly, Issue 32, Summer 2023, p. 60