Design Concept

In 2000, I spent seven weeks touring and teaching in South Africa. This quilt grew out of the 43 rolls of film I took while I was there. It represents the beauty and hope of this very complex and diverse country.

Every fabric in this quilt was individually designed on my computer, and then printed on an ink jet printer.  A liquid fabric soak called Bubble Jet Set makes the ink permenant on the fabric.  To find out more about this process, go to The Bubble Jet Set information page.

These are more than just photos printed on fabric. Each 60° diamond shaped template contains a collage of two to four different photographic images. Secondary kaleidoscopic images develop where six diamonds come together to form the six pointed stars. Between the stars are individual diamond shapes that feature single animals and birds of South Africa. The lacy black border surrounding each of these diamonds is created from the silhouette of a typical flat-topped African tree.

The images I used were selected to illustrate the diversity, beauty, hope, and complexity of South Africa, as it struggles to recreate itself as a democracy with equal rights for all.

The name of the quilt came from the six pointed stars that form where the 60° diamonds come together in the quilt. It also refers to the "Star of Africa" diamond, the world's largest diamond, which was discovered in South Africa in the late 1800's. The diamond, source of much of South Africa's wealth, seemed like an appropriate shape to use in a quilt about this country.

Click here for all details and explanations of the individual blocks.

Exhibitions:

• American Quilters Society Show, 2001, Paducah, KY  (Second Place)
• Minnesota Quilters Conference 2001, Duluth, MN, June (teachers invitational exhibition)
• Quilt America 2001, Indianapolis, IN, (honorable mention)
• World Quilt & Textile, 2001, Lansing MI & Greensboro, NC
• International Quilt Association Show, (juried) Quilt Festival, Houston, TX 2001
• International Quilt Festival Japan, Tokyo Dome, Tokyo Japan, January, 2002
• Spring Quilt Festival: Faculty Exhibition, 2003, Rosemont, IL
• Solo Exhibition: Little White School Musuem, Oswego, IL 2003
• Fabric Cottage, Annual Quilt Festival, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, 2004
• "Evolving Styles - 20 Years of Color & Design" Solo Exhibition: LaConner Quilt Museum, LaConner WA, March 16 - May 15, 2005
• Caryl Bryer Fallert: Silver Star Salute: Retrospective Exhibition, International Quilt Market & International Quilt Festival, October 27-November 5, 2006, Houston, TX
• Caryl Bryer Fallert: A Retrospective, New England Quilt Museum, Lowell, MA, August 20 - October 31, 2015
• Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry: 40 Years of Color, Light, & Motion
  • Nixon Centre for Performing & Visual Arts, Newnan, GA January 9 - February 17, 2017
  • Texas Quilt Museum, La Grange, TX • March 30 - June 25, 2017
• Photos Pixels & Pizzazz, (solo exhibition) Lattimer Center for Quilts and Textiles, Tillamook, OR, May 3-June 27, 2021

Publications

• American Quilter Magazine, Fall, 2001, p. 43
• Quilters Newsletter Magazine, November 2001, Photo Finish feature: p. 114
• Quilt Savvy: Fallert's Guide to Images on Fabric, AQS, 2004 cover and many pages

Publications