Fabric Art by
Heather Urquhart
Quilts are my passion and I’ve been making them for decades. Most of my work hangs on the wall, but I’ve made my share of bed quilts, also baby quilts, graduation quilts, wedding quilts, memory quilts, marathon medal quilts — even quilts to enter in prestigious shows. There’s room for all of them in my heart.
Welcome to Heatherland Quilts.

Above: My Sad Diet: No Sugar, No Cheese, No Martinis
Background: Pismo Beach Pier
My Story
I’ve been making quilts since the late 1970s and have amassed quite a collection. This website is an effort to organize them and see what I have.
My quilts are often rooted in place, something that’s made a visual impact on me that I want to reinterpret with pattern and color. Ideas can come from international travel; the clean lines of architect Irving Gill; the organic shapes of Canada’s Group of Seven artists or the thrilling blooms of jacaranda trees. And always the fabric.
My quilts follow two major series. One is minimalist landscapes, based on photographs I’ve taken on morning walks. The other is my series of square-and-rectangle modular quilts that draw both from African-American improvisational quilts and my career in newspaper design.
From my study of quilt history, I’ve developed a deep appreciation of Amish wool quilts, Japanese boro or mending, embroidered kantha quilts from India and 19th-century quilts made in the American West. Studio art quilts inspire me, but my personal style falls between traditional and contemporary.
Background: September Landscape 2001
– Yvonne Porcella
teacher and founder of
Studio Arts Quilt Associates