Christine Fries-Ureel was born and raised in Belgium. In 1982 she moved 
  to the US where she and her husband started a family which grew to include 
  six children, all boys. They now reside in Vermont.

  Though the demands of being a wife and mother put some of her aspirations 
  on hold, Christine never lost a dream of becoming involved in the world of art. 
  In 1998, she visited the Vermont Quilt Festival. Seeing these beautiful quilts for 
  the first time changed her life forever. She began to learn quilting. She knew little 
  about sewing and nothing about quilting when she started. She read books and took 
  beginner’s classes and soon quilting became a passion. 
 
Christine’s art quilts have been inspired by beautiful paintings she saw in Europe. "I try to adapt the beauty of great artwork 
to the quilting medium, and so share it with those who may perhaps have never seen it."


Though she loves all quilting styles, from such traditional ones as log cabin quilts to the various innovative abstract styles, 
Christine's greatest fulfillment has come from creating pictorial art quilts."In learning to quilt, I was exposed to and tried 
different styles and techniques. Pictorial art quilts are the ones I am most passionate about at present. They allow me to 
combine things I love in one artistic expression: planning and drawing adaptations of beautiful scenes, being challenged 
with the technical details of how best to represent them as quilts, deciding on colors, handling and selecting beautiful fabrics 
and threads, and the other things that go into making a quilt. They allow me to combine my love of fine art with my love of 
quilting in a single artistic endeavor."

Christine mostly uses a machine-appliqué technique in her quilts. She prefers to leave no raw edges. She uses a muslin foundation
to appliqué all the pieces onto, machine appliquéing by free motion. "I work one quilt at a time. I love the process. I love touching fabric, looking at threads and yarns, and digging in boxes full of spools of thread and beads. There are always parts
of making a quilt that are more difficult, but they are well worth the effort. I love thread painting to enhance shading and add dimension and texture. 

 
“Each fiber artist develops an individual style to express something unique in fabric and thread, creating art by means of 
personal ideas about the use of color, texture, and design. We then become part of 'the Big Design' (life itself), sharing beauty 
and deep feelings to help one another find our destinies, leading always toward true love....”

“Part of my joy and fulfillment in quilting comes from being able to communicate, through my quilts, feelings which are hard
to convey through words: dreams and true love. I also wish through my quilts to communicate encouragement; The beauty and strength of love does exist! Don't start to doubt it! Try to realize your dreams, and don't be afraid. You never know until you try!”

“I have seen quilts which inspire me and communicate feelings of strength and peace. Quilts have special power to give to others.”

 
© 2008 Christine Fries-Ureel / loveabideth
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