Artist: Terra Lachance
+ littlebigpants.typepad.com

Artist: Nina Braun
+ ninabraun.net

Artist: Emily Barletta
+ emily-b.net

Artist: Jenny Hart
+ jennyhart.net
+ sublimestitching.com

Denise Burge is a quilter who uses her craft to create art that can be described as textile collages. A vast range of fabrics and stitching is incorporated into scenes or stories that are folkloric in flavour. Sometimes cartoonlike, Burge’s work can be taken as social or political commentary, not necessarily something your grandma would have done down at the church at her bee. Log Cabin and Double Wedding Ring these quilts are not.

Artist: Denise Burge
+ myoriginaldirt.com

If an artist were to decide that one’s artistic focus would mix aspects of Disneyworld with portraiture, what type of medium would be an obvious choice? Why, latch-hook rugs, of course. At least, that is the route taken by Rob Conger. And, it just so happens that the areas of Disneyland depicted by Conger’s artistry are those where fatalities occurred. The portraits range from that of the world’s strongest woman to a variety of faces from the world of business. Not your typical latch-hook scenes of red barns and fluffy kittens.

Artist: Rob Conger
+ mixedgreens.com

Mark Newport is an Arizona knitting artist specializing in the cult of the super hero. A recent series of work focuses on life sized knitted super hero costumes, but don�t think Newport is afraid of a little comic book cover embroidery or beading trading cards of athletes and porn stars. Newport grew up absorbed in comic books, but more for the visual artistry than the plotlines. Eventually he too became an artist, like his heroes, and started examining gender issues at a time when the art world was experiencing a backlash against the male art star.

Artist: Mark Newport
+ asuartmuseum.asu.edu

Polly Apfelbaum has referred to her works of dyed velvet as �fallen paintings� since they tend to grace floors instead of walls. Good and Plenty, a large rectangular piece that uses the colours of the original Good and Plenty Licorice Candy boxes, takes us in a nostalgic direction, while Apfelbaum�s Powerpuff series of circular pieces is a link to a more up-to-date pop culture. The pieces of synthetic velvet are dyed (Apfelbaum uses a squeeze bottle, then cuts out her shapes), with white edges, and then arranged almost petal-like, in concentric circles. The effect is of radiating, almost pulsating, hues which give off a powerful femininity.

Artist: Polly Apfelbaum
+ damelioterras.com

British artist Donna Wilson was recently featured in Knit 2 Together, an exhibition of knitted artwork mounted by the Crafts Council in London. Wilson�s installation is Pick Knit, a group of close to thirty delightful stuffed creatures knitted out of lambswool. The exhibition, which will be touring England and Ireland over the next year, seeks to promote a more innovative side to the humble knit one, purl two. Wilson, who has done design work for Agent Provocateur and Tord Boontje, is a gifted artist who injects a charming sense of humour into her creations. Cannibdoll is described as being "happy and selfish" and "dislikes eating vegetables".

Artist: Donna Wilson
+ donnawilson.com

Angelo Filomeno concentrates his efforts at embroidery on shantung silk, often incorporating garnets and Swarovski crystals into his scenes. Hyena, which makes use of Filomeno�s signature symbols derived from stylized forms of flora and fauna (peacock feathers, artichokes, lizards), is an allegorical tableau showing the peacock�s pride resulting in a fall. Filomeno�s silks are part of a neo-baroque esthetic, art that is not afraid to shy away from austere minimalism to embrace an exuberance for texture and colour.

Artist: Angelo Filomeno
+ marianneboeskygallery.com

Jac Scott goes for shock value in her piece Shocking - Girls Just Want to Have Fun where she uses dyed tampons and ribbons set in a wooden frame to convey her feelings about waste and the detritus of everyday living from a female perspective. Of course, at first glance this piece can easily be taken for a quilt of rosettes patched together by the ladies for a church bazaar. I like the colours.

Artist: Jac Scott
+ fiberscene.com