There are so many details, they can be examined over and over again. Beautiful trees, and mountains, hand-crafted out of fabric. It’s hard to imagine that one person painstakingly selected different fabrics, stitched them together and carefully painted some parts – all over the course of up to a year.

Wendy Tassone has been doing quilted artwork since 2001. Her pieces have been collecting awards and praise, and have earned spots in exhibits at the Jasper Yellowhead Museum, as well as a membership at the Jasper Artist’s Guild. When she started she had never quilted before. She began by joining the Quilt Guild and asking many questions.

“I never knew a thing about quilting,” she said. 

Tassone said each piece can take her anywhere from a few months to a year. She begins by collecting fabrics and getting an idea. She then sketches out what she would like, draws the scene on a piece of fabric and begins adding piece after piece of fabric to form the scene. She works on many pieces at once, which allows her to leave her art work for a few days, and return with a fresh perspective. 

“I have hundreds of projects on the go,” Tassone said. “It all just slowly comes.”

Once the fabric is in place, Tassone sometimes paints parts of the scene. She looks at her fabric like an artist chooses colours. 

“You’re using your fabric like a paint pallet,” she said. 

Tassone’s skill has grown over the years, and she is constantly learning and improving her technique. She uses a regular Husqvarna sewing machine. She thinks of the machine as a drawing tool, tracing items on the scene using different colours of thread. Sewing one item on a piece can take up to four hours.

“You can put in lots of hours of thread painting,” she said. 

Tassone never throws away any changed pieces she removes, instead keeping them in case she changes her mind. Her ideas come from a variety of places. She enjoys mountain scenes, and creating her favourite places around Jasper. 

Tassone became a member of JAG several years ago.

“They persuaded me to show my work at a meeting,” she said. 

Since then, Tassone’s pieces have been displayed at JAG every year. She has sold a few pieces, even fetching $1,000 for one particularly detailed piece. 

Every year Tassone enters in the Trend-tex Challenge, a competition that allows fabric artists five pieces of fabric. The winner is the person who sticks to the five pieces, and doesn’t have to add any more fabric.

Tassone won a third place at the event in Calgary last year, only adding one extra piece of fabric to make a skin tone for an Aboriginal man in the scene. 

In 2008, Tassone placed first in the competition. The artists have the option to buy back the pieces once they are finished, with the proceeds going to the Canadian Quilter’s Association. Tassone purchased her Aboriginal scene back, but in 2009 her piece was auctioned off for $400. Reaching a first place at the Trend-tex show is a high honour, as the pieces displayed are created by artists from across Canada.

“There’s so many talented artists,” she said.

This year Tassone hopes to enter more pieces at the show in different categories beyond the challenge. She has a piece she’s been working on for three years that she hopes to finish up, and a large piece as well. 

Many of Tassone’s pieces are kept or given away as gifts. She hopes to sell more  in the future. 

When not working on her art, Tassone runs a bed and breakfast, and her household. She has found less time recently to sew.

“You have to really commit and put aside nice weather,” she said. 

After the holidays, Tassone plans on putting in some hours in her garage studio. The Trend-tex show takes about three to four months to prepare for out of Tassone’s winter. 

Between sewing and her business, Tassone takes many art classes and enjoys painting with watercolours. 

“I could focus on watercolour painting, but I’m leaning towards the fabric,” she said. “I’ve always liked to do art.” 

Somehow, Tassone finds the time to photograph scenes she would like to re-create in fabric, while on walks around Jasper. 

“I’m forever looking through things for ideas,” she said.

This has created an endless catalogue of ideas for the artist, as she prepares a piece for JAG’s upcoming Upcycle show that opens at the Brushfire Gallery on Nov. 26.