I like to tell people I make the biggest diamonds in the world. The adventure started 22 years ago when an image of a gorgeous gem captured my imagination. As a new quiltmaker, I was unsure how to transform that image into a quilt, but knew there had to be a way. I began searching for the right techniques and, seven years later, made my first gem.

My latest series, entitled “Bourbon Diamonds” celebrates Kentucky’s favorite spirit. My current series is based on the National Gem Collection at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.

My work has been exhibited in galleries, museums, and national competitions. The National Quilt Museum (Paducah, KY) is planning an exhibit of my work in 2020. My gems have been featured in print and online publications such as Quilting Arts Magazine, France Patchwork, McCall’s Quilting, Make Modern Magazine, and Online Quilting Magazine. I have appeared on Quilting Arts TV and recently taped segments for TheQuiltShow.com with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims. My gems are included in private and corporate collections, including Maker’s Mark Distillery.

Website: www.MJKinman.com
Facebook: www.Facebook.com/mjkinmantextileartist
Instagram: www.Instagram.com/mjkinman709

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Trunk Show & Presentation

Diamond Divas & Drama Queens: Colored Gemstones as Design Inspiration

Date:  Wednesday, February 13, 2019
Time:  7:00 PM
Location:  Bow Bench Retreat
Tickets:  $10

The most beautiful gemstone captures light and reflects it back to us with unique brilliance, revealing its fiery personality. These are the divas and the drama queens of the gem world. Every one of them has a story to tell…just like people. This slide lecture and trunk show chronicle my story – my 20-year adventure in learning how to create the biggest diamonds in the world in cloth.

During my presentation, I’ll discuss how I select gems that qualify as “divas and drama queens” and what they teach us about how to add sparkle to any art quilt. I’ll display the actual art quilts inspired by some of these divas. I’ll talk about the techniques to create and assemble the hundreds of pieces in each diamond, materials I use to create the wash of color and light across a gem’s surface, and the quilting techniques that enhance a gem’s facets. And, as so often happens with any artist’s decades-long journey, I’ll share what I’ve learned from my leap from the Corporate Life and into the Creative Life.