the papa gallery
A Salute to Paducah’s Quilters 2026
Variations on a Theme of Old Blue Jeans
Suzanne Alexander
Exhibit Dates: April 1 – 25, 2026
Variations on a Theme of Old Blue Jeans
Imagined and constructed by Suzanne Alexander
I’d toyed with the idea of repurposing old blue jeans for some time until it finally became an actual theme. I decided to only incorporate second hand fabrics but primarily jeans. I’d never worked with a palette limited both by color and fabric type so it was an interesting challenge. I learned that yes, color and fabric can tie dissimilar pieces together. I also learned that the limitations gave me more freedom than I would have guessed. I was free to try whatever idea popped into my head whether traditional or way out there. I ended up going places I didn’t anticipate and I highly recommend the experience! No new fabric was consumed in the making of these pieces and all this fabric stayed out of a landfill! Also note that a significant part of the quilted experience is tactile. If you’re unfamiliar with quilted artwork, please feel free to touch – but not with chocolate fingers please. It’s okay to look at the backside as well. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy these old jeans.
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Denim
Wonky letters spell out the theme surrounded by striped fabric from 1970’s vintage jeans.
Snowdrops in Starlight
Posies in the Cabin
The center squares of these two pieces are very old vintage hand-pieced squares that ended up in quilting scrap bags I inherited. The rest is from old jeans.
Hanging by Threads
This was an experiment I originally intended to fit into an embroidery hoop but the woven layers made it too thick to fit. Eventually I decided to cut it up and was much happier with the result. Fabrics are jeans and shirt scraps.
On the Table by the Window
This was my first attempt to capture contrasting values with denim. It was pretty boring though until the mouse came to visit. Fabrics include old skirt, vintage dresser scarf, worn out jeans. Back side is from a vintage tack quilt.
Pour Here
I wanted to incorporate one of my father’s ties and it ended up pointing at the glass. What else could I name it? Fabrics include necktie and its label, worn out jeans, old shirt, and my grandmother’s kitchen curtains. Backside is from a vintage tack quilt.
Things on Jeans
From belt loops to patched knees, I tried to capture it all. This one is all old jeans on front and old work shirt on back.
Dragon Flower Castle
This piece started as one little house that slowly grew into a village with a castle. As the steps moved around the village they seemed to morph and as they got nearer the other side, I discovered they led to a dragon named Flower. They had quietly made themselves at home in the castle while I wasn’t looking! As Flower loved flowers, it seemed appropriate to see them all over the place.
Fabrics are jeans, pieces of an old dress and the back side was my grandmother’s kitchen curtains.
Flow
I started with four identical squares with curves but varied placement of values to get a sort of flowing effect enhanced by free motion quilting. I added the frayed pants leg seam as well as the resultant frayed threads and shirt buttons for texture. Backside is from a vintage tack quilt.
Random Cuts (below) was actually my first improv experiment in this group but I just didn’t like it. After weeks of trying to improve it, I finally just randomly cut it up. I fiddled around trying to reassemble it until this shape and idea jumped out at me.
Random Cuts
It’s hard to know how to express yourself in these radically divisive times. I worked 30 years in public service through numerous administration changes. This piece reflects my experience of the real people left in the aftermath of random cuts to people, polices and/or principles. It looks like it was haphazardly put back together for a reason. Fabrics are from vintage clothing and worn-out jeans.
Meet Suzanne Alexander
Lover of textiles and maker of quilted things
Suzanne Alexander’s affinity for quilting comes through deep roots. Women in her family made quilts for generations until the need for quilt making began to abate. As a little girl, she observed both her grandmothers’ prolific handiwork. She remembers being small enough to get shooed out from under the quilting frame and later poring through their needlework catalogs as a young teen. Her mother also sewed most of the clothes for her and three sisters including countless Barbie doll dresses and even Suzanne’s wedding dress. Always drawn to textiles, it was not until she retired that she could really get into the hobby she’d tried for years to find time to do.
The art part of Suzanne’s journey has also come along incrementally. Her husband Charles is a painter and their affiliation with other painters at the PAPA Gallery began to rub off on her. Thoroughly enjoying her textile journey, Suzanne finds creative ideas everywhere. She’s also learned that when she finishes a quilt, the person it needs to live with will come along at the right time.
At this point of her life, she now cares for some of the historical family quilts reaching back at least 3 generations. She is the only one in this generation carrying on the quilting tradition, but as she adds to the collection of comfort textiles, she has hope she may not be the last.
Address
124 Broadway St
Paducah, KY 42001, USA
(270) 575-3544
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Other times by appointment only.
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