Story

Chloé Derderian Gilbert is a Portland, OR based teacher and maker. She grew up on the East Coast and was trained at Parsons School of Design. She moved to Portland, OR in 2010 and lives here with her husband, 2 daughters and 3 dogs. 

She designs, dyes and sews all of her textiles by hand. She uses natural dyes, non-toxic inks and organic materials. All of her products are made in her Portland, OR studio. Sustainability, reuse and up-cycling are core to her work as an artist and she strives for a no-waste art practice. 

Natural plant dyes are the driving force behind her body of work. In her natural dye garden, she grows marigolds, coreopsis, sulphur cosmos and indigo. She also makes use of other plant dyes, which come in the form of powders harvested from far off trees, such as Quebracho and Logwood. 

Her quilt patterns take the form of both traditional patterns and improvised motifs. Her improv quilts are created through intuition, one color and shape guiding the next. Once the patchwork top is pieced together, each quilt is hand sewn using Japanese Sashiko thread.