Meet… Meg Dalton the Quilt Architect

Quilt Architect

Meg Dalton

WRITTEN BY MEGIN POTTER | PHOTOS PROVIDED

The rich architectural history of Saratoga as told through a local quilt maker’s breadth of designs.

FROM OUT OF NOWHERE

In just five short years, Meg Dalton has married the personal with the cultural by creating quilts that are both craft and art; they have a vintage charm expressed in a clean, contemporary style.

After reading a novel about quilters, Meg took several classes and soon discovered she had an untapped talent for this folk-art tradition. “I don’t know where this came from. I’ve never done anything like this before,” she said.

ARCHITECTURE FINDS A NEW HOME

Meg Dalton began sewing with standard patterns but quickly progressed to more creative explorations of color and perspective. Working from photographs to make floral and landscape designs into bed and lap quilts evolved into adding paint onto smaller pieces suitable for framing and hanging. Her love of architecture naturally crossed over into becoming the subject matter of her designs. “Architecture is one of my favorite things and I’m very attracted to photos of buildings – I just love them!”

SARATOGA STYLE

There are fabrics all over the studio space in the Daltons’ finished basement to be used in Meg’s quilts. She begins the process by splitting a photo into sections, creating a pattern, and sketching it out onto muslin. From there she uses a rawedge appliqué technique to attach the textiles and paints details into a collage of both real and imagined elements. The finished quilts (which range in size from 8 in. x 10 in. to 4 ft. x 6 ft.) are then covered with a spray protectant. “There’s something in fabric that people feel a connection with, so they want to touch it. I never discourage people from touching my quilts.”

UNCOMMON IMPACT

The emotional impact of Meg Dalton’s Designs is also felt in the memories they evoke. She’s completed quilts of many of Saratoga’s architectural landmarks including the Adelphi, Broadway, Caroline St., the Congress Park Carousel, the Textile Studio on Beekman St., the Saratoga Tea & Honey building, and the Olde Bryan Inn. Still on her to-do list are others, including the Menges & Curtis and Saratoga Arts buildings, as well as the Columbia Spring pavilion. While showing at fairs and festivals, people often reminisce with her about their special Saratoga memories. “People can relate to what I do and that makes me feel really good,” she said. This past May, a collection of 20 of Meg Dalton’s quilts were displayed on the walls of Uncommon Grounds, one of which (featuring an interior view of the building) now resides in their permanent collection. In addition to architecture, Dalton accepts commissions for custom requests, including pet portraits. For more details on custom orders and existing inventory for sale, email mddesigns6@gmail.com or go to megddesigns.weebly.com SS