Sandra Banava

Sandra Banava was introduced to the beauty of fabric at an early age. Her mother was a fabric lover, who kept her collection lovingly wrapped up in a couple of huge bundles filled with cuts of fabric that she had received as gifts or hand-picked for her sewing projects. From time to time, Sandra’s mother would say, “Let’s get the fabric bundles out and look at fabric.” To Sandra, this was always as exciting as opening a treasure box.

Sandra made her first contact with the exuberant world of fabric design through the ancient Persian art of hand-block printing on silk. She carved her first design into a block of wood, bathed that carving in warm wax, positioned it in place and pressed it onto the luscious fabric. As she repeated the process – dip, position, press — the pattern appeared through layers of color, shapes and texture, and Sandra had discovered a whole new visual poetry.

A painter with a degree in Fine Art from San Francisco State University, Sandra is also a dancer who finds inspiration in the work of other painters, poets and dancers, whether it’s a line in a poem filled with vivid language or the fluffy, red skirt worn by a flamenco dancer that becomes her source of insipiration.

Sandra feels that creating is a way of responding to her surroundings. Whether she sees traces of the past in a city’s aging buildings, layers of patina and rusty surfaces or the wonder of nature such as the beautiful growth movement of plants or the iridescent wing of an insect, she seeks to create a fresh look at the familiar with her art.

Sandra finds designing for quilters exciting. She likes to visualize how quilters can “compose,” “paint” or “choreograph” their quilts using each colorful pattern as “notes,” “paints” and “movements” to tell their stories.

She offers special thanks to her mentor, Jennifer Sampou, for generously sharing her vast knowledge in fabric design and, most importantly, for believing in her and supporting her in her path. Sandra lives in the San France