Fabric artist Sandy Teepen details her new exhibit at the Southeast Fiber Arts Alliance

Sandy Teepen's quilted collages is on display at the Southeast Fiber Arts Alliance Center in Chamblee through Aug. 31. (Photo courtesy of Southeast Fiber Arts Alliance)

Sandy Teepen likes to say there’s a common thread that runs through her life — many threads, actually. The Atlanta fabric artist has worked in various forms, including weaving, costuming and, her current emphasis, quilted collages. In these pieces, she combines traditional designs with modern colors and patterns, and her latest exhibit of quilted collages is currently on view at the Southeast Fiber Arts Alliance. She’s also their artist in residence for the month of August. Sandy Teepen joined “City Lights” senior producer Kim Drobes via Zoom to talk about her new solo exhibition.

An artist with an adventurous view of fabrics:

“Unless I’m encouraged to do a custom-made project for a customer, I don’t do bed quilts. I like to think of the colors and the fabrics I use as one giant palette. I like to think of it as the most extraordinary box of crayons a girl could ever have,” said Teepen. “I can use fabric like paint, and that’s what I strive to do. I don’t know if I always get there. I’m always waiting for the next project, so I can really treat fabrics the way I think they should be put together, the way they should meld with the things around them. And that’s how I think that the idea of collage enters my work.”