Gail Marirea's quilts probably aren't the sort your grandmother made.

Fish, birds and Japanese kimonos are just a few of the inspirations for her work.

Mrs. Marirea's quilts are part of the latest Masterworks Gallery art show 'The Art of Stitching' which opened on Friday and runs until April 9.

In her younger days she dabbled in painting and it shows in her quilts.

"Years ago I did sell paintings, but I was no Van Gogh," she said. "I did watercolours and oil paintings. Then family and a house, children, a couple of dogs and then a full-time job came along and I stopped."

She didn't take up quilting until she retired ten years ago.

"I did the basic quilting with traditional patterns," she said. "Any quilter has to start with traditional patterns and learn the fundamentals of quilting."

Mrs. Marirea said that although some people never go beyond the traditional patterns, she grew a little bored with that and took her quilting to the next level (and the next).

Many of the quilts in the show use complicated techniques. In one quilt rays radiate outward with points touching a circle.

"One of the hardest things in quilting is getting all those little points to touch the outer circle," she explained.

Several of her quilts include rippling reef scenes complete with sealife that would be appropriate to Bermuda waters.

One of them is pieced together using the bargello style of quilting.

"You sew strips together with different colours, and then you cut them in the opposite direction," she said.

The affect is a plunging up and down as though you really are underwater.

"Bargello is not my favourite form of quilting," she said. "I don't like it that much."

Mrs. Marirea said a basket pattern technique in one quilt was particularly difficult.

"It has to be the same right across so you can't make any mistakes," she said. "Every quilter has to know how to cut and draw angles."

She said there is a lot of preparation involved in quilting.

"It takes a long time to work out your colours, textures, shapes," she said. "You don't want to put busy patterns next to other busy patterns.

"Sometimes you can end up with a disaster. It takes a long time to get it together right."

Many fabrics can go into making a quilt. One of her sea life quilts used over 100 different fabrics.

As in most other artistic and craft endeavours in Bermuda, getting a variety of materials is a challenge.

"There is really only one place in Bermuda that really sells a lot of cotton quilting fabric," said Mrs. Marirea. "And they don't have a huge supply, although what they have is very good. You need a huge stash.

"I could order online but I like to feel the fabric, and I like to feel the texture and the quality. You can't see the exact shade or colours by ordering online."

She and her husband have a second home in upstate New York and she often buys fabric when she is there, or when she is on vacation.

"I will go to the closest quilt store and pick up fabrics," she said. "I don't really bring any clothes back to Bermuda. I just bring suitcases of fabric back."

The fish fabric required for some of her quilts has been particularly challenging. She had to go as far as Florida and Vancouver Island to find fabrics with reef fish. Unfortunately, the main fabric line she used has been discontinued, and finding fabric with fish has become more challenging.

The fish quilts are perhaps her most popular in Bermuda, and she has sold several.

"I made my first fish quilt in 2004," she said. "I sold that intending to make one more and keep it, but I sold that one as well."

Then she decided to try making one fish quilt a year.

"They make me feel good," she said. "They make people happy. If I make one a year I am not going to flood the market and I can still enjoy them."

She admitted that she often has two or three quilts going at once in different stages of development.

"I will be piecing during the day, or picking up fabric and designing during the day," she said. "In the evening I do hand quilting."

Her least favourite stage is basting, and her favourite stage is the hand quilting.

"I really like seeing the quilts coming together," she said.

Many of her quilts are a reflection of Bermudian life. In one quilt, a pink flamingo flaps a wing.

"This is Flo the Flamingo," she said. "My son works at the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum & Zoo. He use to take care of the flamingoes. Of course Flo kept getting lose and running around Bermuda. I took a picture of her and scanned it and there she is. A lady who worked at the Aquarium bought it. Her two children fell in love with it."

Recently, she has begun to explore Asian themes with her quilts.

"The first oriental quilt I did was the one with all the kimonos," she said. "I bought some Asian fabrics. My friend fell in love with it and bought it. That was the end of if till I went to Vancouver Island in Canada.

"I went to a quilt shop right next to Chinatown and they had fabrics for little girls' kimonos. I thought: wouldn't that be great in a quilt?"

A smaller quilt, meant to be a wall hanging, includes a kimono in the centre. She has made miniature ones similar to this to use as Christmas tree ornaments.

Fiction writers often say that their characters take over and begin to write the story themselves. Mrs. Marirea reported something similar with her quilts.

"Every quilt told me what to do as I went along," she said. "It is not a set thing. It is often a surprise the way they come out in the end. They seem to build themselves sometimes."

Many of the quilts will go on sale during the show opening at the Masterworks Gallery in the Botanical Gardens on March 28 from 5.30 pm to 7.30 pm.

Mrs. Marirea will be available to answer questions on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 12 to 2 p.m.

"I know there are a lot of girls that like to quilt or are just starting," she said. "I did a show before, and several young women came in with their pillow covers or whatever they were making and asked me questions."

She said unfortunately, she does not have the time to offer classes.