DENISE CARBONELL- QUILTING IS SOMETHING I'VE done since I was a little girl," says Carbonell. "I like the idea of mak­ing something out of nothing, and the meditative quality. It's an unusual thing to do it today instead of producing things in multiples. What's lacking in the fashion machine is the attitude of 'I'm making this for you' instead of 'I'm making 4,000 of these in India.'" Carbonell also creates dolls and bags and sells them out of her little shop at 154 Stanton Street.

The tradition of hand made tapestry gets a downtown twist in Denise Carbonell's extraordinary body of work. A veteren New York designer, editor, artist and restauranteur Carbonell has been stitching quilts in her spare time for the last 15 years. What is now an artistic passion started as a way to recycle the fabrics that accumulated during her years as a clothing designer. These exotic modem masterpieces are wildly rich in their combination of colors and materials. Using solid and patterned silks, satins, brocades, velvets, wools and linens, she fashions color-themed textiles in a skillful play between randomness and symmetry. Each piece is entirely made by one person, and totally made with hand stitching. Custom orders are welcome. Prices are from $45 to $65 per square foot.