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Lots of Updates!

Hi all! I have failed at updating because I have been making a ton of stuff for a show that is coming up this weekend. I’m hoping to be a weekly post type of person again now that things are a little calmer.

For now though, just a few events and housekeeping updates!

If you want to come see my work in person, I’ll be at Oxford Fine Arts this weekend. I’m bringing the entire float series and all of the new Chesapeake series pieces, so it’s a great chance to see all of my work in person if you’re in the region. Please come by to say hi! It’s my first year at this show so it would be great to see some friendly faces. If I know you through Instagram please make sure to introduce yourself when you’re there!

I started a low cost Patreon as a way to share some freebie patterns I made and document more intensive projects than Instagram really allows for. I think keeping artists accessible to everyone is really important and it’s so easy to find yourself gated behind high cost classes and fine art prices. It’s $5 a month and I would love to add some Zoom stitch hours and stuff in the future. If you end up joining let me know what you would want to see! The link is here if you want to join. There’s a template and instructions up for this little landscape already if you are interested and it’s infinitely adaptable.

Remember to check the classes page for both in person and online class options this summer! I am seriously debating taking the autumn/winter off teaching to just make work for shows without working insane hours (I realize I’m very lucky to be in a position to even be thinking about this), so this may be the last chance for a bit unless I run a one off workshop somewhere.

Regular posts will resume next week!

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I’m on Fiber Talk!

Hi everyone! I just wanted to put up a quick post and say how excited I am to be a guest on Fiber Talk! I’ve listened to it for years so it was great to get to meet Gary and Beth for real. They’re so sweet!

Make sure to listen if you want to find out more about my work and my teaching plans for the spring and summer.

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Teaching Update: I’m Joining the Art Faculty at Academy Art Museum in Easton!

I’m back this week with a big and exciting work update: I’ll be joining the artist faculty at the Academy Art Museum in Easton, MD this winter! It recently got written up in the Washington Post as a great art spot on the eastern shore, so it’s definitely worth a trip. They have absolutely gorgeous studios on the second floor and it’s going to be such a pleasure to get to use them for my classes.

I’m thrilled that they’re promoting textile artists and stumpwork embroidery!

If you’re a regular around here, the projects will be familiar.

Raised Embroidery Boat/ Stumpwork boat

The Skipjack workshop is January 10, 17th, and 24. The idea is that students will have a little time in between classes to do homework, although it’s a fairly quick and easy project. The tiny wooden boat is handmade by me and comes with the kit.

Stumpwork Bird’s Nest Music Box

The Bird’s Nest Music Box Workshop is March 7, 14, and 21st! This is a great and truly easy way to practice your needlelace in the round and get creative with easy stitches for the nest. It’s built on a music box base which makes it easy to show off on your shelf or to give away to someone else as an Easter gift!

Signups are through the Academy website here and classes cap at 12. I’ve had a bunch of students all the way from Washington, DC this autumn so please check it out if you’re in the region.

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Autumn Pond Piece Finished!

Autumn Pond stumpwork embroidery

I got through a lot of tv and audiobooks working on this project, but it’s finally finished! It’s definitely a style departure from my last piece but I’m really happy with the outcome.

Silk ribbon and organza background made with layers of Mistyfuse

I experimented with some new techniques on this one, including using Mistyfuse to make a pretty abstract background that would reflect the murky fall pond layers – but in a pretty way. I started with one layer of silk ribbons, then added another layer of Mistyfuse and organza on top of it. It still wasn’t dark enough for my taste at that point, so I added yet another layer of Mistyfuse/organza to get to the colors that I wanted. At this point I had basically obscured my pattern transfer and ended up tacking and tracing on top to add it back in. I am happy with how it came out though!

Close up of stumpwork waterlilies

I used a huge range of threads for this, with most coming from stash. My Oliver Twist variegated collection got a good workout, but I also used some historic replica threads and some thicker ones that were almost like yarn to mix up the textures. In the end I made 17 pieces of needlelace and 22 flower petals for this project that only measures 5 by 5 inches.

A test mockup before framing

I ended up going with a different mat color than this entirely when framing, but it was useful to try out some different options before I actually went to the framer. In the end I went for a dark gold frame and a brown fabric mat with a pinkish tint to it, with a wider area than this highlighted so the background is more of a feature. I think it lets everything breathe a bit more and shows off the background I spent so much time on.

This is going to an exhibit at a local museum in a few weeks, so I’ll be happy to see it framed and finished! Sadly it will have to live somewhere else until December when I get it back from the show. In the meantime I started brainstorming my next project, and might have even gotten braved and purchased some sewable electrical circuits…

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Stumpwork Waterlilies Update, A New Class, and More!

It’s been raining and cold here for about four days now, which means I’ve been spending lots of cozy time in the studio with the dogs and the space heater. It thankfully enabled me to get a lot done over the past few days, so I thought I’d catch y’all up here.

Kantha fabric stumpwork flower

After my Fall Forest class at Denise’s shop I got a ton of questions from students about what the next steps for stumpwork beginners might be. I suggested 3D flowers and lots of them wanted to return for it, so I’ll be teaching that in November. Since we wanted to keep it really simple, I spent a bunch of time thinking about how to design a fun flower that wouldn’t require a ton of extra decoration. I also wanted to show students how to reuse textiles or how to repurpose textiles that they may have scraps of.

I ended up basing my sample around a piece of kantha cloth that I had in my stash. I loved using the petal shape as a viewfinder to pick out all of the different micro patterns and looks within the fabric! We’re using kantha scraps from Skippy Cotton for the class, but this would work just as well with a Liberty style print fabric or any other small scale print.

Needlelace waterlilies in a mix of threads

I’m getting close to the end of the piece making phase of this project, which is a bunch of fall colored waterlilies. I made 22 tiny flower petals in addition to these, so I’m only 8 or so waterlilies from being able to put it all together. I used a lot of Soie Gobelin mixed in with thicker threads because I liked the textures it made, but it really stretched the whole process out in terms of time. I hate showing these kinds of progress pictures sometimes because they are so messy, but all raised embroidery projects go through that ugly spaghetti phase for a bit when they have tons of needlelace pieces. I really need to hurry up and finished this one though or I’ll miss the date for the show! I’ve only got two weeks left to finish it.

Since I’ve still got a lot of needlelace to go, does anyone out there have any good tv, podcast or audiobook recommendations? I feel like I’ve watched everything out there at this point and would love to make some new discoveries.

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Lots of Finishes and What’s on My Studio Table This Week

Stumpwork music box – Spring Bird’s Nest

I have been really quiet lately both here and on Instagram, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been working! We also had some life stuff crop up, like the 3rd floor of our house springing a leak and then finding out that our beautiful floors up there were really improperly installed wall tiles. Ugh.

All this time in the studio does mean I’ve been moving along on finishing lots of small teaching projects! I’m working on a medium size gallery project (35 separate pieces) that I am hoping to finish by the middle of October, but in between I’ve been working on this music box and a Chesapeake Skipjack project for Winter and Spring workshops.

Chesapeake Skipjack – Stumpwork Embroidery

Both of these projects were designed for beginners and work on the principle that a simple stitch done with a really nice variegated thread always looks complex and artistic. I didn’t make any changes from my original design to my final version with the boat, but I tried a ton of different threads out for the eggs. I also wanted at least one project that didn’t have to be framed, mostly because framing is so expensive around here!

It’s hard to imagine teaching in 2023 already but I suppose it’ll be here before we know it! This also means I can start brainstorming projects for summer and fall of next year, as well as making their prototypes.

Needlelace waterlilies in progress

In the meantime, I’m working on the endless waterlily project for some gallery shows this fall – this is the first of three large needlelace pads of just lily pads. I feel like this is another one where I’ll be cutting it close on the timing, but I’m hoping it’ll be as spectacular in person as it is in my head. You can’t really tell in this photo, but I even got to break out the Gilt Sylke Twist for this one.

How’s the end of summer been for all of you? What embroidery projects are you working on right now?