Something About Nothing

On my way to a family reunion I stopped in Reno to visit with Carol Soderlund.   After a tour of her lovely new home we went to the Wilber D. May Museum to see a beautiful fiber exhibit called New Directions  with work from  artists  Joan Dyer, Denise Oyama Miller, Sandra Poteet, Lin Schiffner, Linda Waddle, and Martha Wolfe. Carol and I in front of Martha Wolfe's Ritsurin pieces. There were many beautiful pieces at the show. Santa Cruz: Hydranga, a bojagi piece by Martha Wolfe especially spoke to me. I love the multiple layers. I feel like bojagi can't be fully appreciated in photos.  Streaming by Joan Dyer. Waves by Joan Dyer  Ritsurin Koi by Martha Wolfe Blue Bell by Martha Wolfe I'm so glad I got to go to the exhibit in person.  Art is so much better in person!

Thank you to everyone for your great comments! It was a lot of fun to read about how much you all love hand stitching. I hope you will all pick up some thread and needle and get to work! Congratulations to Elizabeth Ferry Pekins! You have won a copy of Lynn's wonderful book, The Hand Stitched Surface.  Send me a PM on Messenger with your address and we will get your book sent out.

My friend, Lynn Krawczyk  of Smudged Design Studio, wrote an awesome book this year. I really admire Lynn's ability to let her art brain fly. She gets a fabulous idea and she just goes for it! I spend too much time telling myself why the idea won't work, but Lynn thinks up fabulous stuff and then writes a book about it. I want to be more like Lynn. The Hand-Stitched Surface is all about creating great mixed media art with hand stitching. I've been doing a lot more hand stitching lately thanks to her book, and I have a tip for you: As I've quilted straight lines on my Thunderstruck quilt and the lines aren't always straight. They are straight-ish. I suppose that is part of the charm of this style of quilting, however as I am finishing the quilt I discovered an easier way to make straighter, better spaced lines and I want to share this simple idea: Fold the fabric over, and finger press (or iron) a line.  You now have a straighter line to follow