What a Year

This has been a chaotic and challenging year. 2025 has also brought things to celebrate—a marriage, a new grandchild and wonderful times gathered with friends and family. I have wanted to “meet the moment” with the art I made this year and here are a few snippets from the Wayfinder and Mind Map series, and one outlier called “Flood the Zone”—guess which one—that I made for a Women’s Caucus for Art Fall of Freedom event. Watch for Instagram previews of my new Openhearted series, now in progress.

Reading List

I have read some good books that I would like to share: Heartwood by Amity Gage; Birnam Wood, by Eleanor Catton; Playground by Richard Powers; Guilty by Definition by Susie Dent; The Artist and the Feast by Lucy Steeds; Amity by Nathan Harris; and Heart the Lover by Lily King. Just for fun, try The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, by Beth Brower.

May the new year bring open hearts and stiffer spines. Let us seek to welcome the stranger, care for the hungry and sick, demand justice and stand with our fellow humans in need. May it be so.

Happy New Year and best wishes for 2026.

Gratitude

This is a busy season and a time to step back and be thankful for so much in my life. I had the wonderful opportunity to be on the Friday Feature Artist Interview Podcast with Angela Truscott from TakeTwo Art Courses (you may know as Fiber Art Take Two). I was nervous, but Angela is a very welcoming and experienced interviewer and our conversation flowed. This interview has connected me to artists from all over the world and I am so grateful for this wider community of creative people. Have a listen by clicking the link above.

I have some artwork out in the world. Mind Map: Overthinking continues at Visions Museum of Textile Art, San Diego, in Interpretations (the catalog for this exhibit is lovely). Mind Map: Compartments is showing at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles in Quilt National 25. Another mind map, Everything, All at Once, has been accepted for Art Quilt Elements at the Wayne Art Center, PA. That’s a lot of mind-mapping. Two pieces from the Wayfinder series are currently showing in Auburn NY at the Schweinfurth Center in Quilts=Art=Quilts.

Here are a few books I have read: Ruth, by Kate Riley; The Good Liar, by Denise Mina; Falling Angels, by Tracey Chevalier; Heft, by Liz Moore; Hemlock and Silver, by T. Kingfisher, and The Fox Wife, by Yangsz Choo.

Best wishes for a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Everything, All at Once

This month I have finished the last three pieces in my Mind Map series. These are made using red linen upholstery weight fabric that I was able to get inexpensively because it was 4 yards, but cut in two pieces. I made it work for the three artworks. There is some direct mark-making using black textile paint, and the other elements are appliqued and embroidered with many, many stitches.

The Mind Maps are about how we process information. The current strategy of “flooding the zone” has scrambled my thinking, leaving me overwhelmed and feeling powerless. In these last three red Mind Maps I was frantically stitching through the firehose of breaking news.

Two works from Her Armory are at the South Bend Museum of Art, in Hear Our Voices, an IWCA member show. Next week I will ship Mind Map: Overthinking to Visions Museum of Textile Art, San Diego, for Visions: Interpretations, opening October 17. Check out two other Mind Maps in the Art Quilt Network virtual exhibit Right Here Right Now

Here are a few Reading Suggestions: I loved Run for the Hills, by Kevin Wilson (in print), The Midnight Feast, by Lucy Foley; The Book of Love, by Kelly Link; Murder at Gull’s Nest, by Jess Kidd; The Frozen People, by Emily Griffiths, and some comfort reading, Mansfield Park, by Jane Austin.

Mind Map: Everything, All at Once, 53 × 28”, linen, cotton, silk noil, hand embroidered and stitched

Summer Stitching

It is difficult for me to believe that August is almost here. I have been busy in the garden hoping for more rain, staying cool on the hottest days. Lots of fun visiting with family and grandkids (5!) and that helps me keep my equilibrium. So much just doesn’t make sense to me right now and lots of hand stitching gives my mind some space. So, a lovely photo of my back border in bloom. You can see our solar light string on the fence. I decided to move my tomatoes to a sunnier spot out in the alley by our garage and they are enormous!

I have several pieces out in the world right now. In New Legacies, at the Lincoln Center Galleries in Fort Collins, CO, Mind Map: Thinking Routines, is on exhibit through August 22. Wayfinder: Along a Twisted Path has been accepted for the SDA Exhibition in Print, coming soon. Mind Map: Compartments in Quilt National at the Dairy Barn in Athens OH, continues through September 1.

Summer Books: Here are a few titles I have enjoyed. First, on audio, Red Dog Farm, by Nathaniel Ian Miller; The Antidote, by Karen Russell; A Drop of Corruption, by Robert Jackson Bennett; Migrations, by Charlotte McConaghy. And in paper, Gliff, by Ali Smith; The List of Suspicious Things, by Jennie Godfrey; The Book of Records, by Madaleine Thien; and The Rental House, by Weike Wang.

Compartments

Mind Map: Compartments is now showing in Quilt National 25. This is one of a series of three I made using a lovely piece of vintage handwoven linen that I sourced on eBay. The linen was only about 24” wide and I divided the cloth into three roughly same size lengths, backing each with another, slightly wider piece of linen. The visual elements are added on top, in a collage technique, using thousands of hand stitches. The artist statement is simple:

“A mind map can be described as thinking made visible. By pulling a threaded needle through cloth, each stitch helps me organize my own thoughts, see connections and try to make sense of the world.”

I have leaned on the slow and meditative process of hand stitching to work through some of the overwhelming preoccupation of a very troubled time. Each of us needs to ask, “what is a good life?”, and I believe it is one that is filled with arts and culture, education and discovery, compassion and tolerance, truth and fairness. On this Memorial Day, I am mindful that so many have been called to the service of our democracy. We will best honor them by steadfastly protecting these hard won freedoms.

Here are some books I have read lately: North is the Night, by Emily Rath; The Book of Speculation, by Erica Swyler; The Night of the Scourge, by Lars Mytting; Dream State, by Eric Puchner; The Jackal’s Mistress, by Chris Bohjalian (all as print books) and on audio, The Berry Pickers, by Amanda Peters and Pony Confidential, by Christina Lynch.

Mind Map: Compartments, 58 x 29”, linen, cotton, button

Mind Map: Compartments, (detail)

Move slow and mend things...

I think we have seen what “moving fast and breaking things” looks like and I would suggest that slowing down and mending things is a better way to move forward. A few weeks ago I attended the Art Quilt Network spring retreat and Deborah Griffing led us through an intriguing workshop focused on altered images. I had a few color images of my own stitching scanned and printed and began layering them into a tiny repurposed board book, about 3 x 3”. When I got home, I made a few more little books, and then moved on to creating books without the copied images. So, I am moving slowly, layering, mending and stitching on all kinds of paper. This has been restorative, and fun. Maybe subversive stitching.

Here are a few books I have read: In print: Our Endless Numbered Days, by Claire Fuller; Guide Me Home, by Attica Locke; The Ancients, by John Larrison; Shy Creatures, by Clare Chambers and on audio, Stoneyard Devotional, by Charlotte Wood, Three Days in June, by Anne Tyler, Big Girl, Small Town, by Michelle Gallen.

Wayfinder

.This has been a long and difficult month. I am struggling with feeling overwhelmed and estranged, and sometimes the best way to work through that is to simply start stitching. I often talk about the protective qualities of hand stitching and it sure beats doom-scrolling.

Wayfinder, Wool, hand embroidered and stitched, 40 x 40”

The Wayfinder series is about possibility and hope. Through an entrance or portal, we navigate a labyrinth of challenges and find a way through. There is strength in making the journey together, trusting each other and believing in our collective resilience and creativity.

I have some art out in the world. First, I am pleased to be included in the SAQA Virtual Exhibition Connection With Fabric, click the link to see all the artworks. I am exhibiting at Epiphany Center for the Arts in Chicago. Helen Geglio & Anders Zanichkowsky GUARDIAN THREADS opens March 28. Read more about Anders, his beautiful burial blankets and the exhibit here. Apron Strings: Milestones and Between is traveling to Florida for the SDA Exhibit Spaces Between at Florida CraftArt in St. Petersburg.

Reading List: The Half of It, by Juliette Faye; The Gray Wolf, by Louise Penny; The Ministry of Time, by Kaliane Bradley (all in print), and Creation Lake, by Rachel Kushner; The House in the Cerulean Sea, by TJ Klune; Held, by Ann Michaels, and God of the Woods, by Liz Moore (all on audio).

Mind Mapping 2025

The Indiana Women’s Caucus for Art will be exhibiting at Moreau Gallery, St. Mary’s College, Notre Dame, IN. January 23-February 28. Impressions is the theme and I made two pieces in my Mind Map series that incorporate simple printing techniques. I cut several foam stamp shapes and incised them with lines, then stamped the hand-dyed linen with white textile paint. These white shapes formed the structure for my stitching.

I was introduced to the idea of mind maps when I was taking an online graduate education course for license renewal back in the summer of 2011. I used the idea in my own teaching after that and revisited the idea in 2024 for this series. So far, there are five pieces in the series. Here is the artist statement:

A mind map can be described as thinking made visible. By pulling a threaded needle through cloth, each stitch helps me organize my own thoughts, see connections and try to make sense of the world.

Books

In print, Fake Like Me, by Barbara Bourland (this is a complex story about art and artists); Enlightenment, by Sarah Perry; Bright I Burn, by Molly Aitken and The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins. On audio, Cahokia Jazz, by Francis Spufford, Remarkably Bright Creatures, by Shelby Van Pelt; You Are Here, by David Nichols; The Mighty Red, by Louise Erdrich; and Bear, by Julia Phillips.

Best wishes for 2025!

Mind Map: Scattered Thoughts, 62 x 29”, stamped linen and cotton.

Detail

Hometown Exhibit

Now through January 5, some of my work will be on display at the South Bend Museum of Art in Whip Stitch, an exhibit of contemporary quilts. I have been so excited to have my artworks shown in the beautiful Warner Gallery, right here in my hometown. What a wonderful opportunity to introduce my art to friends and family over the next two months. Many thanks to SBMA for including me in this exhibit. Here are the other wonderful fiber artists on view: Julie Farver, Zak Foster, Luke Haynes and Nicole Leth, Jenny Hurth, Ai Kijima, Amanda Nadig, Heidi Parkes, Angee Turner and Sherri Lynn Wood.

This has been a difficult couple of weeks for me. I am struggling with disappointment, anger and dread…and have channeled some of that negative energy into some restorative stitching. What else is there?

I have some art heading into the world: Playing with Fire has been selected for SAQA Global Primal Forces: Fire; Mind Map: Compartments has been sent to the Dairy Barn for Quilt National; Ordinary Oracle: Talismanic Cloth was selected for the SDA online exhibit Material Flux (see the entire exhibit here) and Chemistry is currently on exhibit in Quilts=Art=Quilts at the amazing Schweinfurth Art Center in Auburn, NY.

Reading List

I have not posted for awhile, so I am listing some of my top picks from these past couple of months. The Truth According to Us, by Annie Burrows; Wedding People, by Alison Espach; Catalina, by Karla Cornejo; Death at the Sign of the Rook, by Kate Atkinson and Tell Me Everything, by Elizabeth Stroud.

I am resolved to look for beauty and delight in the people and things around me and not get caught up in the hourly churn of our political mess. That may be a heavy lift.

Her Armory

I have taken the summer off from my newsletter, tending to the garden, sewing new work, teaching a wonderful week-long workshop at Quilting by the Lake (nice sampler video from the Schweinfurth here) and traveling to see family and friends. Here is a quick look at a piece in the Her Armory series. The brigandines were included in the SDA member exhibit, Interplay, at the Dairy Barn, Athens, OH. The artist statement for the series follows:

Her Armory is a series of protective objects for women in an uncertain and troubling time.  I have used reclaimed wool from sweaters, blankets and shawls to create a conceptual armor of resilience and strength in the face of a world turned on end.

Her Armory: Woolen Brigandines, 29 x 46 x 1, felted wool, embroidered and hand stitched

These were a lot of fun to make, needle felting wool rivets, creating layered woolen “plates”, and using some hand felted wool bats. There are more works in this series and I hope to have others on exhibit (and posted in the newsletter) soon. I will have three pieces from the Apron Strings series at the South Bend Museum of Art in Whip Stitch, opening at the end of September, and three pieces at the Blue Spiral Gallery, Asheville NC, in Common Thread, September 6 through October 23. Details to follow here and on Instagram.

Here are some titles I have been reading: In print, The Cemetery of Untold Stories, by Julia Alvarez; Piglet, by Lottie Hazell; The Road from Bellhaven, by Margaret Livesey; Hum, by Helen Phillips; and Burn, by Peter Heller. On audio, The Glassmaker, by Tracey Chevalier; The Tiger’s Wife, by Tea Obreht; Sandwich, by Catherine Newman, and James, by Percival Everett. Plus a whole bunch of lighter fare.