Tangled Stitch

This little cardinal can be seen at the Albany Shaker Christmas Show starting tomorrow from 10 to 4 Monday through Saturday ending on December 17th. You can see him and his friends Santa and Snowman and Bluebird along with various other friends made by many different talented artists. As I'm sure you know I am just the biggest fan of the Albany Shaker craft fairs as they are wonderfully run and feature such a wonderful array of talented artists and crafters. If you are in the area of the Albany International Airport please leave a little extra time and go check out the goods. I also chose this little cardinal in honor of those baseball Cardinals. First let me make it clear I am not a Cardinals fan but a Mets fan(which I will return to as soon as this series is over). That being said I think the Cardinals are an inspiration to everyone and everything. There is something so wonderful about a team that was essentially out of the playoff race in the end of August to get to play a...

I love to do French Knots, they are my favorite stitch(as if you didn't know that already). This piece is hand embroidered entirely with french knots on black fabric. I always thought of it as an explosion but my friend Carrie saw a rose and darn if she didn't make me see it too. It was so much fun to make. I may do another one in different colors on watercolored fabric. I took a closeup for Diane. She gave me the suggestion to add closeups to my blog and I think it was a wonderful suggestion. Diane makes the most lovely art quilts(you can see her blog on my blogroll, designed by Diane Evans). They are so colorful and whimsical and she is quite accomplished. This blog post is a quick one as I am soon on my way to a member meeting at Valley Artisans Market so see you soon. Keep stitching!

Hi! Today was a great day! I did the St. Clement's craft fair and had a marvelous time. I met many nice people, got a load of compliments on my work and sold these three new pieces which I had just finished this past week. They played Michael Bubles singing the standards. It had one of my favorite songs on it, I Only Have Eyes for You(although I still like the Art Garfunkel version better). I wanted it to be my wedding song but the band didn't know it. I met an adorable 3 year old named Martin, saw my old friend Carrie, and made a makeshift frame for the embroidery piece I was planning on working on all day only to discover I didn't bring a hoop, horrors. I used the frame with my artist statement in it and borrowed some duct tape from the ladies running the show. Not as comfortable or as practical as a hoop but it worked. At least a dozen people told me I must have a lot of patience and I told them that embroidery teaches me patience which I actually have very littl...

Hi All! It is a beautiful time of year up here in Upstate New York. The trees are absolutely magnificent. I feel very blessed to see such beauty right out my front door. Tomorrow I am driving up to Cambridge to work at Valley Artisans Market and I am looking forward to the scenic drive and the wonderful energy that is present at VAM. I love to work there, both with the customers and on my embroidery. There is something special about working in a place filled with beauty and somehow that beauty can be felt in the energy there. Can't really explain it. Autumn Tree is hand embroidered on tea stained fabric and can be purchased at Valley Artisans Market. I love to hand embroider trees and I loved using all the different fall colors in the piece. I hope someone enjoys it as much as I enjoyed making it. Gotta run. Back to work! Keep stitching

Hi All! I started embroidering this piece years ago, I finished it early this year and have been waiting till I properly framed it before sharing it. I can't seem to find the right frame for it so here it is. I think this piece is my favorite piece of all time. It speaks for the world as I see it. It is a windy, circular, map of my mind metaphorically. It stops and starts, it is beautiful and it has to be looked at closely to be appreciated(maybe not all that closely). I think life is an unending line of stops and starts. Things move smoothly along and then they hit a fork or a ditch or a speed bump and move in a completely different direction. I started embroidering when I was about 6 years old. My grandmother taught me how to do it. I had a rather complicated childhood, filled with much loss and chaos and the needlearts were my escape and my constant. Whenever something was going on in my life, I made something. Be it an afghan, or a sampler or a bedspread. Not...