Stitching News

Remember the daily embroidery piece that I started on New Year's Day? Inspired by Rilke's poem "Abend," it took 94 days to stitch. This past weekend I stretched it over a canvas, along with a couple other daily embroidery pieces. I've entered them in a show planned for January. I won't know the juror's decision until next month—wish me luck!

Would you like to try your hand at stitching? If you're in western Massachusetts, you can learn at Knack: The Art of Clever Reuse, located in the Eastworks Building in Easthampton. There are still a few spots left for my Embroidery Basics workshop this Saturday. All supplies are provided. Hope to see you!

Embroidery Workshops at Knack

I so appreciate the "extra" hour today. It feels luxurious. I spent mine stitching this morning . . .

This is my current wrinkle embroidery piece. I call them that because I begin by randomly wrinkling linen, then stitching along the wrinkle lines in brown thread. Over and around the wrinkle lines, I'm stitching running stitch and French knots in white and cream.

October was so busy. Deadlines to meet and extra hours at the day job and little time for stitching. When I don't have time for daily art practice, I begin to feel low and out of sorts. It's time to get back into my daily embroidery habit, starting today.

This piece will eventually be stretched over a square canvas, like these two:

Bonnie Sennott, Wrinkle Embroidery VII (The Fallen Stars), 2015, perle cotton on linen

Bonnie Sennott, Wrinkle Embroidery VI, 2014, perle cotton on linen

If you're in the vicinity of western Massachusetts and would like to try your hand at embroidery—or maybe get back into it—I invite you to join me for one of my upcoming classes at Knack: The Art of Clever Reuse at Eastworks in Easthampton. I'm teaching Embroidery Basics on Saturday, November 14, and Fun Stitches (colorful embellished and woven stitches) on Saturday, December 5. All supplies are provided.

I hope you have a beautiful Sunday. What are you doing with your "extra" hour?

P.S. The tiny walnut pincushion? It's by Sonia of Cozy Memories.

Spring Stitching and Shop Update

I feel like I'm coming out of a long hibernation. Our spring has been slow in coming, but things are blooming at last. The sun is stronger and that feels so good, even if it is still chilly (41F yesterday!). Today when I went to pick up some early spinach at the farm I belong to, the chickens in one of the greenhouses seemed to be dancing for joy. 

And I've been stitching and sewing up a storm, filling orders for sheep and lamb sachets and project bags. I so enjoy making them—each one has its own personality and brings a smile to my face as I work.

I guess I've really got sunshine and yellow on my mind—maybe it's the forsythia and daffodils starting to bloom all over the place? Yellow's the main color in my new Sunburst project bags and lavender/chamomile sachets. They've just been added to my Etsy shop today.

There are also a few one-of-a-kind bags made with repurposed shirts and tops, fabrics from a creative reuse center, and vintage buttons (below). Unlike the sheep and sunburst designs, these improvisational, one of a kind bags won't be repeated.

If you're in western Massachusetts and would like to try your hand at some colorful embroidery techniques, join me for my Fun Stitches class May 2 at Knack, in the Eastworks building in Easthampton. You'll learn some of the stitches seen here in my sunburst—woven circles and couching—as well as other fun-to-embroider embellished stitches. All materials are provided; you can sign up here.

In knitting news: I've got a new design almost done, the second pattern in my All You Need Is One collection. It's a geometric lace scarf, in a beautiful merino/silk fingering weight from Elemental Affects. Can't wait to show it to you in May!