I can’t believe it’s been so long since I posted on here! Life sometimes gets in the way.
I am continuing with my fabric collages and felting - both needle felting and wet felting.
This latest piece of slow stitchery was done in response to a trip to Mendocino with friends. I loved the coast there - so many wildflowers and cute little houses. My vision was to look down on the coast from above. I tried to make the little islands in the ocean more three dimensional with some padding, then I embroidered over the top. This technique was so much fun I will incorporate it into future pieces. It would also be fun to make more map type pieces, perhaps for fantasy places?
As a little side journey with textile art I decided to try making some wet felt pieces for wall hangings. They are all on a small scale - wet felting is a physical process and small pieces are much easier to create.
#1Lake Tahoe
I’ve done some wet felting just playing around with patterns and colors but this was my first time trying to make something recognizable. It was somewhat successful. During the process of making felt inevitably the fibers move around a little so it is hard to make defined shapes, especially on a small scale. I did have to needle felt the edges a little in order to bring back the Lake Tahoe shape, but that wasn’t too hard. I had fun finding beads to go with the piece and if you look very closely you will see tiny beads lodged in the cracks in the wood hanger.
#2 Abstract wall hanging
This is part of a joint project with my friend Sue. I made a bunch of felted pieces and then we each chose some to make a hanging with. The long piece on the right was created by using one layer red and orange wool for the backing. Then I made the turquoise/yellow “sausages” of wool (just partially felted) and laid them on top. I then layered more red and orange wool as a top layer. I felted the piece until it was almost done, then cut off the top layer of red wool to reveal the strips of turquoise. I then felted the piece fully.
The red square piece was very experimental, using silk, and knitting wool to create patterns. this was where I learned the cutting to reveal technique used on the long piece.
When I started to put the pieces together I began with beads from my stash, but then decided to make some felt beads instead. These were pretty quick and easy to make and I liked the look of them.
Sue found the great piece of wood that I used as my hanger. It has some wonderful insect damage on it which she knew I would love. To complete the piece and add a bit more texture I included some Liquid Amber seed heads and Alder catkins from my stash of natural goodies.
I make art in response to places and events that resonate with me and create deep feelings, usually of joy and beauty. However, last year I started working on a new series of fabric pieces with a feminist/political theme. This is where things take a darker turn — or become a rallying call, depending on your point of view.
I stayed with my 12” x 12” slow stitch parameters. The current government is busy reducing us to our narrowly defined sexual parts so I worked with the uterus as a symbol for women. Using fabric from my stash and found objects, I created three initial explorations of my feelings and ideas. These pieces expand on the three dimensional aspects of previous slow stitch pieces, as you will see from the side views.
#1 and #2 were selected for a juried exhibition at the Museum of Northern California Art in Chico. The show was called “Don’t Kill The Messenger” and ran August 28th through October 12th 2025.
#1 Silencing Women - (Zip it Bitch)
I began this with piecing with the background and then sewing the uterus on top. I wanted to incorporate the lovely red zip from my stash and played with several ideas before this emerged.
The label “State Property” was created in photoshop and printed in reverse. I then coated the print with acrylic medium and placed it onto cotton fabric. When it had dried I moistened the back of the image and gently scraped the paper off, leaving the image now attached to the fabric. With this first one I just pinned the label to the uterus. With the later ones I applied it to the fabric I made the uterus out of.
Black is a symbol of mourning in our culture and I had some nice black ribbon in my stash which I decided would make a good “frame” for the piece. I also embroidered a “title” which I sewed on to the ribbon frame. This became a staple for each of my subsequent pieces.
#2 Policing Reproductive Rights - (A mIscarriage of Justice)
The USA prides itself on its amazing healthcare. However, maternal mortality rates in the US are way higher than other wealthy countries. Those rates are going up, even as maternal and infant mortality rates in the rest of the world go down. Around 30% of pregnancies end in miscarriage. In states with abortion bans women miscarrying are being left untreated and dying of sepsis because doctors are fearful of being charged with abortion. Women suffering a miscarriage have be arrested and charged with various crimes including, abuse of a corpse, aggravated assault, wrongful death, concealing the death of another person, and abandonment of a dead body. In several states Republicans are working to introduce legislation that would charge women who have an abortion, or a suspicious miscarriage, with homicide. Most of those states have the death penalty.
I chose some simple flour sack material for the background here and then added thin black ribbon and stitches for the symbolic prison/barbed wire look. After I sewed the uterus on I added the rusty chain.
#3 Broken Promises - (We Will Protect You)
The patriarchy states that it will “protect” women, but then takes away our right to bodily autonomy. This misbegotten belief that women are too inferior, vulnerable, or stupid to be in charge of their own destiny has been used so often in the past.
I had fun figuring out how to make a “cage” out of gold ribbon. I wanted the uterus this time to have a look of innocence so I covered up the red with lace and a fine handkerchief fabric. I also wanted to provide a plinth for the cage and that led me to think about statues on plinths. They usually have some kind of comment or tribute beneath them and I chose a latin saying “Quo Vadis” which means “where are you going?” Around the cage I embroidered, using bullion stitch and french knots, around 180 “penises” –– to protect that poor innocent uterus from itself!
After the fact I recently discovered a quote by RBG which totally sums up my piece -
“This pedestal that many of us have thought that women are on, in reality, too often turns out to be a cage.”
