Red/Green Beads
I bought a book called "One Bead at a Time" by Robin Atkins. I got to work.
I picked a few beads I like and started making patterns, then repeating them. This is the result of one of my first bead embroidery efforts.
Montmartre, France
France, 2002. One of the years Lance Armstrong won. Eric, my dad and I cycled legendary mountain passes and rode the Tour de France route alongside the riders. It was unforgettable.
While in Paris, we wandered through Montmartre and found a street famous for textiles. That’s where I picked up a piece of french blue fabric — a textile souvenir.
For years, the fabric sat untouched. One day, I started stitching beads in the pattern. The design came alive — textured, sparkling, and it had our French memories in it!
Now, every time I see it, I remember France: the famous climbs, the cobblestones, the food, the time with my dad and Eric.
Santa Fe Snowflakes
Yet another stocking inspired by a trip to Santa Fe with my friend Christy.
We bought the silk ribbon at the top at an amazing fabric store, and this stocking will always remind me of that trip.
This stocking is also my first freehand cross stitch. I used leftover threads from another project and began sewing snowflakes, then later added beads.
Ruth Donut Sunday
This stocking is another homage to our family tradition, Donut Sunday. This is Ruth taking the first bite of her pink donut.
Ruth is made out of paint chips and the chips are sewn onto the fabric.
I learned something important while making this stocking. In the finish work, you sew the right sides of fabric together, then turn them inside out. As it turns out, the paint chips were fairly inflexible in the turn.
Oh well. Live and learn. Next time I use paint chips, I won't make a solid mass.
Maggie Donut Sunday
When our kids were little, we had a family tradition called Donut Sunday.
Every week, we’d walk to King Soopers, and the kids would each pick out a donut — the highlight of their weekend. The tradition wasn’t just the donuts, though. It was the moment they took the first bite. I’d snap a photo. Over time, the photos turned into a time-lapse of childhood.
Maggie’s bite was always the biggest, the most enthusiastic — eyes wide, mouth open, joy.
In this piece, Maggie’s hair is made from paint chips I found at the hardware store, hand-cut and sewn onto the fabric. Her shirt is a scrap of cloth from my friend Christy, who used the same material to sew a handbag. And the “a” in her name? That’s a mini donut, of course.