Cross Creek and the Clothesline Continues

(Above:  Cross Creek, mini art quilt. 12" x 12". Hand and free-motion machine stitching on a digital image printed on fabric.  Click on any image to enlarge.)

I spend most evenings watching whatever program Steve selects on television but utterly engaged in hand embroidery.  Combining running stitches and tiny seed stitches with free motion embroidery makes the surface texture quite diverse.

 (Above:  Cross Creek, detail.)

When traveling, my lens is often aimed at buildings. I love the lines of architecture and have thought to myself, "Susan, wouldn't it be fun to stitch these lines? Enhance the composition with threads?" Well ... it is fun and I will likely upload more of my pictures to Spoonflower in order to get the digital information printed on basic cotton fabric.  Wouldn't it be nice to have a small collection of different buildings?  Maybe this will happen ... especially during this period of isolation due to the COVID-19 global health scare.

 (Above:  Cross Creek, reverse.)

For the reverse, I used an old doily and a piece of delicate cross stitched crab.  It seemed most fitting ... a creature from the edge of the water ... in cross stitch ... for the back of a mini art quilt about Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' home at Cross Creek.

(Above:  New pieces for my Clothesline, an installation focusing on the benefits of line drying, conserving household energy, and doing things by hand.)

The same friend who gave me the cross stitched crab donated a couple pieces of linen.  I knew just what to do with them!  Turn them into new additions for my Clothesline installation.  While the world is practicing social distancing and everything around me seems to be closed, I find it amazing how important it has become for me to "do things by hand".  The air seems ripe with memories of "olden times", days when laundry meant going outside and using clothespins, when time seemed slower and more deliberate.  Returning to my Clothesline installation felt right.
    

Just after finishing these new additions, I got an email message from another friend.  She has had a box of vintage linens in her car for several weeks ... meaning to drop them off.  Her mother is at high risk.  She wondered if I might want to pick up the box instead of her coming to me.  Of course I said yes!

I'm so glad I did.  The box contained mostly old aprons!  So ... I'm back to tracing my hand print onto fabric, fusing the hand prints with an iron, and stitching around each one!  More are coming.  This is a great way to wait for my copper slating nails to arrive!  Stay safe and healthy!