Another, hand-stitched In Box!

(Above:  Me with In Box CDXXXIV.  Click on any image to enlarge.)

When riding in the car or cargo van for any distance of sixty miles or more, I am generally hand-stitching. Sometimes I'm working on Christmas ornaments.  Sometimes, I'm seed stitching the background of an art quilt.  Sometimes I'm stitching layers of polyester stretch velvet fused to recycled, black industrial felt.  That last one has occupied my recent trips.  More of these hand-stitched In Box pieces are in my future.  Why?  Well ... I've had a bunch of wonderful art commitments recently and have several more in the coming weeks.  So, I've been riding and stitching!  Plus, Steve and I are trying to visit the church we bought every couple weeks.  It's just over two hours away!  That means ... more riding and more stitching!

(Above:  In Box CDXXXIV.  Framed: 20" x 16".  Totally hand-stitched and then exposed to intense heat, my signature "melting technique".)

On Friday, Steve and I will be attending the reception for The Gap Between Art and Life, the inaugural installation art biannual at the College of Central Florida in Ocala.  I have three works in this exhibit. We continue on to my Artist Talk at the Morris Center for Lowcountry Heritage in Ridgeland, SC.  On the 31st, we will deliver my solo show to Rocky Mount's Imperial Centre in North Carolina ... and then it is back to Florida for another Artist Talk on September 6th!  That's plenty of time for riding and stitching!

(Above:  Detail of In Box CDXXXIV.)

Recently, I finished a similar piece.  It was blogged HERE.  It was also shared to social media.  As a result, a nice lady in Washington State purchased it.  Another wonderful woman in New York inquired just after the sale happened.  I promised her "first refusal" on this work.  This morning, she bought it!  I'm totally over the moon about this.  I'm also already stitching the next one.  

 

(Above:  Steve and I during our most recent visit to our future home/fiber art studio in the old Cateechee Mill Village's brick church!)

I started the next hand-stitched In Box piece on the drive to and from Cateechee!  We were thrilled to see two more openings cut between the second floor of the "home area" (former Sunday school rooms and church offices) and the sanctuary.  The two narrower but taller openings will be for the stained glass we already own and have enjoyed in our current living room.  We thought we would have to leave them with Mouse House.  Now, however, they will be moving too!

(Above:  The opening for one of our two stained glass pieces!)