When the Work Begins to Whisper
I have spent a lot of time stitching this week.
Wimbledon has been playing in the background, the soccer matches have kept me on the edge of my seat, and somewhere between all those hours of hand stitching, I finished my All About Pink textile book. I’m also about halfway through my Japan book, and I’m loving every minute of it.
As I stitched, I found myself thinking about something I hadn’t really noticed until someone asked me a simple question.
“Are you still making quilts?”
Without hesitation, I answered, “Not really.”
The answer surprised me.
For more than forty years, quilting was such a large part of my creative life. Piecing, patchwork, quilting, teaching, designing – those things shaped who I became as a textile artist.
But somewhere along the way, something shifted.
Not suddenly. Quietly.
These days, I find myself reaching for vintage linens instead of yardage. Antique lace instead of borders. Tiny buttons, worn fabrics, little scraps with histories of their own. I spend hours hand stitching, adding layer upon layer, slowly building textile books that feel deeply personal.
And I couldn’t be happier.
I’ve been trying to understand why.
Why books?
Why slow stitching?
Why now?
I don’t think it’s because I’ve stopped loving quilts. Quite the opposite. Everything I learned from quilting still lives in my hands. I still think about balance, colour, value, texture and composition.
Only now, instead of composing with large pieces of fabric, I’m composing with fragments.
Sometimes I think of it as writing music.
A musician chooses one note at a time, listening for what comes next. That’s how these books feel. One scrap beside another. A piece of lace that reminds me of my grandmother. A worn handkerchief. A faded piece of linen collected years ago in France or Australia. Each element has a story before it ever becomes part of mine.
I’m not simply decorating pages.
I’m composing memories.
Perhaps that’s what has changed most.
I also realized something else.
I don’t really want to work large anymore.
For years I made quilts that filled design walls and exhibition spaces. They still live carefully downstairs, waiting patiently. They’re part of my journey, and I treasure them. When we have careers, deadlines, classes to teach, quilts to enter, techniques to master, we’re often making work that belongs to a particular stage of life. Now, I am making work that belongs entirely to me.
But this season of my life feels different.
These smaller pieces ask me to slow down. To notice. To enjoy the quiet rhythm of needle and thread. They fit comfortably in my hands, and somehow they fit comfortably in my life too.
There is something wonderfully intimate about a textile book.
A quilt is usually viewed from a distance.
A book is held.
Someone turns the pages slowly, discovering little details one at a time. The conversation unfolds gently, page after page.
Perhaps that’s what keeps calling me back.
Not because I have something to prove.
Not because I need another project.
Simply because I have another story to tell.
Maybe our creative lives are meant to evolve.
Maybe we’re not meant to keep making the same work forever.
Maybe, if we’re lucky, we eventually find the place where the work feels less like effort and more like coming home.
Right now, surrounded by vintage fabrics, old lace, bits of embroidery, and the quiet rhythm of slow stitching, I think I’ve found my happy place. And it is a lovely place to be.
Thank you for reading. Until I write again, I will enjoy every page of these books. I have a feeling they’re not just books – they’re becoming a record of where I am in my life as an artist. And that’s something rather special.
Ana
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Ana, your thoughts
Thanks
Love that you are evolving, so interesting to see your creative journey.
Thank you so much
Beautiful, Ana. I love your work, and am so glad I met you.
Thank you Kathi.
Hello Ana,
It’s so nice to hear that you’re recognizing all of the little nuances of how art and stitching in particular make us feel. Feel about the past and the present and how we growing and always learning. Much cheaper/better than any other therapy too!
Enjoy your stitching, whatever type it is, slow, small, intimate, whatever the moment brings for you.
I enjoy reading about your journey and find many connections to my own.
Cheers,
Marion
Thanks Marion for your words. And yes, I agree with you. Stitching is much cheaper than therapy and more fun too!
This feels like journalling but with fabrics instead, philately but with leftover fabrics instead, something like herbarium but not with leaves. Kinda cool…
Thank you
I could have written this post. I turned 90 last year and formally gave up making textile art wall hangings and like you started making smaller stuff out of bits and pieces, laces , old lines, yo-yos, made many years ago out of my husbands old shirts ana my children’s old clothes. I started making littleembroideredcontainers, for pencils pens etc, i make like you little books and snippet rolls which my grandchildren sneak off with,now I make little stuffed fabric hearts with hug embroidered , I give these along with cash to the homeless begging at street corners or to anyone I think needs a little hug. . The first time I gave one to a homeless man, his face just lit up, certainly made y day. I always keep a bunch of these in my bag for easy giveaway. There is life beyond formal textile art.🤗👍I do enjoy your posts,
It is so good to hear from you Marilyn and to see that you are still making art. Small art is still art. And I love the idea of making hug hearts and giving them away to those who need one. Brilliant. Thank you for sharing your work. Keep making the world a beautiful place – one heart at a time! Love to you
I have been making snippet rolls for a few years now, they are about 18 to 24inches long and I roll them onto wooden bobbins and keep them in a bowl on my coffee table but not any more my granddaughters and daughters keep pinching them . I still keep them in a big bowl but not in plain sight😊. Idon’tquiltor do textile art anymore Iam doing more stitchers and belong to a lovely group in Berlin led by Anastasia, The group is called Why not Stitching and I love her work, her first book on her lovely style of Stitching is being released on Amazon at the end of the month. I have already preordered mine. I love your newsletters and always look forward to reading them . Thank you.
It is always so good to hear from you Marilyn. I am happy to hear you are making snippet rolls – and they must be wonderful if your daughters keep pinching them :) I do know about Anastasia and her Why not Stitching group. She makes some lovely work. I will have to keep an eye out for her book.
I am glad to hear you like reading my writings. You take good care of yourself and keep making wonderful stitched snippet rolls. If I was closer and could visit, I would probably want to take one with me too. Sending you love,