The Quiet Before the Show
There is a very particular kind of chaos that happens in my studio in the days before a show.
It involves kits spread across tables, samples that need finishing, things being counted and then counted again, small wonderful packages being packed and priced. And the inevitable question: What on earth am I going to take with me to work on?
This week has been mostly about getting ready for Grand Rapids. Kits are finished. Samples are done. Things have been packed, unpacked, rearranged and packed again. I have tried to be sensible about what I actually need to take with me.
And then there is the stitching.
Because apparently, even when I am going away to work with textiles, I feel the need to bring something with me so that I can stitch.
Just in case.
Just in case I feel like it at the airport during the 5-hour layover.
Just in case I have an unexpected hour between things.
Just in case I suddenly feel like sitting quietly in my hotel room to get some stitching done.
I have finally finished packing, which means I am now in that peculiar stage of getting ready to leave where I start doing all the little things that have absolutely nothing to do with the show.
The garbage needs to go out.
The kitchen is tidy? Check!.
Because there is something very satisfying about knowing that when I come home tired around midnight, with a suitcase full of dirty clothes and probably a few things I didn’t need to take in the first place, I won’t have to walk into a messy house.
So here I am, on the eve of leaving, taking out the garbage and looking around my studio.
It is quiet now.
Tomorrow, the quiet will be replaced by a busy show floor, conversations, textiles, new ideas, familiar faces and probably a little bit of exhaustion.
And somewhere in my suitcase, tucked between the things I actually need, there will be a small stitching project.
Whether it ever comes out of the bag is another question entirely. But I like knowing it’s there.
Sometimes it’s not really about getting the stitching done. Sometimes it’s simply about knowing that you brought a little piece of your creative life with you.
Thanks for reading. Until I write again …
Ana
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Thank you for sharing Ana. It brought me back to the days and hours before having a solo show of a Quilt series I named ComfortHER Quilt Project. There were seven quilts all designed with images to empower those who have been abused. Only when called by the Gallery did I realize that I had left a sleeve off of one of the quilts. It was a scrambled to go to a friend‘s home close to the Gallery with a sleeve that I constructed on my machine and attach it to the Quilt on her machine. It was such a scramble. The chaos continued prior to the opening, a demonstration on illustration with thread and my presentation on the making and meaning of ComfortHER quilts. I loved being brought back in time this morning reading your post. Good luck in all your endeavors.
Your solo show sounds amazing! It’s always a scramble before a show or an exhibit or anything that puts your work out there. Congratulations on making it!
Ana, this is beautiful! I can totally relate to your musings. Besides taking out the garbage, I’ll run around cleaning refrig, writing notes to friends that should have been written months ago! I usually bring a knitting project or 2 and my Art journal. I’m lost w/ o those things but realize I may never get to them. Just a bit of insurance against boredom which rarely happens.
Hi Ana, thank you for your Newsletter. I am going to the Quilt show in September in Columbus, Ohio and so want to meet you and take a class. However, one of your classes is already full and the other classes at the same time as a workshop I wanted to take on Thursday, which is all day with Joyce Hughes. I’m trying to figure out what to do. Maybe take a different class from Joyce so I’m going to contact her as well so I can take your Thursday class 1 to 4.I’m going to Quilt Canada in Calgary next year staying with my sister-in-law in order to attend and make the cost less expensive. I’m pretty excited. Hopefully you are also teaching there if I don’t get to take your class this time.Just wanted to say hello and wish you all the best and safe travels and thank you for your newslettersPat DaviesCornwall, Ontario
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I do exactly the same thing. I can’t go on any sort of road trip without having something to work on “just in case “.
It’s a comfort thing, I guess.😊
I wrote to you a while back about your emails coming into my mailbox looking like they are from Maria Shell. And as I said back then, it isn’t that I don’t want your emails, but I think both you and Maria would like them to show up as coming from you.
I just received another one today, and am including images so you can see what they look like.

Thanks,
Donalee
donaleedesigns https://www.donaleedesigns.com/ 520-465-4943
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Well, you nailed it. I searched my Contacts for comment-reply@wordpress.com comment-reply@wordpress.com and there it was, sitting on Maria\’s card under \”other”. So every WordPress email I get, from anybody, has been arriving with Maria\’s name on it. I deleted that line and left her real address alone. My apologies to you both for sending you looking at your settings when the whole thing was on my machine. Thank you for the quick and generous answer. Any yes technology drives me crazy too, but at the same time I also love it!
Off to Grand Rapids in the morning. Ana, I hope to see you there!
Warmly,
Donalee
donaleedesigns https://www.donaleedesigns.com/ 520-465-4943
>
Glad it got resolved. It was lovely to see you in Grand Rapids.