Happy 2023! Are you ready?

January always feels like a brand new beginning. Anything is possible! We can start over, look to the future and choose wherever we want to go.

The holidays are over and there are no distractions. I can step into my studio and focus on my work.

I’m just now finishing up a couple of pieced jackets. I start with kimono silk scraps from past work. I sew the little pieces together into blocks, then lay them out until they flow together and look right.

It’s kind of like a water color, where the process dictates the outcome.

As I lay out the pieces I check out the composition by taking snap shots along the way. Why is it that a photo helps to look at the overall design? Back in the day, artists would turn their work upside down to see how the balance and composition was working. Or, they’d look in a mirror. The camera in my phone serves the same purpose. And a bonus, I have a record of what I’ve been working on.

Also in the works, an appliqué piece, now ready for hand sewing.

Scraps from the main body of the jacket were cut into squares and pinned along the bottom panel.

A detail. Next up, some time spent appliquéing them in place.

To you, I am sending all my wishes for a very happy 2023!

And all the time, with no distractions, that you’ll need to pursue your passions.