Wow, hello 2026
It's already been quite something, hasn't it?
Hello 👋
And a special hello to new subscribers!! It’s fantastic to have you here - thank you for joining me, and welcome! Please say hello in the comments, I’d love to get to know you and your particular brand of creativity.
My To-Do list on my brand new whiteboard* had four things this week:
Make and finish a piece of work. Something I utterly failed to do before the end of the year and I had all autumn to do it so yeah, doing something in a week seems totally reasonable
Make ten cards. Again…
Newsletter. TICK. Did that on Monday! Hit the ground running, and got it out the door before lunchtime. I think I peaked too soon…
Substack…
*my latest attempt at manifesting productivity; how long do you give it?
So here we are at 17:26 on Friday at Thing 4…and I’m still not sure what I’m going to write. I had a few ideas, but then the world proceeded to implode.
America is on fire (there are no adequate words, but I’m thinking of you and if I prayed I’d be doing that too) and the UK and Europe, not content with plunging back into another ice age, are now being blown apart by 100mph winds. It’s been so cold in the house during the day, I’ve been in the full Norwegian plus thermals and have had my showers at the gym, just for the joy of underfloor heating.
I discovered I had an issue with notebooks and sketchbooks, despite swearing off them (and yes, I will be writing about this again and soon) and then caught a boring cold and cough from Child (nice to see you for New Year, thank you for the illness).
The cherry on the cake is our car - after getting us back from south-west France (very nice, thank you, I’m now half-croissant, quarter pink-fizzy, quarter dark chocolate) - failing in a clunky-chuggy-expensive sort of way and now at the garage for a week while we sell a kidney or two to pay for the repairs.
However
Despite all that, I’ve soldiered on and I’m pleased with my progress towards no. 1 on that list. I’m now only 11-buttons-to-stitch away from finishing the worst of this little piece
I also took about 20 minutes to rummage through a box of painted fabrics from a few years ago, and piece together a quick collage - that’ll be my next piece to finish (why finish other things that are waiting in the wings - let’s start something new!)
This one’s going to be a challenge. The button piece is fun, playful, I kind of like the way it’s neat and tidy but also a little unpredictable as if carefully arranging all the coloured buttons so they didn’t repeat or look too regular is unpredictable…ok, moving on…
But this collage is going to be a challenge to stitch precisely because it hasn’t got an order or rhythm or pattern to play with…it’s completely abstract. I kind of love it already, just as a collection of fabrics. And yeah, OK, it’s not completely abstract because I did think carefully about where each piece went. But the stitching part is where I usually go off the rails, and start to throw stuff around, do too much, and make things waaaay too complicated. Sigh. Story of my life. If you see me doing that with this piece, stop me - please! I haven’t time!
What’s the rush?
Exhibition in EIGHT weeks, that’s why!! Duh! Was it ever going to be any other way? Did I ever have a snowball’s chance of getting to January with things already well in progress for a March exhibition? How long have you known me?!
It’s not all starting from scratch, it’s probably not as bad as I think. I’ll do it - I always do. I have this heap of loveliness left over from this time last year as an emergency stash that I can finish, too:
More to come on all these over the next few weeks, plus my updated thoughts about journals, bullet or otherwise; life, creativity…stuff. You know, the usual! New year, same me.
So that’s me - how’s your 2026 been so far?!!
Until next time,
My big SWIRLS mixed-media machine embroidery course is open very soon (next week for enrolments, to start on 19 January). The waitlist is open NOW and the only way to get yourself a 20% discount (not available after I open the doors, midweek).
Here’s where you can find everything you need to know:
I have at least three swirls that I started while filming the course that I want to get finished for my exhibition, so I’ll be working alongside you if you join!
If you want to know anything about the course, whether it’s a good fit for you, what’s involved etc etc, just ask me in the comments, or send me a private message or email - I’m happy to chat about it all, anytime, no pressure.
One other thing before I forget
If you’re a newsletter subscriber I have an office hours chat next Wednesday afternoon - see you there?
Where to start, a dress I made last week was showcased by me attending an exhibition at the Art Gallery here in Auckland.
I didn't realise the artist's were mainly African Americans and native Africans.
The fabric I used was African waxed cotton, bought on a Paris trip.
It got a lot of attention. The curators loved my dress. We chatted about African textiles, my father comes from Ghana . People often talk about cultural appropriation, but we Africans love to see our designs worn by people. It shows love, respect and your supporting many businesses.
Oh yes, finished a colourwork jumper, charity knitting, and a bit of embroidery. Made two dresses for our soon to be five grandchild ( tomorrow), from my quilting stash.....
Well I'm in Minneapolis caring for my young grandkids during a chemo week for my DIL and trying to make sense of a senseless situation here. Not the best week ever, but, small bits of joy and creativity can always be found if you look for them. Hoping to make at least a little progress soon on Fab Free Motion, but it's lovely to know that it will wait for me until I can get there again.