embroidery

Nasty

~ pamela penney ~ 1 Comment
A Special Sort of Snowflake. Penney. 2017
A Special Sort of Snowflake: (she won’t melt if you grab her) Pamela Penney (c) 2017.

Inspired by the mandala pieces I’ve been working on since the start of 2017 I created this piece “A Special Sort of Snowflake:  (she won’t melt when you grab her)”  It was accepted into the Nasty Women Art Chicago Exhibit and Fundraiser.  All proceeds from the sales at the May 5th, 2017 event will go to Planned Parenthood, whose services have been under-fire and in threat of losing federal funding under our current administration.  If Planned Parenthood loses funding 2.5 million patients would lose access to care.  Another interesting fact from the Planned Parenthood website: “Barring Planned Parenthood health centers from Medicaid would result in a net cost of $130 million to taxpayers over 10 years due to increased unintended pregnancies without Planned Parenthood’s contraceptive care, projects the Congressional Budget Office.”

Once again I hope A Stitch In Time Saves…..because women’s health matters. Because awareness is important. Because it’s just one way to help.  If you would like to help too, here are several more ideas! Go HERE and Stand with (me &) Planned Parenthood.

STITCH + MEDITATION = INNER PEACE

~ pamela penney ~ Leave a comment

STITCH + MEDITATION = INNER PEACE

It’s really a simple equation.  And I find whether it’s knitting, crochet, embroidery, or mending it holds true for me (unless I’m under a deadline!)  For me, finding meditation time is not just a desire, it is a necessity.  It is how I deal with the world. It is how I stay sane.  It is how I find answers to everyday questions.  When I’m stitching, answers come to me like some people find them in the shower.

When I saw a post about A Year In Stitches a 2016 endeavor by Hannah Claire Somerville, I was smitten with the idea.  Just a few days later a friend of mine created a Facebook group and invited a few friends to join her for A Year of Stitches 2017.  Of course I hopped onboard.  (I’ve recently joined a larger group on Facebook for A Year of Stitches. I’m looking forward to seeing more ideas and sharing there.)

I started on January 1, 2017.  In order to make this project “my own” I made a plan to create stitched Mandalas with a different thread color radiating for each day of the week. Each Mandala would represent a week with seven colors each. At the end of the year I would have 52 Mandalas.  My thought was that this would be a great way to ease into the studio each day. It would give me a “no pressure” way to get the creative juices flowing. I have completed week 11 as of today.  Here is the progress:

Week One
Week Two
Week Three
Week Four
Week Five
Week Six
Week Seven
Week Eight
Week Nine
Week Ten
Week Eleven
Week Eleven!

What I’ve learned so far:

  • I don’t always do my stitching each day.  For whatever reason I miss some days. So, some days I do several days worth of stitching.
  • Some days I do the color for that day and I would really like to keep going.  It feels like I just get started and I have to stop.
  • I have always finished up each week on time!
  • It has opened up some other creative ideas and projects.  You will see some of them soon including this….

Large Mandala

This is going to end up filling a 12 inch diameter embroidery hoop.  Right now it is just over 6 inches diameter. I am stitching this on a piece of ivory silk.  This project gives me the opportunity to keep going on the days I get on a roll and don’t have other deadlines to meet.  I’ve always been interested in taking on a “daily art practice”, but have either failed in the past, or hesitated taking on the challenge.  This one has been perfect for me.  Low pressure, stress reducing (not inducing!) and it has inspired my regular art making practice. I will keep you posted on my progress throughout the year. (Now that I’m almost 3 months in, I’m not so worried about “failing” my committment again.)