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Create art from recycled materials | Learn from Clarissa Callesen

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Learn to create original fibre art from recycled materials, with techniques like eco and rust-dyeing, sculptural stitching, burning, and layering. Enrol now.

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Julia Wright: Seeing is creating – TextileArtist

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Mixed media artist Julia Wright is rarely without her sketchbook and camera. Those are her tools for capturing the fleeting details most people miss. Her

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⏰Last Day Promotion - Only $11.99 🏆️ - Stitch Book - 🔥NORMAL VERSION🌼(86 different stitches) / Order within 3h to get FREE upgraded 1st Class

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❤️TIPS: All goods are authentic, with genuine patents, counterfeit must be investigated! Customers, please identify our products. SHIPPING WORLDWIDE. 💯Payments Via PayPal® and CreditCard.⭐Fast refund Guarantee>> Partial or full refund depends on the situation. 🎁As a gift for your loved ones, this limited stock Stitch Book will be perfect!😍❤️❤️ ✨Enhance your crafting skills with our DIY stitch book, perfect for beginners and experienced makers alike. This linen fabric

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FIBRE is an independent Quebec print magazine, available in french or english, dedicated to the arts of fiber, to talents of many origins, and to stories filled with parcels of life.

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Books.by | Sell Books Directly to Readers

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Books.by is the #1 Print on Demand author website and direct selling platform. Create your personal author website and sell books directly to readers, keeping 100% of the royalties.

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You’re invited to become a member of a worldwide family of stitchers. Experience the joy of making beautiful art with fabric and thread, guided by the world’s most inspiring textile artists.

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SewCanShe Free Sewing Patterns for Beginners

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75 Fast & Free Lap Patterns To Make in a Weekend

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75 free lap quilt patterns for a quick weekend stash-buster quilt. Find a simple quilt pattern to refresh your space or sew for charity.

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Seven Ways of Looking at Woven Histories | Magazine | MoMA

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Explore more than 100 years of innovative textiles.

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The 25 best documentaries on Amazon Prime Video

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From Oscar winners like ‘Man on Wire’ to tearjerkers like ‘Good Night Oppy’ and ‘Time,’ here are the 25 best documentaries on Amazon Prime right now.

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101 Canadian albums you should listen to now

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This collection of essential records represents the impact Canadian musicians have had on our country and on the world

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Sebastian is about an aspiring writer, Max, who lives a double life as a sex worker. It's gritty and somewhat shocking, insofar as it's not a highly discussed topic in film, yet it is also very tender. I watched it on a rainy Saturday afternoon without knowing anything about it. I was immediately hooked by how normal Max's life was and intrigued by his decision to set up an online escort profile under the name of his alter ego, Sebastian, for the purpose of his novel, in which he details his varied sexual experiences. The film addresses issues such as shame, authenticity in fiction and consent with a refreshing lack of judgment on the topic of sex work. Ruaridh Mollica is fantastic as Max/Sebastian and I can't wait to see him in more films. Ann-Marie, Glasgow

Blue Road is an engrossing and hugely enjoyable documentary of Edna O'Brien's enigmatic life of dizzying highs and haunting lows. Beautifully edited, it ultimately depicts how emotionally vulnerable we all are, regardless of any public persona. It's a wonderful, inspirational documentary for any would-be writer or artist who wishes to stay true to their vision and who craves a life less ordinary. O'Brien rattled all the right cages all the time. At the height of her fame, she returns to County Clare and listens to her father sing Danny Boy. She stares at him with a stoical yet fearful expression - a powerfully resonant image. Edna, 93, watches it and loves that song. It reminded me of the Smiths song Back to the Old House. And, funnily enough, I noticed her image this week in a review of a Morrissey concert. He is using Edna as a backdrop on stage. What a woman she was. Ron, London

Parthenope by Paolo Sorrentino is the best film I've seen this year. I'm surprised it's been quite poorly received by critics and audiences. The problem seems to be Parthenope, the aloof, distant woman at the centre of the story. She is playful, innocuously flirtatious and happily uninterested in forging any deep connection with the many male admirers she's surrounded by, her only real interest being in the writer John Cheever - whose homosexuality and ennui pose no threat to her - and, ironically, he gracefully declines her offer of company one night, not wanting to "steal a second of [her] youth".

We find that people are strange, mostly unknowable, and we are, one way or another, destined to fail any attempt to close (or even narrow) the gap between us and the rest of the world. The film is exceptionally beautiful to look at. Yes, it is long and meandering, and not a lot happens, but the overall feeling is that you've experienced what life is often like: a curious sense of removal from all the living going on around you; not feeling fully a part of it. Stephen, Dublin

Holy Cow gets my vote. It's an uplifting, funny ensemble piece from mostly untrained actors set in the bucolic Jura region of France. It perfectly captures the inertia of youth in a rural community where Totone, the local teenage delinquent, strives to make the perfect comté cheese to win prize money to prop up his ailing farm and family. Local rituals and rivalries vividly portray farming communities without sugarcoating the harsh reality of working the land day in day out. You end up rooting for Totone and his merry gang. Kate Franklin, Hove

Bring Her Back is my film of the year so far because it perfectly executes all of its genre conventions yet steps outside every single one simultaneously. It also has a central role from Sally Hawkins that deserves every recognition available. Finally, while much horror is trending on grief and trauma, Bring Her Back gives proper emotional weight while never once encouraging empathy towards evil. Genuinely brilliant. Michael Macaulay, Paraparaumu, Aotearoa

Flow has to be my favourite film released so far this year, and I have a strong feeling it may also be my daughter's. We watched it on the big screen and were immersed in this seemingly post-apocalyptic world, where abandoned buildings reclaimed by nature are the only thing to suggest humans ever existed. It's a lovely film about companionship, physical struggle, uncertainty and hope. It's also beautifully illustrated, and the story is so urgent that, months on, we still urge all our friends to watch it. It's evident that the makers of Flow have paid exquisite attention to detail when it comes to portraying the behaviour of animals, as they catch fish, sleep and ultimately try to survive. Dnieper, London

One dark Sunday evening in February, I dragged myself out to watch I'm Still Here. It was the Mubi film of the week, I had no other plans, and I knew it had been nominated for some awards. And honestly, it was one of my best decisions of the year. I'm Still Here is a heady juxtaposition of beach life, sepia shots and easy, middle-class family life in Rio de Janeiro with the growing reality of a repressive military regime. I quietly sobbed through chunks of the second half: a masterclass in film-making, and Fernanda Torres deservedly won her Golden Globe for the portrayal of a woman trying desperately to hold it all together as life as she knows it falls apart around her. This is what cinema is all about. Sarah, London

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I haven't watched a huge amount of 2025 releases but my favourite has to be The Surfer, starring the almighty Nicolas Cage as a dad whose determination to buy his ideal beachfront house drives him to madness. Lots of films critique capitalism or patriarchy, but I struggle to think of any which do such a good job of showing how intertwined they are. And it tells that story in such an engaging and surreal way; as the main character loses his grip on reality in his self-destructive pursuit of this property, it feels as if you're following him down the rabbit hole of delusion and insanity. Joe, Leeds

My choice is Spit, starring David Wenham. It's a sendup of Australia's criminal class, with more savage mockery of its immigrant detention system and a rather unappealing and entirely human protagonist. David Arthur, Maryborough, Queensland

As widely reviewed, the film is a stark and humorous look at loneliness, but I would argue its perspective on nostalgia and letting go of the past is even more compelling. We all suffer from nostalgia-baiting and can all meander down memory lane at times, but this film can show the danger of living in the past. It is wickedly funny, with the conservatory scene a particular highlight. (I still chuckle when I think of: "Oh yes, unbearably hot.") Eddie, London

Sinners is a marvellous film reminiscent of the Coen brothers' O Brother, Where Art Thou? The music alone is incredible. There is an amazing scene based around a blues song, where the genres that inspired the tune combine with the genres it continues to inspire. I loved the story and the relationship between the anti-hero and his wife. It encapsulates what community does, and is capable of, when it needs to come together. It felt real. This is something a lot of films miss the target on. A belter of a movie. Lee Keith, Sunderland

Of the 35 films I have seen this year, it is Jesse Eisenberg's A Real Pain that stands out for me. Rightly known and celebrated for Kieran Culkin's turn as Benji, cousin to David (Eisenberg), this movie offers so much more. A sensitive, delicately formed homage to Eisenberg's family history, it explores their complex relationship, the essence of trauma tourism and the history and beauty of Poland. It also has a haunting score of Chopin's intricate piano pieces. David Reid, Mirfield, West Yorkshire

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'A belter of a movie': Guardian readers' best films of 2025 so far

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From repressive military regimes in I'm Still Here to funny French teenage delinquents in Holy Cow, readers pick films that have moved them this year

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Welcome! We are artists, makers and educators who believe that bringing people together to share creative projects that connect us with the land helps our communities become strong, resilient and j…

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A subscription to FIBRE means a whole year of passionately knitted, crocheted, woven and embroidered happiness. Why subscribe? To save on shipping costs, of course, and above all, because you’re like us: the world of fibre thrills you! So, every year 3 issues (December, April and August), each containing over 100 pages

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25 Beautiful Plants That Grow Well Under Trees

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Here’s what you should know about selecting 25 of those special types and how they will grow under your favorite shade tree!

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25 Beautiful Plants That Grow Well Under Trees

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Artist Sandra Sawatzky embroiders the things that keep us awake at night

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Inspired by historic tapestries and manuscript illumination, her work applies an age-old craft to contemporary challenges

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4.9K views · 10K reactions | 🎁☀️ Best Gift For Your Family | 😍✨✨These FireFy Garden Lights Are The Dreamiest Thing Ever

Get Here👉 https://mclows.com//firefly-50 | By McLows | Facebook

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😍✨✨These FireFy Garden Lights Are The Dreamiest Thing Ever

Get Here👉 https://mclows.com//firefly-50

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Inspired by Nature - Exploring Mixed Media with Tara Axford | Fibre Arts Take Two

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From experienced artists to beginners the Inspired by Nature – Exploring Mixed Media course will show you ways to turn inspiration into artwork! | Fibre Arts Take Two

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My name is Liz Gaffney

I started my working life as a florist achieving my diploma in 1988. I discovered felt making with sheep wool and was hooked. I launched Heartfelt by Liz in 1996. With my love of plants and textiles I have merged my passions in Botanical Printing and Natural Dyeing. I have been teaching since 1996 in this country and around the world. Felt has never failed to inspire and captivate both me and the students I sow seeds in.

Workshop

Botanical Printing - Eco printing

Botanical printing with local plants Saturday October 19th 2024

10am - 4pm

Heartfelt Studio, 11 Shuttlefield Newburgh KY14 6DT

Using fresh plant material - creating a print on any material using natural chemistry and heat . It is a one off print that is created by a plants chemical components reacting with natural compounds Cost £70

Workshop

Plant dyeing "Touching on colour" ​

New workshops Feb 2025

date to be confirmed

​

Heartfelt Studio, 11 Shuttlefield Newburgh KY14 6DT

Saturday June 22nd 10am-4pm You will learn how to prepare wool and cotton for dyeing with natural plants.A range of colours will be created on the days workshop. More info Materials and tools will all be provided. Tea and coffee will be offered. Please bring your own lunch or shop at some of the local traders.​To Book email me. Cost £70 per workshop

Short taster workshops

Spring 2025 dates to be confirmed

A fabulous range of taster sessions on a whole range of craft skills...and no experience needed! Group bookings taken

Making Your Mark with Thermoscreen printing

Come join us for a hands-on event where you'll learn all about Thermoscreen printing! Get ready to unleash your creativity and make some unique designs. Don't miss out on this exciting opportunity to learn a new skill

Interested?

Felt making Seamless Pods

Join us for a fun and creative workshop on Felt making Seamless Pods! Learn the art of creating seamless felt pods using various techniques and colours.

Interested?

Introduction to Dyeing with Plant colour on Wool and Silk

Using Local grown plants learn how to scour, mordant and dye wool.

No previous experience necessary. Materials and tools provided.

Interested?

Intro to Dyeing with Plant Colour on Cotton and Linen

Using local grown plants learn how to scour, mordant and dye cotton and linen., No previous experience necessary. Materials and tools provided.

Interested?

Felting Flowers

Learn how to create flowers from wool and silk. Ideal for brooches or vases. No previous experience is needed. Materials and tools will all be provided.

Interested?

Making Silk Paper

Using fine silk fibres learn how to make your own luxurious paper.

​

Interested?

Contact Me

Address

11 Shuttlefield

Newburgh

Fife

KY14 6DP

Contact

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Heartfelt by Liz - Textile Studio | Felt artist

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My name is Liz Gaffney I started my working life as a florist achieving my diploma in 1988. I discovered felt making with sheep wool and was hooked. I launched Heartfelt by Liz in 1996. With my love of plants and textiles I have merged my passions in Botanical Printing and Natural Dyeing.

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Forward Frames- bring your work forward and display it beautifully. Beautiful handmade wooden frame for framing rug hooked mats and fiber art pieces. Made in New Brunswick Canada. Each frame has an oriented strand board insert to attach your piece to, using a staple gun. No glue required. After installing your artwork to the insert , it then fits snugly into the frame. If you are using the frame for a thinner piece, such as needle work or punch needle, you may need to wrap a piece of fabric around the insert first, then attach the backing of the piece you are displaying.

If you are interested in more than 1 frame, ask us for a shipping quote because the shipping cost will be of multiple items in the same package is much lower than if each was shipped separately!

IF ORDERING 2 OR MORE, CHECK WITH US FOR SHIPPING QUOTE BEFORE PLACING YOUR ORDER. THANK YOU !

The frame size measurements are the inside measurements of the frame, so you would place an 8 by 8 inch piece of work in an 8 by 8 inch frame.

Beautifully made frames made with art and aesthetics in mind. Simply attach a hanger of your choice and it is ready to hang and display your fiber art. These frames can used in their natural state or painted or stained. Each purchase comes with a two-page document with instructions on how to finish your piece and insert into the frame.

Standard sizes are from 8 by 8 inches up to 16 by 16 inches. Shipping costs vary but will be confirmed with you before we ship.

CUSTOM SIZES: We can produce custom sizes, squares or rectangles, provided that the maximum length of the longest side is not in excess of 36 inches. A deposit of 50% of the purchase price is required with any custom order. Your are always protected by Etsy's and our own guarantee of fulfilment of your order.

Please contact us if you have any questions about this item or would like additional photos. Multiple items may be combined to save on shipping costs. Please ask for a quote.

SHIPPING: Standard sized frames (9 x 9 through 16 x 16) are usually in stock and if in stock, ship within one business day. Custom/non-standard or out of stock frames will ship within 7 to 10 business days from when ordered.

INSURANCE: Frames ship to USA and within Canada, only. Shipping is TRACKED and fully INSURED.

Throughout the process from shopping to shipping, we will do whatever we can to provide you with an enjoyable experience. We are always open to your feedback for ways to improve our service.

THANK YOU FOR SHOPPING AT STARFISH COLLECTIBLES!

RETURN TO STARFISH COLLECTIBLES SHOP PAGE:
https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/StarfishCollectibles

Learn more about this item

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Handmade Wooden Display Frame for Rug Hooking and Other Textile Fiber Art, Made in NB Canada STANDARD and CUSTOM Available - Etsy Canada

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This Displays item by StarfishCollectibles has 36 favourites from Etsy shoppers. Is dispatched from Canada. Listed on 26 Jul, 2024

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Rachel Carson on Writing and the Loneliness of Creative Work

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“If you write what you yourself sincerely think and feel and are interested in… you will interest other people.”

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UBCx: How to Write a Novel: Structure & Outline

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Learn the fundamentals of story structure from our MFA program faculty and complete a detailed, scene-by-scene outline of your novel idea.

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Assemblage - Modern Art Terms and Concepts

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Assemblage is a style of sculpture inspired by the idea of introducing pre-existing, non-art objects into an art context. Although one can find precedents for the approach in the work of Duchamp and Picasso, it flourished as a tendency in the 1950s and 1960s, and continues to be a prominent technique today.

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The Top 10 Publishing Trends for 2024 - Written Word Media

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The top ten key publishing trends for 2024 as told by publishing industry experts. Read to learn what to watch in publishing.

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Sarah Ritchie - fibre artist, author, mentor, facilitator. Encouraging, equipping and strengthening individuals and teams through words and images.

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The true crime landscape is flooded with podcasts. With hundreds of choices for your listening pleasure (or terror), what's a true crime aficionado to do? The answer: Find cold, hard proof of which shows unpack cases better and keep you hooked longer. Here, Entertainment Weekly presents our ranking of the best true crime podcasts, from twisted deep dives to ongoing comedy/crime hybrids with years of library content. Read on to solve the case of what you should listen to next!

29. Father Wants Us Dead

The List murders are, to borrow a phrase, particularly heinous (insert "dun dun" sound here). In 1971, in a quiet suburban New Jersey town, an accountant named John List killed his wife, his mother, and his three children before disappearing. It took 18 years and a feature on America's Most Wanted to catch the fugitive, but List died in prison in 2008 while serving multiple life sentences. This deep-dive podcast is meticulously reported by Rebecca Everett and Jessica Remo, who interviewed more than 50 people involved with the case as they tried to make sense of the senseless.

Listen to Father Wants Us Dead here.

25. Bone Valley

The best true crime indicts institutions that fail people they should be serving. And that criteria makes Bone Valley one of the very best of its kind. Leo Schofield served a horrifying 35 years for the 1987 murder of his wife... despite evidence pointing to another suspect and the detailed confessions of that real killer. Pulitzer Prize winner Gilbert King, his researcher Kelsey Decker, and the Florida judge who risked his career to bring the case to them painstakingly prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, how judges and prosecutors would rather fight to keep an innocent man in prison than let him go. Oh, and they accidentally solve another murder in the process.

Listen to Bone Valley here.

21. The Kids of Rutherford County

For over a decade, it was well known in Rutherford County, Tenn., that any kid who went in front of Judge Donna Davenport was probably going to get jail time, even for "offenses" as small as cursing or hair-pulling. When 11 children were arrested in 2016 for merely watching an after-school fight, the viral video made national news and triggered a chain of events exposing years of corruption. Serial and ProPublica teamed up for this four-parter, where a judge who gleefully broke the law - along with her supporters - devastated the lives of hundreds of Rutherford County's youngest.

Listen to The Kids of Rutherford County here.

Based on one's extensive research watching Grey's Anatomy, it seemingly takes a lot of work to become a surgeon. So why was a Dallas neurosurgeon allowed to literally maim dozens of patients? Dr. Death explores both the conditions that keep an incompetent doctor in the surgical suite and the ways our often-blind respect for medical professionals keeps victims from speaking out. The first season was a monster hit, leading to a TV series on Peacock starring Joshua Jackson, but other seasons of the pod are equally great at exploring the doctors who seem to think the saying is, "Do a bunch of harm."

15. The Retrievals

When nearly 100 women reported agonizing pain during their egg retrieval procedures, the Yale Fertility Center dismissed their concerns. That is, until a nurse was caught replacing fentanyl with saline solution. This co-production of Serial and The New York Times covers the stunning case but also seeks answers to larger questions about how women are treated in medicine, the fertility industry, and what constitutes suffering.

Listen to The Retrievals here.

6. Dirty John

The only thing you don't learn about abusive con artist John Michael Meehan in this podcast is why he got the nickname Dirty John in college - but after you listen, you'll probably have some theories. Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Christopher Goffard only takes six episodes to tell the story of how Meehan wormed his way into a Newport Beach woman's life and the deadly consequences that followed, making this a satisfyingly quick binge that'll leave you plenty of time to watch the limited series adaptation streaming on Netflix.

Listen to Dirty John here.

5. Root of Evil

This companion podcast to the TNT limited series I Am the Night (starring Chris Pine as a disgraced reporter, get into it) has a few things that elevate it over other dives into the 1947 murder of Elizabeth Short, more commonly known as the Black Dahlia. It's hosted by Yvette Gentile and Rasha Pecoraro, the great-granddaughters of the most likely killer, Dr. George Hodel. Their family connection gives them access to people and evidence that no one else has, and it also gives them a unique empathy for both Short and Hodel's other possible victims.

Listen to Root of Evil here.

Do you remember where you were on December 11, 2014? When host Sarah Koenig announced, "Next time, on the final episode of Serial," suffice to say it was a seismic moment in the medium. Podcasts had been popular before, but this investigation into Adnan Syed, who was imprisoned for the murder of his ex-girlfriend Hae Min Lee, is where true true crime podcast fanaticism was born. While other seasons haven't caught the same fervor as 's first go-around ( or spawned their own SNL parody), each outing is a beautifully constructed, empathetic deep dive that keeps you hooked.

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The 30 best true crime podcasts of all time, ranked

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From acclaimed investigative series like 'Up and Vanished' to twisty profiles like 'Scamanda', here are the 30 best true crime podcasts of all time, ranked.

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From 'Dune: Part Two' to 'Challenger,' 'Monkey Man' and more, here are the best movies of 2024 so far.

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From 'Dune: Part Two' to 'Challenger,' 'Monkey Man' and more, here are the best movies of 2024 so far.

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Mark Darrell's life began to unravel on a Tuesday morning in September, 2004, in Anbar Province. A marine staff sergeant, a steady, seventeen-year veteran with only a week to go in his Iraq rotation, Darrell left a staff meeting at a headquarters building in a Fallujah combat outpost, chuckling about the ribbing he had given his friend Major Kevin Shea. Shea hated the Yankees; Darrell was a diehard fan. Then Darrell felt a blast of searing heat and a concussive thump at his back, and he was thrown to the ground. Ears ringing, he scrambled to his feet, turned, and saw a heap of rubble where headquarters had stood only moments before. An enemy rocket had landed a direct hit. Darrell ran toward the bomb site, arriving just in time to see Shea's body pulled from the wreckage. "I was just frozen," he told me. "I wanted to cry, but I couldn't cry."

Darrell rotated home, got through the final three years of his service commitment, and retired. He took a job in law enforcement at the Federal Reserve Bank in Atlanta. Working security felt like a natural next step after the military, but he found dealing with civilian life-"dealing with civilians, period"-to be challenging. At work, he struggled to hold back swells of aggression. At home with his wife and children, he contained those moods by drinking. Night after night, he would pace the house, drink until he blacked out, hide in a closet, and howl. He drank to "numb the pain, numb the guilt, numb some of the nightmares," but flashbacks to that morning in Anbar Province continued, along with waves of survivor's guilt. The harder he tried to suppress them, the worse they got.

Finally, his wife issued an ultimatum: no more drinking. Darrell didn't wait to hear the "or else." He quit cold turkey and entered therapy at the V.A. But the nightmares and the all but unbearable distress continued.

Then, in 2016, as Darrell and his wife were expecting their first grandson, he was seized by a desire to make something for the baby, something that would come not from a store but from his life, his hands. "I don't know why it was," he told me. "I thought about a quilt."

Darrell had never sewn, knew no one who quilted. But, he said, "I ran to Walmart, and I grabbed fabric. I grabbed sewing needles. I brought it all home, and I set it all out on the table, and I was, like, 'Oh, yeah, I need a machine.' I go to a pawnshop, and I just grabbed one. I remember that machine. It was just a little Singer, baby-blue and white."

That night, hunched over his kid's sewing machine, Darrell's focus narrowed and, for the first time since he left Fallujah, the pain eased. He recalled, "I wasn't thinking about the war. I wasn't thinking about what the marines were doing. I was just thinking about, How do I make this thing square? I had never used drugs, but I could imagine someone's first experience with drugs, with everything just firing at the same time. That's what quilting did to me."

I know that feeling. I recognize the way time folds and warps, lost in the crisp snick of the rotary cutter slicing through fabric, the buzz of the sewing machine, the hiss of the steam iron. It began for me on October 7th, when Hamas attacked Israel. I spent that day refreshing my news feed, my distress growing ever more intense. My late father was a founder of Kibbutz Kissufim, one of the kibbutzim invaded and destroyed by Hamas militants; my older siblings were born there. I've been involved for years in the fight for Palestinian rights and in the Israeli peace movement, many of whose members lived or grew up in the Gaza envelope. In the course of that day, I heard of more and more people whose loved ones had been killed or taken hostage. My Israeli friends and family were anguished, reeling. My Palestinian friends were terrified of the vengeance they knew was coming.

For two days, I did nothing but sit on the couch and stare at my laptop, growing increasingly distraught at the atrocities committed by Hamas and at the prospect of an Israeli invasion. Then, on October 9th, I noticed a sewing machine and a roll of fabric on my dining table. We were spending the winter in Maine, and I'd bought the machine, the cheapest for sale online, thinking that my daughter and I might find some cozy indoor project to do together. I closed a video of mutilated bodies strewn across the site of the Nova music festival, found my way to a YouTube video featuring a cheerful middle-aged lady named Jenny Doan, and did my best to follow her instructions on how to make a split-bars quilt.

Like Darrell, I was a novice at quilting. My only experience with a sewing machine was a week in seventh grade doing battle with a swath of ugly plaid fabric, trying to wrestle it into a shape that in the end almost passed-if I squinted and used enough safety pins-for a wraparound skirt. But, from the moment I picked up a rotary cutter, quilting took over my life. As Israel's siege of Gaza intensified, I quilted from morning, when I'd carry my cup of tea over to the sewing machine, until night, when I'd grudgingly switch it off and go to bed. I would stop for dinner only because my husband pleaded with me to, but while we ate I would glance again and again toward the sewing machine until he would finally say, with bemusement, "Just go."

When I stitched, my brain stopped whirring. My urge to scroll through videos of the attack ebbed. It wasn't that quilting distracted me from the massacre or from the ongoing catastrophe in Gaza. I still watched news reports. I listened to audio coverage. I wept. But my rage and despair came at intervals, not unremittingly. I was able to tolerate and to a certain degree control the surges of horror, outrage, and fear-not to suppress them but, rather, to ride them like a surfer rides a swell.

Like so many women before me, I took over my son's bedroom and turned it into a sewing room, complete with a better-quality sewing machine, a cutting table, an ironing station, and bins of fabric and notions, the delightful word for small sewing essentials and tools. I quilt every day, generally for at least four hours and often as long as eight, using it as a reward for finishing work and chores and as succor when I feel a wave of anxiety or distress. Walking into my sewing room brings me an immediate sense of ease, like slipping between the sheets of a freshly made bed.

Darrell and I are not alone in having turned to quilting in times of crisis. Quilters I've spoken to have come to the craft in the wake of the deaths of children, spouses, and parents; painful divorces from abusive husbands; childhood sexual abuse; psychotic breaks; brain-tumor diagnoses; and, like me, in response to the intolerable state of the world. Attempting to explain it, they all tend to say versions of the same thing: "I just had to sew," or "I was going to start screaming out loud if I didn't pick up a needle and thread."

I reached out to Jenny Doan, the chipper online quilting instructor who started me on my own "quilting journey," not understanding that to most quilters having a one-on-one Zoom call with Doan is like getting your nails done with Oprah. She is revered by legions of devoted fans, who inundate her with mail and mob her at events, testifying about having found her videos in moments of despair. "And here I thought I was teaching people how to sew," she told me, laughing.

Doan herself began her professional quilting career at a time of crisis. Her husband, a hardworking machinist, earned enough to support their family of nine and save for retirement. But then came the 2008 financial crisis. His 401(k) was wiped out. They were, Doan laughed again (she is always laughing, except when she's moved to tears), looking to avoid moving into their adult son's basement. Her children pitched in and bought her a long-arm quilting machine, a huge, computerized unit that would allow her to finish other quilters' projects for a fee, and-her kids hoped-keep a roof over their heads. Within a few years, Doan's business, the Missouri Star Quilt Company, was the largest quilting-supply outfit in the U.S., worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Missouri Star owns seventeen buildings on the main street of Hamilton, Missouri, and employs three hundred of the seventeen hundred people who live there. She has done for a dying small town what she has done for so many of us: stitched it back together.

There is a person whose story stands out amid the many who credit Doan with saving them. One day she received a letter from a woman in Iran, asking for advice about how to teach the women in her village how to quilt. Doan recounts, "She ended her letter to me by saying, 'You have filled my war-torn life with color.' " By now, Doan and I are both in tears.

Darrell says, of quilting, "Welcome to trauma treatment. Because it's such a great tool for self-healing." Why is this so? The answer, I've learned, is in large part neurological. Though we tend to describe the experiences of fear, anxiety, anger, and sadness as exclusively of the mind, they are intricately connected to the body, even in someone like me, who is so focussed on my thoughts and feelings that I might as well be a head floating in space. In the nineteen-thirties, Hans Selye, an Austrian-Canadian physician, identified the biological mechanism by which our bodies respond to stress. When we perceive danger, our hypothalamus triggers our adrenal glands to release stress hormones-a process that incites a cascade of physical reactions. Our hearts, for example, beat faster in anticipation of the blood flow we might need to respond to a physical threat. This is crucial if you're about to be eaten by a sabre-toothed tiger, but, when you're having a nightmare about your buddy's death or sitting on your couch watching videos of bombs dropping five thousand miles away, it harms rather than helps.

In order to feel better, we must somehow get ourselves into a less reactive state. We try to do this in a myriad of ways, some more effective than others. Some, like Darrell, try to numb their pain with alcohol. Others tune out the world and play video games for hours. Others run until they pass out from exhaustion. And many of us, it turns out, quilt.

Quilting is a craft that requires the use of the brain and the body, that involves the senses of sight, touch, sound, and smell, that requires mathematical calculation, forward planning, and rapt attention. It begins with a pattern, or, in the case of what's known as improv quilting, an idea, an emotion, or even just a whim. ("Today, I'm in the mood to make circles!") Then there's the fabric. You choose it not only by color but also by how it feels in your hand. For this pattern or idea should the fabric be slick, or should it be nubbly? Do I want to see and feel the warp and weft or am I going for a sleeker effect? Even the smell of the fabric comes into play: it has a mellow, warm aroma, especially under a hot iron.

Cutting up the fabric demands concentration. Measurements must be precise, and cuts clean. Each scrap of fabric-and there are usually hundreds of them-must then be ironed, matched, and pinned. Only then does a quilter sit down at the sewing machine. You sew two pieces together in a small block, and then small blocks together in larger blocks, each time returning to the iron to smooth the block and to the cutting table to trim it-piece after piece, block after block, for hour after hour, in an immersive and repetitive flow.

I was curious if something about these specific activities and sensory experiences might be particularly effective at soothing intense emotion. Absolutely, a number of experts in neuroscientists told me. Susan Magsamen, the founder and executive director of the International Arts + Mind Lab ( IAM Lab), Center for Applied Neuroaesthetics, at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, explained that handwork has a stabilizing effect on the mind, which begins with the extraordinarily high density of nerve endings in our fingertips. Using our hands stimulates these neurons, triggering an immediate response in the brain-bathing it in oxytocin, dopamine, and serotonin, the hormones associated with pleasure.

Furthermore, each of our hands is controlled by the opposite brain hemisphere. Using both hands stimulates both hemispheres at once, and can also stimulate them alternately, as you shift from left to right. This kind of alternating bilateral stimulation is thought to be the basis for eye-movement-desensitization therapy, one of the more effective treatments for P.T.S.D. According to Daniel Levitin, a cognitive psychologist and neuroscientist and the author of the best-selling " This Is Your Brain on Music," such activity also "strengthens connections between the hemispheres, facilitating creativity and the transfer of information over the long term, and helps to build up cognitive reserve."

Quilting involves bilateral activity in other ways, as well. The parts of quilting that require intense focus, like cutting and matching seams, are controlled by something known as the central executive network, which is distributed in both hemispheres. I like to imagine it as a little gray-suited office drone, organizing all the cognitive tasks that require my close attention. Then, when I sit down at the sewing machine and start repetitively, all but robotically, piecing together cuts of fabric, he takes his coffee break. That's when the default-mode network takes over. The default-mode network, which is also bilateral, is a brain system that is active when we are in a state of "wakeful rest"-when our minds wander. This state is profoundly restorative. Levitin told me that the default-mode network "effectively presses the Reset button in your brain."

David J. Linden, a neuroscientist at Johns Hopkins University, described other ways in which handwork like quilting might help with mood. Self-directed creative activities that involve planning give a deep sense of agency and reward, which reduces anxiety and is correlated with well-being. And activities in which we can track our progress make us feel even better as we pursue them than ones in which all the rewards are deferred into the future. Linden compares the satisfaction of incremental progress to smoking cigarettes-the reward is instantaneous. And completing future-focussed activities, Linden said, is like doing heroin. The rewards are palpable, and they continue beyond the moment. When I joke that I have developed a "quilting addiction," I might not be far off the mark.

All these neurological systems may explain why so many of us responded to the fear and constraints of the pandemic by becoming experts in sourdough fermentation, woodworking, or knitting. For a short while, I took up embroidery, which I enjoyed and found a certain comfort in, though I did not slip into the single-minded obsession that I have with quilting. We thought that we were all becoming hobbyists because we were stuck in our houses, climbing the walls. While this is true, it's also likely that, faced with severe disruptions and fears of death, we were reaching instinctively for activities that made use of our hands, provided an achievable sense of mastery and control, and resulted in immediate rewards.

Quilting gives me a further source of delight: the pleasure of being part of a community, both virtually and in real life. Within half an hour of my house there are three quilting stores, all of them staffed by kindly women eager to provide advice, support, and praise. Such stores often have open quilting days, when people bring their sewing machines, rotary cutters, and irons and sit together sewing and gossiping, like women have done from time immemorial. I joined the renowned East Bay Heritage Quilters, one of at least four hundred quilting guilds in the U.S., which hosts virtual events, classes, and bimonthly open quilting gatherings at a local church. I have participated in online sewing circles, sitting with a group of people (mostly older women) hand-stitching a binding onto a quilt, and exclaiming over someone's work in progress.

Piecing together a quilt for a practical use-for warmth rather than display-is called piecing for cover. It is an eloquent metaphor for the solace that quilting gives. There is no end of this wretched war in sight, and there is an election looming. If things go badly in November, I'll probably want to quilt a shroud large enough to wrap half the country. I recently finished a quilt for a Palestinian peace activist whose resiliency and eloquence have allowed me hope amid all this turmoil and despair. I don't delude myself that this gift will comfort her, but I comfort myself by imagining that I am piecing us together, wrapping and warming us both. ♦

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Ayelet Waldman writes about quilting and asks why people seem to take up the hobby in moments of personal strife.

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There are so many ways you can use up the blooms from your garden or indoor plants this spring. If you've been looking for new seasonal decor, why not try DIYing it? Whether you're working with fresh leaves or already have plants with spent flowers in your garden, now is the time to try one of Instagram's latest favorite spring projects: flower hammering.

The flower hammering technique has long existed as a way to easily make print art from flowers. This spring, it's been given new life in the crafting community. One of the best parts of this craft is the versatility: Flowers can be hammered onto paper, canvas, or even fabric. The possibilities are pretty much endless, from hanging art pieces to unique quilts.

The basics of the flower hammering technique are super simple-if we're being honest, you don't even need a hammer. Just grab a few flowers and leaves of your choice, decide how you want to arrange them on fabric or paper, and grab something to use as your hammer (truly dedicated print artists have found that you can even use your hands for this part). To prevent the flower pigments from getting everywhere and help keep your design from shifting, you may also want to pop a sheet of hard plastic over the flowers once they've been placed.

After you've set up your design, all you need to do is hammer down the leaves and flowers onto the sheet of paper. The goal is to press all of the pigments. Bring the hammer straight down onto the foliage you're pressing to prevent it from shifting. Make sure you cover each section of flower and leaf, or you'll have blank spots in your final print.

Once you've finished hammering down all the fauna you're planning on including in your final design, you can remove the protective sheet of plastic and peel away the foliage. If your print needs a little bit of touching up, some water and a paintbrush can often do the trick of filling in accidental holes.

For the best results, choose flowers and leaves that can lay relatively flat on paper. This ensures that each individual petal or leaf is visible-the more vibrant the bloom, the better the final piece will turn out.

True to their name, Instagram crafter @hammerflower showed off a gorgeous spring project using African violets, receiving over 242,000 likes. They also demonstrate a key part of the technique, hammering down a base layer of leaves first before adding the violets. This ensures every part of the plant being used actually hits the paper. If you layer several plants on top of each other, only the bottommost plant will show up on the print. If you're planning on creating a layered design, start with the plants you want on the last layer of the print first, and build up from there.

Not everyone is down for this DIY though-some comments on @hammerflower's post are up in arms about picking plants to be hammered.

"It actually hurts the flower," reads one top comment on the post. "PAINFUL! I love art and nature but would not try this," adds another. Concerned readers will be happy to know that plants don't have nerves or pain receptors. You can harvest your flowers and leaves for hammering and your beloved garden will be none the wiser.

If you're still worried, you can always wait until your plants are ready to be pruned or pick up freshly-fallen foliage to use for your next art project. Just keep in mind that the flowers and leaves should be as fresh as possible for the best results. The older they are, the drier they'll be, leaving you with less color to work with.

Be sure to thoroughly inspect petals and leaves for any pieces of dirt, hiding bugs, or scattered pollen. If you're working with blooms that have large amounts of pollen in their centers, you might want to carefully brush out most of it before printing to ensure the pollen stays centered while you print.

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Hammered Flower Art Is Trending-and Some People Are Quite Upset About It

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Creating custom floral artwork only takes minutes with this hack, but it's sparking controversy on behalf of the plants. Here's what to know.

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Pressed flowers preserve a moment in time. They evoke a remembrance of a special bouquet from a loved one or a stunning pansy bloom that caught your eye in spring. They seem to keep summer alive almost forever.

Unlike a bouquet of dried flowers, pressed flowers are perfect for framing, placing inside a locket, or using as adornments for note cards. Here's how to make your own pressed flowers.
Selecting Flowers for Pressing
Pick flowers in the morning after dew has evaporated. Harvest them when they are ready to open their buds or just before their peak. If you plan to create framed pressed-flower art, collect blooms and foliage at various stages of development to give your design a natural look. The better the quality of the blooms at picking time, the better they will look when dried and pressed.

For best results and the most vibrant colors, condition your blooms first. Plunge the stems into water immediately after cutting, then hold the stems underwater in a sink and recut the stems at an angle to allow the greatest water absorption. Place them in a clean vase filled with water and floral food.

The easiest flowers to press are those with naturally flat blooms such as violets, daisies, and single-petal roses (many types of shrub roses are good choices). If you are pressing flowers with obvious stamens, such as alstroemerias and lilies, remove the stamens so the pollen won't stain. Ferns and various types of leaves also flatten nicely.

You can dry chunky flowers such as multipetal roses or carnations (or even fruits and vegetables), but they will take longer and require a bit more attention.
Get more tips for drying flowers.

Materials for Flower Pressing

You need newspaper; blotting paper; printer paper; flat, noncorrugated coffee filters; flat cardboard; or plain, untreated facial tissues to absorb moisture and aid drying. Your goal is to dry flowers as quickly as possible to prevent browning.

Avoid paper towels because their textures may be imprinted on the petals. Also avoid waxed paper because it retains moisture.

Experiment with pressing techniques to discover which one works best for you and the flowers you choose. Trial and error will also show you how to place the blooms on the paper so they look their best when pressed.

You can buy or make a wooden flower press, but the following techniques operate on the same principle.

Pressed Flower Technique: Books

The easiest method of flower pressing requires no special equipment other than absorbent paper and a heavy book or phone book. Pigments in the petals, stems, and leaves may stain the paper, so if the book is valuable, protect the pages with a layer of paper on each side of the plants being pressed.

There are two ways to press using this technique. Start by placing the flowers between two layers of absorbent paper, then placing heavy books on top. Or place the flowers between the pages of the book itself, leaving at least 1/8 inch between multiple pressings. Weigh down the top of the book with a brick or other heavy item.

Let the flowers dry for a week before checking on them. At that point you may want to replace the absorbent material. Allow two to three weeks for complete drying.

Pressed Flower Technique: Iron

Like the other methods, this one begins with pressing the flowers between two pieces of absorbent paper.

Heat an iron to a low setting. Empty any water from the iron and do not add water. You do not want to add moisture with steam.

Prepare the flower for pressing by placing it between two sheets of absorbent paper. Flatten the flower with a heavy book first, then press the warm iron on top of the upper sheet of paper for 10 to 15 seconds. You don't need to make a gliding motion as if ironing. Wait for the paper to cool for another 10 to 15 seconds, then repeat. Check occasionally by very carefully lifting the paper to see if the flower is stiff and dry.

Pressed Flower Technique: Microwave

Using high heat on flowers might cause them to turn brown, but if you are in a hurry, you can use a microwave to speed the drying process.

For best results pressing flowers with a microwave, use a professional microwave flower press designed for this purpose. Follow directions, placing the flower between two pieces of absorbent paper and using 30- to 60-second zaps, allowing the plant material to cool between microwave uses. If you are drying more than one set of blooms, alternate cooling and heating with two microwave presses.

In a pinch, you can create your own microwave flower press using two ceramic tiles and rubber bands to hold the tiles tightly together. Place the flowers between two sheets of absorbent paper, then press between the ceramic tiles. Heat for 30 to 60 seconds at a time, allowing the materials to cool before repeating.

Or place the flowers inside a book (be sure there is no metal in the binding). Heat the book for 30 to 60 seconds at a time, checking to see when the flowers are dry. Allow the book to cool for a minute or two between zaps. Do not microwave the book for longer than a minute at a time.

When the flowers are dry, finish the process with the traditional air-drying press with a book or heavy object. The flowers should be finished in a day or two.

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Pressed flowers preserve a moment in time. They evoke a remembrance of a special bouquet from a loved one or a stunning pansy bloom that caught your eye in spring. They seem to keep summer alive almost forever. Unlike a bouquet of dried flowers, pressed flowers are perfect for framing, placing inside a locket, or using as adornments for note cards.

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Decorating with fresh flowers is one of my favorite ways to update a room, but they don't always last as long as I'd like-which might be why dried floral bouquets have become increasingly popular over the past few years. But bouquets aren't the only way to show off your favorite dried flowers. We'll show you how to display a gorgeous assortment of dried blooms in a wood shadow box.

This project is easy enough for anyone to make at home (you'll use a pre-made shadow box, so no woodworking skills are required!) and you can customize it with any flowers you like. You can also press flowers at home if you want to create a flat design. This unconventional way of displaying flowers might not attract bees, but it will attract plenty of compliments.

How to Make Dried Flower Art

Follow these easy instructions to make your own stunning wall art with dried flowers. This simple project should take less than an hour to complete (minus drying time!).

What You Need

Wood shadowbox

White acrylic paint

Paintbrush

Decorative paper

Hot glue or decoupage

Metal hanger

Hammer

Nails

Dried flowers

Step 1: Prepare Shadow Box

A pre-made shadow box makes this project incredibly easy. (If you're feeling extra ambitious or need a unique size, making your own is pretty simple, too.) Grab the shadow box and prep it for painting. Take the acrylic white paint and mix together with water to create a whitewash. Brush this on the surface of the shadowbox. Then set aside to let it dry.

Step 2: Place the Background

When the box is completely dry, cut a piece of decorative paper to fit inside the box and secure it with decoupage or hot glue. We recommend choosing a light color with a subtle pattern that won't distract too much from the flowers.

Step 3: Add a Hanger

Once you've secured the paper, take your hammer and gently nail a metal sawtooth hanger to the back of the box. This allows for the shadowbox to be easily hung on the wall.

Editor's Tip: To make a more interesting display, get multiple shadowboxes of varying sizes to create a unique floral gallery wall.

Step 4: Choose Flowers

Once the frame is ready, select the dried flowers you want to use for the project. You can dry your own flowers at home if you like, or purchase a set of dried flowers online. Trim the flower stems to a variety of lengths, making sure none of the flowers are longer than the display box.

Step 5: Attach Flowers

When you're ready to assemble the display, start by placing the shortest stems into the box first. Use a hot glue gun to add a dab of glue to the end of each stem and secure it to the paper that's lining the box. Press and hold each flower until the glue sets. Build upon the first layer using longer-stemmed flowers, repeating the process until you're happy with the way the display looks. When all the flowers are attached (and the glue has dried completely), use the hanger on the back to hang your creation in your home.

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Turn Your Favorite Blooms Into Gorgeous Dried Floral Art

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We'll show you how to make a gorgeous wilt-proof floral display.