Gallery: Thread Painting

Tulips, 2025.

From a photo I took at Filoli, Woodside, CA.

Daffodils, 2024.

From a photo I took. Who knew light green was necessary to make daffodil trumpets stand out from daffodil petals? Begun as Artist in Residence at Empty Spools Seminars, Spring 2024.

Scrub Jay, 2025.

Begun as Artist in Residence at Empty Spools Seminars, 2024. I chose the scrub jay for his brilliant coloring and attitude, and because I took the original photo at Asilomar. The background was a challenge, and I had to work hard to find the right amount of detail.

The Bluebird of Happiness

I started work on this one during independent study at David Taylor’s New England Quilt Seminars in 2022 or 2023. The diagonal background stitching was to be an attempt to stabilize the work, but I liked the effect so well it became the final background! (Now available as a kit through my Etsy store, or as a class project)

Hibiscus

From a photo I took at the Marie Selby Botanic Gardens in Florida, the captivating colors of this bloom really spoke to me. It has become popular with students as a class project and is a great way to learn color blending (the background can be simplified, as a ‘color-wash’!)

Fredlet and Tommy

From a favorite photo of two sweetheart frenemies no longer with us. Moments after I took this photo, the boys started tussling with great vigor! I’ve done this image as a large collage (thank you, Susan Carlson!), and plan to do another version in a third style.

Miss Blue Eyes

Miss Minnow Cat had the most beautiful eyes: her vet said so, and a vet would know ’cause she sees a lot of cat eyes! Minnow would sleep beside me, and gently tap me on the shoulder when it was time for her breakfast, hence her paw straying into the border.

Eagle Lake, Acadia National Park

One of my favorite places. Making a realistic landscape requires a lot of detail. Interested in how it was made? Attend one of my thread painting lectures, where I take you through the process of making this piece step by step!

Minnie (left) and Jordan Pond and the Bubbles (right)

My first and best thread painting class was many years ago with Carol Shinn, at Quilting by the Lake, in upstate New York, and these were my two first efforts. I was unable to get rid of the distortion in Minnie, so you will see it is a bit, ahem, dimensional.