Dahlias, Mums and Connections

When I sit down to begin my next blog post,the first thing I always do is to check in on other blogs that I follow.  One of my favorites is Ann Williamson's.  She also creates one-of-a-kind clothing and I find her work endlessly inspiring.  I am definitely a fan.  This time I felt a special connection to her as her most recent post was about spidery chrysanthemums and shows many designs incorporating these flowers.  It touched a cord for me because today's post is about my most recent jacket which uses a fabric with these mums on it.  It's only the most tangential connection--our work is very different--but I felt it nevertheless.

Here's my jacket.

I call this one Dahlias and Mums.  Mums is obviously a reference to the colorful chrysanthemum pattern on the collar and cuffs.  Dahlias is a subtle thank you to Dahlia  Popovitz--a hand-weaver who has a lovely shop in Newton Center, Massachusetts.  She carries my free-lace scarves.  The last time I dropped off scarves, I came away with bags left-over bits of her hand-woven fabrics.  The pieces were too small for her work, but were perfect for mine.  If you look closely at this jacket, you'll see that most of the appliqued triangles are made of those fabric bits.

The background fabric  for this jacket has an intricate woven pattern with great texture that seemed an appropriate setting for Dahlia's bits of color and glitz.  I feel so fortunate to be the recipient of such wonderful gifts.

They make an appearance on the back as well as the front...

And even on the inside.

You can see this jacket and others at Western Avenue Studios First Saturday (Studio 304) at the end of the week, or visit me at the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen annual fair in Sunapee, New Hampshire the first week in August (booth C12 in the Emerging Artists tent).