Bonnie Peterson embroiders text on the surface of her quilts and textiles, she uses thick wool and rayon thread in a large cursive style, using her hands to guide the sewing machine needle through many thicknesses of fabric. Bonnie uses her textiles to tell stories about what she sees and experiences and about social issues that she feels strongly about.

Caption: Wedding Party Massacre, 40″(L) x 60″- 83″(W), 2006, Embroidery with hand and machine stitching on satin wedding skirt with sheer fabric and netting, hand quilted. The text is from a May 2004 incident in which 45-47 civilians were killed at a wedding party in western Iraq.

I want the work to resemble early 20th century Victorian crazy quilts, or old tapestries I’ve seen in dark museum hallways. From far away, the viewer is drawn in by the texture, richness and color; by the fantasy of touching the work. Closer up, the viewer deciphers a message, sometimes poignant, and sometimes just another adventure story.

Caption: War Crimes, 46″(L) x 50″(W), 2005, Heat transfers of photos from the conflict are framed in 9 traditional log cabin blocks, embroidery, appliqué and stitching on silk, satin, brocade, and velvet. The boarders are embroidered with text from the US Constitution, Geneva Convention, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the Nuremberg Charter.

Check out this thread at the forum and add your current project to the list.

my creativity journal made a patchwork apron

mary, jane and midge are making gruesome knitted eyeballs and have a pattern to go with.

Craft boom - all about marketing an art and craft business online - recent posts include a craft heroes column with Meg McElwee, tips on how to diversify your income as an online craft business - some tips include:

1. Make money off of your website or blog traffic (in addition to product sales!). You can very selectively and tastefully add a small amount of advertising to your site. And/or start your own podcast or video channel on YouTube.

2. Sell crafting kits: I know all too well that the reason that we craft is for the joy of the creative process. But sometimes it’s really hard to make enough money to justify the time spent on a piece. Sellling kits can free up your time to focus on what you are really good at - creating and designing.

3. Create and sell e-products: Write an eBook. Do a video tutorial series. Create a downloadable pattern. All of these things may take a little time to create, but then with a little savvy marketing, they can be an ongoing source of revenue that you don’t need to think about too often.

Another recent interesting article was about increasing traffic to your craft business website. first of all having a blog attached to your craft business is beneficial -

a busy blog is one of the best marketing tools your Craft Business can have. The larger the readership of your craft blog the more people know about you, and your craft products. Lot’s of craft business owners use their blog/s to promote their craft business as well write about the more personal side of their lives.

Advice on getting traffic to your blog includes doing tutorials, having good photography and including personal snippets about your life to personalize the blog.