Cover Madness at The Horn Book

Posted on March 25, 2024 by Salley Mavor

UPDATE: I just received word that my 2012 cover was voted the winner of The Horn Book Magazine’s Cover Madness contest in the January/February category! As part of this year’s centennial celebration of the magazine’s founding, this “very-subjective, not-serious event” will continue with more contests to pick covers from previous issues published in March/Aril, May/June, etc. By the end of Cover Madness, 6 different covers will “emerge as winners”.

What a wonderful surprise this is! Even though the children’s book community has always been very supportive, I sometimes feel like an imposter because of my singular vision and nontraditional illustration medium. So, I’m especially honored to have my work recognized this way. Of all the groups my work is lumped into, from embroidery to doll making, the storytelling genre of children’s books is where I feel most at home. I hope that you enjoy this account from 2012 about how I made the cover!

This is an edited and republished version of a post that was first written in 2012.

The Jan/Feb 2012 issue of The Horn Book Magazine is out, with my illustration on the cover. This issue has many wonderful articles and book reviews, including the 2011 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award speeches, which were delivered at the colloquium on Sept. 30th, 2011.

In this post, I share the process of making The Horn Book cover illustration, which I worked on for about 6 weeks this past summer. The original size of the scene is about 12″ wide and 18″ high. The original piece was purchased by an art collector who is connected to the children’s book world.

As the Horn Book Award recipient for Pocketful of Posies in 2011, I had the honor of illustrating a cover for the magazine. You can find out more about my award here. Signed copies of the book are available in my Etsy Shop.

THE TREE
I first found a twisted vine to use as the central tree and made a sketch with the Horn Book logo and child characters. I then drilled holes on the vine where wire branches would go.

To form the branches, I covered wire with felt and embroidered them to match the real vine/tree trunk. This coiled branch has thread-wrapped wire thorns attached.

The Horn Book logo was rendered in wire branches and found objects. For one of the O’s, I sawed the back of a walnut-shell, so that it would lay flat and not stick out too much. The O in the word Horn is a nest-like acorn cap from an oak tree in Iowa and the B’s spiky acorn caps are from northern California.

THE FELT BACKGROUND
I thought that a solid color background would looked too plain, so I stitched together scraps of naturally dyed wool felt to make a more interesting field for the action.

I made a little fairy to fit in the walnut-shell.

THE CHILDREN
I didn’t want the characters to be animals, but children dressed in animal costumes. So, I made every effort to make them look like children by giving them bangs, ponytails, hands and shoes. These figures are made with similar techniques found in my how-to book, Felt Wee Folk.

During the process, I changed some of the characters in the original sketch and substituted a boy in a dinosaur costume pulling an acorn cap wheeled wagon full of books.

I printed out the words on acetate, so that I’d be sure to leave enough room at the bottom edge. I then embroidered plants and leaves to the felt background.

This little child/mouse is getting red shoes.

The Horn Book staff suggested I include a reading child, so I made a felt book for the face-painted mouse.

All of the parts piled up as I worked. It’s a miracle nothing got lost!

It was really fun thinking up costumes to make for these kids. I wanted to create a scene of children immersed in imaginary play and story.

I added a sun to the upper left corner and embroidered a wavy chain-stitched border. Then, I sewed the felt background to a sheet of foam core board, pulling it flat and straight.

Then, I stitched the tree, characters and other props in place, right through the foam core board. After everything was in place, I took it to the photographer, so he could take its picture. After that, I removed it from the foam core board and remounted the felt background and all of the parts on a cloth-covered stretcher. It is now framed behind glass and was recently bought by a collector. It was a joy to work on this project with Lolly Robinson at the Horn Book Magazine! Having my illustration on the cover will be a great opportunity for many people to discover my work for the first time.

Here I am with Roger Sutton, editor in chief of The Horn Book.

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Summer Tidbits

Posted on July 23, 2023 by Salley Mavor

With so much going on this summer, I decided to list everything in one post. There are current and upcoming exhibitions to see, new Stitch Minute videos to watch, as well as new products and a Sale in my Etsy shop.

But first, a little Barbie nostalgia.

With all of the chatter about the new Barbie movie, I thought I’d show mine from the early 1960’s. She co-mingled with the trolls, who mostly tolerated her. Looking back, I can see why the trolls won my heart. Barbie’s world was conventional and limiting, whereas the trolls opened up possibilities for a kind of magic to happen.

EXHIBITIONS

BEDTIME STITCHES heads south!

The touring exhibition of original artwork for my picture book, My Bed,
is currently on view at the
Southeastern Quilt and Textile Museum
in Carrollton, Georgia thru Sept. 15th.

Since its premiere at the Cahoon Museum of American Art in 2020, Bedtime Stitches has been seen by thousands of visitors at 8 different museums across the country from Maine to Washington State. And it’s not over yet! To find out where Bedtime Stitches will be going into 2025, visit the exhibitions page.

Hearing reactions from people who’ve seen my artwork in person makes me feel that organizing this show was worth all of the effort. I especially enjoyed this comment written earlier this year in the guest book at the Pacific Northwest Quilt & Fiber Arts Museum:

“It makes you think that everything is possible!”
~ Eleanor, Seattle, WA

2023 WOODS HOLE ART SHOW
July 24 – 29, 10 AM to 8 PM
Woods Hole Community Hall, Water St., Woods Hole, MA

This delightfully eclectic annual community art show is made up of artwork from people who live, work or lurk in Woods Hole. It’s been a long time since I had anything available during the summer to put in, but this year, 2 pieces from my seasonal landscape series, Harvest Time and Mossy Glen, will be included. Please note that the show is up for one week only (July 24 – 29).

If you’re heading down to the village of Woods Hole and manage to find a place to park, you can also see my Self Portrait: A Personal History of Fashion, which is on semi-permanent display at the Woods Hole Public Library.

Self Portrait: A Personal History of Fashion at the Woods Hole Public Library

THE WEE WORLDS OF SALLEY MAVOR

SOUTHERN VERMONT ARTS CENTER, Manchester, VT
September 30, 2023 – January 7, 2024
OPENING RECEPTION: Saturday, September 30 from 2 to 4 P.M.
GALLERY TOUR with the artist at 3 P.M.

This will be a large retrospective exhibition in the Art Center’s main gallery. It will include a wide array of original picture book illustrations spanning my career, including Bedtime Stitches, the touring exhibition of artwork for my most recent book, MY BED. Also on display will be recent pieces that explore cultural diversity, migration, fashion, the natural world, and a range of social narratives, from the everyday to topical subjects.

Southeastern Vermont Arts Center, Manchester, VT

New STITCH MINUTE Videos

SUMMER SCENE PREVIEW
The summer scene is slowly taking shape and I hope to finish it in time for my exhibit in Vermont this fall. When the piece is complete, I’ll write a series of posts that go into more detail, with commentary and photos that document my process. It’s the 4th in my seasonal landscape series. You can learn about how I made the other three, Frosty Morning, Mossy Glen and Harvest Time, in earlier posts on this blog. The images are printed as cards and jigsaw puzzles (20% off sale July 23 – 31), which are available in my Etsy Shop.

ETSY SHOP NEWS

NEW CARDS in my Etsy shop.

George’s Chair features a child nestled in an upholstered armchair, engrossed in a storybook, surrounded by imaginary characters, including St. George and the Dragon. There are also four new cards with images from Mary Had a Little Lamb. They include Mary and her lamb in the garden, in the barn, in the kitchen and in an apple orchard. The different scenes are available separately or in a sampler.

JIGSAW PUZZLES

Enter my Etsy Shop here.

Revisiting Mary and her lamb

Posted on April 12, 2023 by Salley Mavor

Today, I’d like to revisit the classic rhyme, Mary Had a Little Lamb, which I illustrated in 1995. The smaller board book version was published 10 years later. It’s hard to believe that 28 years have gone by since it first came out. The reality hits me, though, when I meet grownup people who remember the book from their childhood. Both versions are out of print, but you may be able to find used copies online.

Mary Had a Little Lamb remains one of my favorite projects and I’ve wanted to reuse the artwork from the book for some time. So, I’m happy to say that I just added 4 new note cards with images from the book to my Etsy Shop. There’s Mary and her lamb in the garden, in the barn, in the kitchen and in an apple orchard. The cards are available in 4 or 8 card samplers. Individual designs are also sold separately in packs of 4.

Note cards are available in my Etsy Shop..

All of the original 3-dimensional scenes I made for Mary Had a Little Lamb are in private collections. Fortunately, several owners are willing to loan them from time to time for exhibition purposes. Last summer, 8 pieces from the book were in my retrospective at the Brick Store Museum in Maine. And this coming fall, I hope to include a group of them in The Wee Words of Salley Mavor at the Southern Vermont Arts Center.

Judy Sue Goodwin-Sturges, my former teacher from RISD, generously loans pieces from her art collection for exhibitions. Picking them up is also a good excuse to visit her in Providence, RI. By the way, take a look at her shelves full of Guatemalan huipils behind us!

Mary Had a Little Lamb – apple tree note card

When I borrow the pieces, I often remove the stretched artwork from its frame to clean the inside of the glass. Then, I can take close up photos, like this one of Mary and her lamb in the barn and others you can see below.

Mary Had a Little Lamb – garden note card

Back in the 90’s, I embroidered character’s faces on hand-me-down fabric from my grandmother. The cloth was originally an old woolen petticoat that had been laundered so many times that it became felted. It was the perfect weight to work with and had a sturdy and forgiving texture that put up with multiple stabbings from a needle and thread. Eventually, I used up all the fabric and could never find anything to replace it. By then, I’d begun painting faces on wooden beads and I really didn’t miss embroidering faces. Sometimes, I would spend all day ripping out the stitching and starting again to get the right facial expression.

In this close up you can probably tell that the strawberries are made from polymer clay. The basket is made of wire wrapped in embroidery floss.

Mary Had a Little Lamb – kitchen note card

The blue and white knitting in the mother’s lap was originally part of a sculpture of a knitter sitting on a couch that I made in about 1980, which you can see below. I figured that the doll didn’t need her knitting any more, so I stole it and gave it to Mary’s mother. I’ve never been much of knitter and this would save me having to make a new one. And besides, it was the perfect scale!

Practically everyone who sees this asks, “Did you actually knit this on those tiny knitting needles?” I suppose it’s possible to knit with tooth picks, but I’m not that neurotic. Remember, making art is all about creating illusions. I used real needles, the kind that are for knitting baby booties and such, and then replaced them with with tooth picks.

Enter my Etsy Shop here.
A note to my international followers – Due to the unreasonably high cost of shipping overseas, I now only take orders from the USA and Canada.

Bedtime Stitches in Pacific Northwest

Posted on February 19, 2023 by Salley Mavor

Pacific Northwest Quilt and Fiber Arts Museum in La Conner, WA

I am happy to announce that Bedtime Stitches, the traveling exhibition of original artwork for my picture book, MY BED, is on view at the Pacific Northwest Quilt & Fiber Arts Museum in La Conner, WA through April 30th. This is the westernmost location on the tour and I hope that many of you in the area (including BC, Canada) will make the trip to see the show. To find out where it’s going in the next couple of years, please visit the exhibitions page.

MY BED: Enchanting Ways to Fall Asleep around the World is available worldwide where books are sold, including from online vendors. Autographed copies can be purchased in my Etsy Shop here.

The exhibition of embroidered bas-relief sculptures brings the viewer on an international journey, showing children in varying cultures and home environments around the world. Each intricately rendered scene captures the spirit of a different place and way of life, all the while illuminating the universal theme of children sleeping safe in their beds.

I’m especially excited to have my work at the museum because the Pacific Northwest has such an active quilt and fiber arts community. People are already flocking to see the show and telling their friends about it. Recent visitors wrote, “The pieces are even more amazing in person!” and “I found myself standing in front of each frame and ‘dreaming’. I will go back.”

In addition to the framed original artwork, visitors will see several interpretive boards that touch on different aspects of my working process, including this one about the animal icons featured throughout the book. While I worked on the animals, I took photos along the way and shared how I made each one. Click the animals to link to posts:

Rooster, Camel, Parrot, Elephant, Goldfish, Cat, Duck, Sheep,
Rabbit, Cow, Crocodile, Giraffe, Dog, Pony.

I am grateful to the Pacific Northwest Quilt & Fiber Arts Museum for their enthusiastic invitation to show my work and willingness to book it years in advance! The exhibition is spread out on the 3rd floor of their beautiful Tudor-style Victorian mansion.

Bedtime Stitches is currently booked into 2025 with the possibility of being extended into 2026. Interested museums and curators are welcome to write me information about hosting the exhibit via the contact form below.

MY BED – Home: Part 5

Posted on December 12, 2021 by Salley Mavor

PART 5 – Rooster, Cow, Parrot, Camel, Bunny, Crocodile, Duck, Cat, Pony and Sheep: Today’s post finishes up the “Home” series about making the illustration in My Bed, where all of the animal icons featured throughout the book come together in a child’s bedroom at the end.
Part 1 gives an overview of the page.
Part 2 focuses on the outside architectural details of the cut-away house.
Part 3 takes a peek inside at the furniture and the sleeping child.
Part 4 shows how I made the elephant lamp and goldfish lampshade.

Signed copies of My Bed are available in my shop here. Watch this 8-minute documentary about making the artwork for the book.

First, I want to remind those of you in the New England area that there’s only a short time left (through Dec. 31st, 2021) to see Bedtime Stitches at the New England Quilt Museum! The touring exhibition of original bas-relief embroidered artwork for the book will then travel to the International Quilt Museum in Lincoln, NE, Jan. 25 – April 10, 2022. See the the full schedule of participating museums here.

Bedtime Stitches exhibition at the New England Quilt Museum

It was so much fun to find ways to cram all of the animals into the child’s bedroom – overhead and underfoot, hanging on the wall, resting on the windowsill and crowding the bed. I like to think of these mini versions as souvenirs from the places around the world where the book travels. As you can see, my interior design style is anything but minimalist.

Some of the animals are depicted in portrait form, such as the rooster and the cow.

The parrot took flight…

and the sheep emerged through french knots and chain stitches.

I shrunk the crocodile to about half it’s size. You’d think it would be tedious, but I relish this kind of thing. I like figuring out how to reduce the scale, while preserving what makes something or someone identifiable.

The crocodile was a last minute addition due to some editorial adjustments, but luckily there was room to fit him on the bed.

We filmed this little animation before the crocodile was added.

There were other changes, too. Both the larger and mini versions of the camel had to undergo plastic surgery, when a follower pointed out that African camels are the dromedary or one-hump type, which shows sloppy research on my part. So, I transformed this guy’s two-humps into one! Luckily this all happened while I was still making the illustrations, so it could be fixed before the artwork was photographed for the book.

The cat and bunny look like they’re dressed in Halloween costumes! I made them using a scaled down version of the wrapped wire method I teach in Felt Wee Folk.

This sweet little Mongolian pony completes the 5 part series about making the “Home” page for MY BED. I hope that you’ve enjoyed this glimpse behind the scenes at my process.
Part 1 gives an overview of the page.
Part 2 focuses on the outside architectural details of the cut-away house.
Part 3 takes a peek inside at the furniture and the sleeping child.
Part 4 shows how I made the elephant lamp and goldfish lampshade.

MY BED – Home: Part 4

Posted on December 5, 2021 by Salley Mavor

PART 4 – Elephant Lamp and Goldfish Lampshade: Today’s post shows how I made the elephant lamp and goldfish lampshade in the child’s bedroom scene at the end of my picture book, My Bed.
Part 1 gives an overview of the page.
Part 2 focuses on the outside architectural details of the cut-away house.
Part 3 takes a peek inside at the furniture and the sleeping child.
Part 5 is about all of the other animal icons represented in the scene.

Signed copies of My Bed are available in my shop here. Watch this 8-minute documentary about making the artwork for the book.

My original idea for this illustration was to show a universal child sleeping in bed, surrounded by stuffed toys that looked like the animal icons featured throughout the book. I soon realized that the bed and floor around it wouldn’t accommodate all of the animals, so I came up with other ways spread them around the room.

The sturdy elephant turned into a lamp base and the goldfish ended up swimming around a sea blue lampshade. The goldfish icon first appears on the text panel in the Japanese spread in the book.

To make the lampshade, I appliqued an embroidered felt goldfish head and tail onto a piece of blue felt.

I added a felt back piece and edged the front and back with wire on the top and bottom. That way, it would stick out and stay curved like a real shade.

For the lamp base, I shrunk the elephant down to about 1/2 the size of the spot illustration on the text panel on the Indian page of the book.

To make the armature, I bent a pipe cleaner and threaded one end through a wooden bead. The bead would become the head and the pipe cleaner extension would form the trunk.

Then I wrapped the pipe cleaner trunk with embroidery floss, covering the fuzzies like the dolls’ arms and legs are made in my how-to book Felt Wee Folk.

I sewed pieces of felt inside the body to fill in the void and give it bulk.

I then covered the bead head and body with pieces of felt. It’s been a few years, so I can’t remember exactly how this part was done, but I remember that it was rather fussy. I probably used 2 separate pieces for the front and back of the body and the head.

You can see the difference in scale between the 2 elephants in the photo of my work table below. They’re like the mother and baby elephant in my first children’s book, The Way Home.

Replicating the blanket at 1/2 size was also fussy, but at least it was flat!

Wouldn’t it be fun to have a full size version of this lamp, with the elephant made out of clay or wood and a painted goldfish swimming around the shade?

Stay tuned for more posts about the other animals in this scene.

MY BED – Home: Part 3

Posted on November 28, 2021 by Salley Mavor

PART 3 – Furniture: This series is about making the illustration at the end of my picture book, My Bed, where all of the animal icons from around the world come together in a child’s bedroom. Part 1 gives an overview of the scene and Part 2 focuses on the outside architectural details of the cut-away house. Today’s post will take a peek inside, at the furniture and the sleeping child. Coming up next in Part 4, I’ll show how I made the elephant lamp and fish lampshade.

Signed copies of My Bed can be ordered in my shop here. Watch this 8-minute documentary about making the artwork for the book.

The giraffe on the text panel found its way here after it was bumped from the Ghanaian page. To read about the giraffe gaffe which caused the switchover, go to this previous post.

For this scene, I rendered the giraffe in a different form, as a chain stitched image “painted” on the side of a chest of drawers.

To make the chest look like a wood paneled piece of furniture, I created layers of felt, including a cut out frame and a backing piece of a slightly lighter shade of green. Then, I outlined the frame with blanket stitching and basted the 2 pieces on top of one another.

I chain stitched a simple outline of a giraffe and filled it in with more chain stitches and satin stitched spots. For eyes, I combed through my glass bead supply until I found 2 of the tiniest black ones

After adding a branch and leaves, I sewed wire around the outside edge to give the panel more structure. And for extra emphasis, I went over every edge and corner with a darker shade of green embroidery floss.

To help visually anchor the corners, I sewed on jump rings, covering the metal with embroidery floss. I added a felt top, bead drawer pulls and bead legs.

Creating a side view of the bed frame came next. It’s made with carved bone beads from Africa that I found at a bead show years ago.

Because I wanted every child looking at the page to feel a connection to the character in the illustration, I intentionally made them non-specific by gender or race. I also wanted the house and bedroom to convey a warm and playful sense of “home” that could be imagined anywhere.

Since the child was going to be tucked under the covers, I only had to make the top half of their body. The figure is based on the dolls in my in my how-to book, Felt Wee Folk.

While picking out colors and patterns for the child’s clothes and bed spread, I was keenly aware of how easy it is to fall for pink = girl and blue = boy stereotypes. After much consideration, I chose striped orange pajamas and a starry purplish night sky bed covering.

I embroidered the stars with gold metallic thread, which for me is a material of last resort. Even though synthetic thread is icky to work with, it provided the shine I wanted.

Once the child was safely tucked into bed, I started making the different renditions of the animal icons featured throughout the book. Coming up next in Part 4, I’ll show how I made the elephant lamp and fish lampshade. After that, I’ll write about the other animals in the room.

Bedtime Stitches, the touring exhibition of original 3-dimensional artwork for the book is at the New England Quilt Museum in Lowell, MA through Dec. 31, 2021 and will be at the International Quilt Museum, Lincoln, NE Jan. 25 – April 10, 2022. See the the full schedule here.

Bedtime Stitches at the New England Quilt Museum

MY BED – Home: Part 2

Posted on November 21, 2021 by Salley Mavor

PART 2 – Architecture: This series is about making the illustration at the end of my new picture book, My Bed. It’s a cut-away view of a sleeping child, surrounded by souvenir animals from the places around the world that the book travels through. Looking at it now, the child’s one room house filled with animals reminds me of a favorite children’s book character, Pippi Longstocking, who lived an exciting self-sustaining life with a monkey and a horse. Of course, My Bed is a completely different kind of story, but those kind of connections make perfect sense to me.

Signed copies of My Bed can be ordered in my shop here. Watch this 8-minute documentary about the book.

Today, the focus will be on how I put together the outside architectural elements of the house, including the doorway and the roof. Everything was made with wool felt, with wire reinforcements.

As always, I blanket stitched around the outside edge of each felt piece. My motto could be, “When in doubt, blanket stitch.” The little dashes all lined up make the different parts stand out, like crosshatching with a pen. I added a layer of wire around the outside, giving the felt some stability, so it wouldn’t be too floppy. You can’t see the wire because it’s covered with brown whip stitches. Then, I decorated the felt “board” with a chain stitched curvy line.

This is the roof section, which I built up to about 1/2″ with layers of felt. I wanted to create a 3-dimensional structure that clearly separated the outside from the inside space.

To make roof tiles, I sewed together a line of rough cut shell beads.

Then, I sewed the string of beads along the rooftop and crowned the top with a clay bead.

The door is made with 2 layers of felt, all blanket stitched. My goal was to soften the hard edges and make the building parts look sturdy and wobbly all at the same time.

The door knocker is a hook and a bead and the door knob is button and a bead.

I made the light out of a hook, a bead and some kind of bobble I’ve had for ages.

Now that we’ve looked at the outside, let’s take a peek inside next time, shall we?

MY BED – Home: Part 1

Posted on November 14, 2021 by Salley Mavor

PART 1 – Overview: For the past few years, I’ve shared the process of making the 3-dimensional embroidered illustrations for my newest picture book, MY BED. The book has been out for a year and the Bedtime Stitches touring exhibition of the original artwork is well underway. So, I’d like to pick up where I left off last year and continue to show what goes into doing this kind of work. Posts I’ve written in the Bed Book Peek series so far are listed here.

The Bedtime Stitches touring exhibition is at the New England Quilt Museum in Lowell, MA through Dec. 31, 2021 and will be at the International Quilt Museum, Lincoln, NE Jan. 25 – April 10, 2022. See the the full schedule here. Visitors often ask, “How did she make all of this in one year?”. It’s confusing because all of the pieces are consistently embroidered with the date 2020 on the border. Even though I worked on it over a 3 year period, the project was completed when it was published as a book in 2020.

Signed copies of My Bed can be ordered in my shop here. Watch this 8 minute documentary about how I created the illustrations for the book.

HOME – Near the end of the story, the illustration shows a child in bed, when it’s almost time to go to sleep. All of the animal icons from the different places featured throughout the book are gathered together in a snug little bedroom. I felt it was important to depict a universal child, who wasn’t clearly identifiable by gender or race, whom any child being read to could identify with. I also wanted the house to convey a warm and playful sense of “home” that could be imagined anywhere.

You can find out more about the Animal Icon spot illustrations in these previous posts – Rooster, Camel, Parrot, Elephant, Goldfish, Cat, Duck, Sheep, Rabbit, Cow, Crocodile, Giraffe, Dog, Pony.

To begin, I enlarged the thumb nail sketch to full scale and used it as a template. The drawing provided a general layout of the house and tree, but once I started making the animals, they took over and pretty much determined what the interior arrangement would be.

I worked on one double-page spread at a time. The background and parts accumulated on an old ironing board that served as an extra working surface. When I needed to press a piece of felt, the iron was right there.

Rob set up a camera and lights on top of the table, so we could make a little animated film before I sewed all of the parts together.

This is what it looks like when you compress 6 weeks into 9 seconds.

There’s is so much to show about making this scene that I’m going to write several posts focusing on different parts, including the animals, the child and architectural details. Stay tuned for more!

Bedtime Stitches on view at the New England Quilt Museum

Posted on October 25, 2021 by Salley Mavor

I’m happy to announce that the touring exhibition, BEDTIME STITCHES, is on view through Dec. 31, 2021 at the New England Quilt Museum in Lowell, MA. This is an opportunity for people in southern New England to experience the detail and 3-dimensional quality of the original artwork for my book, My Bed: Enchanting Ways to Fall Asleep around the World .

Rob and I recently drove up to Lowell to take photos and videos of the show to share with you. In addition to snapping still photos, Rob filmed some impromptu conversations in the gallery, which are included later in this post.

My bas-relief embroidered book illustrations have 2 lives. The easiest and most accessible way to enjoy them is by looking at the reproductions on the printed pages of the book, My Bed. Another way to experience the artwork is to go to an exhibition of the originals, where the scenes are presented behind glass in shadow-box frames hung on the wall. Either way, you can get lost in the stitched miniature worlds full of characters, props and scenery.

Personally signed copies of My Bed are available in my shop here. Watch this 8 minute documentary about how I created the illustrations for the book.

The BEDTIME STITCHES exhibition has been traveling for the past year and is booked at museums around the country through 2024 (see schedule below). I’m open to extending the tour, so if you’d like to see the exhibition come closer to where you live, please reach out to museums in your area and tell them about the opportunity to show my artwork. Interested museums are welcome to contact me (Salley at weefolkstudio.com) for information about hosting the exhibition.

BEDTIME STITCHES Tour Schedule

Sept. 14 – Dec. 31, 2021, New England Quilt Museum, Lowell, MA
Jan 25 – April 10, 2022, International Quilt Museum, Lincoln, NE
June 3 – Sept. 11, 2022, Brick Store Museum, Kennebunk, ME, (Bedtime Stitches will be included in the retrospective exhibition, What a Relief: The Art of Salley Mavor)
Oct. 15 – Dec. 31, 2022, Historical and Cultural Center of Clay County, Moorhead, MN
Feb. 1 – Apr. 30, 2023, Pacific Northwest Quilt & Fiber Arts Museum, La Conner, WA
Fall 2023, Southern Vermont Arts Center, Manchester, VT. (Bedtime Stitches and Social Fabric will be displayed together)
Feb. – May 2024, Upcountry History Museum, Greenville, SC
July — Dec. 2024, Albany Institute of History and Art, Albany, NY. (Bedtime Stitches and Social Fabric will be displayed together)

Pam Weeks – New England Quilt Museum’s curator

Pam Weeks, the museum’s curator greeted us when we got there. She did a beautiful job hanging my artwork in a cozy corner gallery, where visitors can spend time viewing the pieces up close.

A series of information panels describe different aspects of my working process, including making sketches, stitching and using wire and found objects.

While we were there, we had the good fortune to meet 2 very interesting women – artist Laura Petrovich-Cheney, who’s remarkable Wood Quilts are also on display and Janet Elwin, who helped found the New England Quilt Museum in 1987. Here we are conversing at the museum.

Here I am signing a copy of My Bed for Laura Petrovich-Cheney.

BEDTIME STITCHES will be on view at the New England Quilt Museum in Lowell, MA through Dec. 31, 2021. The next stop on the tour is the International Quilt Museum in Lincoln, Nebraska (Jan 25 – April 10, 2022).

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