Kimmel Harding Nelson Artist Residency / 2026
Hello to my little internet space, and happy February 2026! I have recently returned from an artist residency at the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center in Nebraska City, NE, and I want to tell you about it!
First, I will tell you that it was FREEZING cold in Nebraska! So cold! I was brutally reintroduced to a Midwest Winter.
Anyways, I went with the intention of doing research about Arbor Day, which was invented in Nebraska City, and then going from there. That was my whole plan!! I brought an assortment of fabrics, and my sewing machine. Some thread, some glue.
My first day in Omaha, I got the special treat of visiting the archives at the Omaha Public Library (housed temporarily in an old kmart-type building, and so I affectionately referred to it as the municipal kmart). I read a number of very old books about Arbor Day - including my favorite one, which seemed to be a resource for how to celebrate the new holiday?
It included the history of Arbor Day, commemorative events and items, poems, suggestions for essays, and so on. My main lessons from Arbor Day:
It was invented by J Sterling Morton - his son is the famed Morton salt.
Maybe you’re thinking - it’s kind of weird that a prairie state invented a tree holiday? I also had this thought. The settlers needed more trees in the prairie. I would say overall an honorable holiday, but perhaps a little less so in the prairie.
I was very struck by this poem called Leaf Tongues, and could not shake the image of a leaf tongue.
So I followed that interest, and made a bunch of leaf tongues! I ended up putting them in postage stamps because 1) I love stamps, and they have a connection for me because my grandmother collected stamps, and 2) they were a common commemorative item for Arbor Day, and so I liked the idea of making my own commemorative Leaf Tongue Postage Stamps.
The Leaf Tongues were kind of involved to make - I used the free motion foot on my machine to trace the postage stamp shape, then meticulously cut around each shape, snipping on the curves, then turned inside out. Really nice and clean at the end, but slow going! Here’s a little time lapse of me doing the turning inside out part.
After the Leaf Tongues, I continued my investigative wanderings. I started out by looking up tree farms, that are planted on grids, and trying to see if you could tell from satellite images. I didn’t have much luck with this side quest, but it did lead me to general satellite view of Nebraska farmland. So I spent my second week there creating a quilt top inspired by those satellite views, and my own fabric scraps. Like a satellite view of my own personal history.
I’ve always been interested in creating a sort of personal history, of saving scraps, building memories and histories with my own materials. And so, I save my scraps. And sometimes I turn them into things. I’ve done this a few times - most recently, for a vest for my sister. And then I brought the scraps from the scrap vest to my residency and made this little quilt top :)
Speaking of which, you can come make a vest like this with me at the Sewing and Stitchery Expo in Puyallup, WA on March 1!
Coming Up:
Quilted Vest, Dyeing For Color, Intro to Crochet, and a Sun Print lecture at the Sewing and Stitchery Expo in Puyallup, WA - Feb 27 - Mar 1. The Sew Expo is big and fun and there are a zillion classes, all affordable. Come see me!
Teen Crochet class at the Canby, OR library on March 28th
Visible Mending, April 2nd, Modern Domestic (3 spots left!)
Thanks for coming by!