Creating Threads of Summer: How Marigolds from My Garden Inspired a Natural Dye Fiber Art Piece
For a long time, I never expected to stay in one place for very long. My career had me moving every few years, and I assumed that was simply how life would always be. Then I moved to New Hampshire.
More than ten years later, I'm still here.
There's something special about putting down roots, both literally and figuratively. Having the chance to stay in one place has allowed me to create gardens that have grown and evolved alongside me. Of course, this is the Granite State, so every new garden bed began with the familiar challenge of discovering that you can't dig more than a couple of inches without finding a rock! Thankfully, I had some professional help turning rocky ground into places where things could flourish.
As my gardens grew, so did my curiosity about natural dyeing. I started experimenting with flowers that could produce color, and one plant quickly became a favorite: marigolds.
Marigolds are wonderfully practical. They're hardy, help keep insects away from my vegetable garden, and produce beautiful natural dyes. Every year I look for new varieties to grow, curious to see what colors they might create.
At the end of each season, I gather the flower heads, dry them, and tuck them away until it's time to dye fiber. Every dye pot feels like a little experiment. Some marigolds produce rich golden yellows, while others surprise me with soft greenish-gold hues. I'm certainly not a chemist, and my process is more exploration than precise science, but that's part of what I love most. The moment I rinse the fiber and discover the final color is always a small mystery waiting to be revealed.
When I began creating Threads of Summer, I realized those naturally dyed fibers represented more than just color. They held memories of the gardens I'd cultivated over the past decade.
Using every shade I had dyed from my marigolds, I created a map of my property with my home at its center. Each area where marigolds had been planted over the years is connected back to the house by a stitched line.
Those connecting lines hold another secret.
Hidden within them are letters that spell the word "Marigolds."
Read the Morse Code from inside the house towards the flower location
Like many of my pieces, Threads of Summer invites viewers to look a little closer. What first appears to be an abstract composition is actually a personal map—a record of seasons spent tending gardens, experimenting with natural dyes, and finding inspiration right outside my door.
Sometimes the places where we put down roots become part of the art we create. This piece is a reminder that even the smallest patch of earth can hold years of stories, waiting to be stitched together.
