Wheat. It’s the quintessential summer crop. And a widely-evoked symbol in Jewish art and design. In the Torah, wheat is one of the seven species of agricultural crops that signify the abundance of the Promised Land. The association comes from the Torah narrative of the Israelites’ approach to the Promised Land after traveling for forty … Continue reading
The dream: make a matzah cover that looks like a piece of matzah. For more than a year the idea had been kicking around the back of my mind, and after two months of getting the pattern just right –as well as figuring out how to photograph it– the dream is now a reality. This … Continue reading
I know we’re in Purim mode at the moment, but we’ve just set the date for a Passover matzah cover sewing class at Beetle and Fred that you might want to put on your calendar. The class will be on Sunday, March 11 from 11am to 1pm. Beetle and Fred is located on Main Street … Continue reading
This Fabric Friday’s selection is Robert Kaufman Fabrics’ Kona Cotton in the color “Wheat,” to coordinate with the matzah print fabric you probably already have in your stash. I walked into one of my local quilt shops this earlier this week, not sure if I would find a color that would coordinate well with my … Continue reading
There’s a new challah cover pattern in the shop: “Almond Blossoms.” Almond trees are the first trees of the year to blossom in Israel. They produce flowers even before the leaves appear. In late winter, as the days grow longer, the almond trees come into bloom, a welcome sign of renewal and a promise of … Continue reading
This Sukkot I got the chance to lead a workshop for the Beacon Sukkah Project, a Sukkot-long program of arts and lectures organized by the Beacon Hebrew Alliance and Beacon Arts in Beacon, New York. To fit this year’s theme, “Open to the Sky,” I led an introduction to drawn thread embroidery, and thought I’d … Continue reading
During the festival of Sukkot we eat in the sukkah, visit with family and friends in the sukkah, and sometimes, so I’ve heard, sleep in the sukkah, although I’ve never done that. Why not sew in the sukkah? Particularly during the intermediate days of the festival when we’re less likely to be entertaining friends for … Continue reading
