Bisley + Needle_OR_Thread: Organizing Thread By Thread
Posted by Bisley Store on Mar 5th 2025
How Hannah Stays Organized While Bringing Landscapes to Life
Hannah is a full-time fabric collage and embroidery artist specializing in breathtaking textile landscapes. Inspired by her cross-country move from the Midwest to the Pacific Northwest—and the creative legacy of her grandmother—Hannah weaves together artistry and sustainability. Her work is driven by a passion for keeping textile waste out of landfills, utilizing fabric scraps in her pieces, and teaching others how to do the same.
Like any artist, Hannah knows that creativity thrives in the right environment. While her studio is an active, working space, organization plays a vital role in keeping her motivated. With a simple but effective tidying habit and a toolbox full of trusted materials, she’s found a balance between structure and spontaneity. Here, she shares her thoughts on staying organized, her favorite tools, and what fuels her artistic process.
Bisley Store: What role does organization play in your creative process? What does it mean to feel "organized" in your world? How do you get there?
Hannah: It is so hard to create in chaos! Keeping my studio organized helps to keep my motivation high. I struggle sometimes with keeping my studio space tidy, so I often set a timer each day for 20 minutes and try my hardest to tidy as much as I can in that time frame—it helps!
What drew you to your particular medium, and how has your style evolved over time?
My grandmother was a Jill of all hobbies and art forms! She taught me how to embroider and quilt. I started my love of landscape art in quilt form, and it has evolved to be in an embroidery hoop, and now to Kinusaiga.
If you could have dinner with any artist or designer, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
That's easy—my grandmother! I'd love to just tell her about what her legacy is, and how her talent, teachings, and love have shaped not only me, but anyone who I've taught in the last six years as an arts instructor! I'd want to just pick her brain and tell her I love her and give her a few more good hugs. She was my favorite human, and I miss her every day.
What do you require of a tool to add it to your toolbox?
Durable, easy to use, reliable, and it's a bonus if it's also aesthetically pleasing!
If you could give one piece of advice to someone looking to refine their workspace, what would it be?
Perfectly tidy studio spaces aren't realistic for a working artist—that's just Instagram making you feel like your space isn't worthy of sharing! Mess usually means creativity is in the works :)
What are some of your favorite tools of the trade?
I love Kai 4" bent scissors, Sulky metallic threads, Nurge embroidery hoops, and Colonial Needle Thimble pads. I use each one every day!
Five things you can't live without?
In my small business? Fabric, scissors, needle, thread, and an embroidery hoop ;)
If you weren’t doing what you’re doing now, what other career or passion would you pursue?
I got my B.A. in Music Education and Vocal Performance and taught for eight years before I left to stay home with my kiddos. I loved teaching elementary music and miss teaching and singing!
A huge thank you to Hannah for sharing her process, insights, and inspiration! If you're as mesmerized by her fabric landscapes as we are, be sure to follow along with her work and see how she continues to bring creativity and sustainability together. Looking for your own way to stay organized? Explore our storage solutions designed to keep your creative space as functional as it is inspiring.
Hannah's threads are safely stored in a Doulton Blue 10-Drawer MultiDrawer.