Melora Bales
@melorabales.bsky.social
1.2K followers 330 following 340 posts
Fiber artist, gardener, mushroom hunter, chef, regenerative agriculture and environmental enthusiast, pro-science, progressive humanist. I am a safe space. 💗 https://harvestmoontiedye.etsy.com
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melorabales.bsky.social
I recently completed the 12th design in my Sunbonnet Sue, Days of Rage hand embroidery series. After stumbling across old patterns from the 1930's, I was inspired to rework the designs to reflect how many of us are feeling right now. 💙 #embroidery #fiberarts #craftivism #artivism #Resist #art
I recently completed the 12th design in my embroidery series, so I thought I would share a bit about their origin. 

I stumbled across antique public domain transfer patterns of Sunbonnet Sue, Days of the Week chore towels. The idea of embroidering a towel that was going to tell me which housework to do every day really got on my nerves. Add that to my anxiety about our current waterfall of civil rights atrocities and environmental crises, and I was  inspired to rework the designs to reflect what many of us are thinking and feeling right now.

So, the Sunbonnet Sue, Days of Rage collection was born - a juxtaposition of sweet, vintage style and my frank, righteous anger with the current dystopian state of my country. 

Fiber arts have long been dismissed as “women’s work” or “crafts” and are just recently claiming their rightful place among other fine art mediums. It’s important for women fiber artists to reference historical fiber art themes and styles, to highlight the fact that they have always been fine art - whether or not they were recognized as such. 

Art has been a form of activism for centuries, and I’m proud to be a part of that tradition. I’m sure Sunbonnet Sue never thought she’d have to think about punching Nazis again, but at least this time she’s a part of the action and not stuck doing the damn laundry. 

There are four Sunbonnet Sue designs in this pic. She is always wearing a dress with a large skirt and a bonnet that covers her face. The first is her sitting, reading a copy of 1984. It says "Read Banned Books" underneath her. The second one is her standing between two trees looking towards a natural scene. It says "Protect Our National Parks." Third one is two ladies having tea. It says, "The Only Dangerous Minority Are The Billionaires." The fourth one is her holding a sunflower, wearing blue and yellow (the colors of the Ukrainian flag) and it says, "Stand With Ukraine."



I recently completed the 12th design in my embroidery series, so I thought I would share a bit about their origin. 

I stumbled across antique public domain transfer patterns of Sunbonnet Sue, Days of the Week chore towels. The idea of embroidering a towel that was going to tell me which housework to do every day really got on my nerves. Add that to my anxiety about our current waterfall of civil rights atrocities and environmental crises, and I was  inspired to rework the designs to reflect what many of us are thinking and feeling right now.

So, the Sunbonnet Sue, Days of Rage collection was born - a juxtaposition of sweet, vintage style and my frank, righteous anger with the current dystopian state of my country. 

Fiber arts have long been dismissed as “women’s work” or “crafts” and are just recently claiming their rightful place among other fine art mediums. It’s important for women fiber artists to reference historical fiber art themes and styles, to highlight the fact that they have always been fine art - whether or not they were recognized as such. 

Art has been a form of activism for centuries, and I’m proud to be a part of that tradition. I’m sure Sunbonnet Sue never thought she’d have to think about punching Nazis again, but at least this time she’s a part of the action and not stuck doing the damn laundry. 

There are four Sunbonnet Sue designs in this pic. She is always wearing a dress with a large skirt and a bonnet that covers her face. The first is her carrying a protest sign that says "America Has No King." The second one is her throwing a bag of ICE in a garbage can, carrying a sign that says "Chinga La Migra." Third one is her in a different dress, carrying a protest sign that says, "No One Voted For Musk." The fourth one is her in a different dress, carrying a protest sign that says, "Fuck Fascism." 



I recently completed the 12th design in my embroidery series, so I thought I would share a bit about their origin. 

I stumbled across antique public domain transfer patterns of Sunbonnet Sue, Days of the Week chore towels. The idea of embroidering a towel that was going to tell me which housework to do every day really got on my nerves. Add that to my anxiety about our current waterfall of civil rights atrocities and environmental crises, and I was  inspired to rework the designs to reflect what many of us are thinking and feeling right now.

So, the Sunbonnet Sue, Days of Rage collection was born - a juxtaposition of sweet, vintage style and my frank, righteous anger with the current dystopian state of my country. 

Fiber arts have long been dismissed as “women’s work” or “crafts” and are just recently claiming their rightful place among other fine art mediums. It’s important for women fiber artists to reference historical fiber art themes and styles, to highlight the fact that they have always been fine art - whether or not they were recognized as such. 

Art has been a form of activism for centuries, and I’m proud to be a part of that tradition. I’m sure Sunbonnet Sue never thought she’d have to think about punching Nazis again, but at least this time she’s a part of the action and not stuck doing the damn laundry. 

There are four Sunbonnet Sue designs in this pic. She is always wearing a dress with a large skirt and a bonnet that covers her face. The first is her taking a pie out of the oven. It says "Eat The Rich" underneath her. The second one is her sitting and sewing. It says "Stitch, Resist, Persist." Third one is her carrying a basket, heading towards a red barn. It says, "Support Local Farms." The fourth one is her holding her fists up like a boxer and it says, "Punch Nazis."
melorabales.bsky.social
That's the tea! Here's my newest design in the Sunbonnet Sue, Days of Rage collection. 💙Available as a finished piece or downloadable pattern in my Etsy shop, www.etsy.com/shop/Harvest...
#artivism #resistance #Resist #embroidery #fiberart
Hand embroidery image of two vintage ladies sharing a pot of tea with the quote "The Only Dangerous Minority are the Billionaires."
melorabales.bsky.social
Thank you, I appreciate all tips!
melorabales.bsky.social
Thank you! Same to you! 💗
melorabales.bsky.social
Thank you so much!! 🥰
melorabales.bsky.social
Sunbonnet Sue stands with Ukraine. 💙💛🌻
Newly finished piece 8 in the Sunbonnet Sue, Days of Rage collection. Support #artivism! Find finished pieces and downloadable patterns - www.etsy.com/shop/Harvest...
#StandWithUkraine #embroidery #fiberart
Sunbonnet Sue stands with Ukraine!Newly finished piece 8 in the Sunbonnet Sue, Days of Rage collection. It's an embroidery of a vintage lady, but the top half of her dress and bonnet are blue, the full skirt of her dress is yellow, symbolizing the Ukrainian flag. She's holding a sunflower, the national flower of Ukraine. I am selling downloadable patterns of my series, as well as finished pieces like this one in my Etsy shop, https://www.etsy.com/shop/HarvestMoonTieDye
melorabales.bsky.social
Thanks for your interest! I haven't made any since 2016, maybe I should make some again. 😊💙
melorabales.bsky.social
Bernie Sanders is a national treasure. In 2016, I raised money for his campaign by creating these Bernie tie dye shirts - they were so hard to do! I 💙 this image of them on my clothesline. I dream of how different our country would be today if Bernie had won in 2016.
#BernieSanders #StandWithUkraine
This is an image of Bernie Sanders tie dye on a clothesline in my backyard. In 2016, I raised money for his campaign by designing, making, and selling these Bernie tie dye shirts - probably one of the most difficult designs I've ever made. I dream of how different our country would be today if Bernie had won back then.
Below the photo is a copy of a post from Sanders, criticizing Trump for siding with Putin over Zelensky. He ends it by stating, "Sorry, President Trump. We believe in democracy, not authoritarianism."
melorabales.bsky.social
Thank you so much! Yes, I am planning to make another similar piece soon!
melorabales.bsky.social
I am so proud that you are our governor. 💙
Reposted by Melora Bales
melorabales.bsky.social
Thank you, I really appreciate how helpful folks are on this platform. 🥰 I have been adding it for my recent posts and will do so for all my future ones, as well. 💙
melorabales.bsky.social
I follow them on Instagram and I love their designs!
melorabales.bsky.social
That is so awesome! I would love to see those! ☺️
melorabales.bsky.social
That is so cool that you have some of the originals! Family heirlooms. 💗 I hope it's a fun project for you, it really is very calming!
melorabales.bsky.social
I should have, you're right. It's my first post and I wasn't used to the character limit, I didn't know about the alt text portion or that I couldn't go back and edit my post. 😆 I'm a total newbie! I'll figure it out, I promise. 🥰