The lure of needle and thread. Bazaar Bayar describes the attraction to sewing and fabric best: it allows us to “share the common language of craft.” Craft creates a language between textile lovers all around the world, and in Turkey, there is always someone ready to knit or crochet over endless cups of tea.

I made my first stitching when I was eight years old in our log home in rural Wisconsin, and started new projects with abandon, leaving many of them unfinished. Thousands of miles away from my birth home, I am still as impulsive with my stitchings and sewing today, and always leave myself something unfinished to return to. For my first two years in Turkey, I designed handbags and had them sewn locally. From sketch to catalog, from template to the manufacturing of handbags that I sold on my website, Rose Deniz Handbags, I built my first business. I might not have known Turkish those first few years, but I learned to communicate in the language of fabric, needle, and thread. These textile pieces are still a cornerstone of my creative work. This is where my hands work, but my mind and body rest. This is what I turn to in happiness, comfort, and grief.