Okay. So… full disclosure: Yes, I was drawn to the field of occupational therapy because of my deep-seated beliefs in its noble goals of promoting uniqueness and meaning and diversity. But I also LOVE crafts. And I was told, mistakenly, that crafts were central to the profession.

Although they once had been, by the time I was studying OT, the profession was hell-bent on distancing itself from the basket-weaving image. But truth be told, I believed then, and still very much do, that there is huge therapeutic value in doing crafts. There, I said it!

My life-long love affair with crafts, particularly appliqué, started when I was seven years old. My aunt, Kathy, gave me this small wall hanging that she had made with scraps of material and bits of embroidery floss. I loved that aunt and I cherished that little cloth picture. Something about its colours, its simplicity, was just so beautiful. And it had emotion. This little work of art has hung on a wall in my various homes ever since.

Inspired by my aunt’s creative genius, over the years I learned embroidery, crewel, and quilting techniques, and eventually began designing my own appliqués, striving for the same effect.

After my improbable year-long sailing of the North Atlantic, I made the appliqué of our sailboat, Inia, being tossed about in monstrous seas, mid-ocean, mid-storm, in the middle of the night, to convey what I had experienced; more importantly, how I had felt.

Then I decided to write a book about the adventure. And I discovered that, to my surprise, the writing process and the appliqué process are similar. There is the starting with a general idea, a theme, the drawing of bold strokes, the adding of focal points here and there, the taking away extraneous clutter, and the finishing touches— always thinking; what’s missing, what’s enough, what’s too much, until it feels ‘emotionally accurate’, until it feels ‘just right’.

I am over the moon to say, my debut book, Ready to Come About, will be released next month. What’s more, Laura Boyle, artistic director at Dundurn Press, used my sailing appliqué to design the book’s cover. It’s an emotional match made in heaven. It’s perfect on every level. I couldn’t be happier.

Thank you, Laura!!