Influencers of all ages have embraced textile crafts. They share their art, tips, techniques and how-to videos on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and Reddit. Embroidery, sewing, cross stitch and other cozy, handheld, crafty hobbies are accessible, can be done alone or with others, can be cost-free and speak to a longing for a slower pace, a tactile experience. 

“It’s not just something that old ladies do,” said Lynn Setterington, ethnographic embroiderer and textile artist whose work is currently on exhibition at the UC Davis Design Museum. 

The exhibition Connecting Threads (together), on view through Nov. 20 at the UC Davis Design Museum, serves as a snapshot of Setterington’s development as an artist over the past four decades. 

Embroidery today is celebrated, practiced and appreciated by people from all different backgrounds and walks of life, and its value as a connecting thread and vital accessible global communication tool is finally being recognized. 

— Lynn Setterington

Inside ‘Connecting Threads (together)’

The exhibition includes a range of Setterington’s work, from small embroideries she made as a student to her 1990s kantha quilts inspired by time she spent in Bangladesh. Her signature quilts — with actual signatures embroidered into them — and textiles made from waste material give visitors a peek inside her mind, her process and, for a brief time, allow us to travel the world with her. 

“Shoeshine,” hand quilted using cotton thread and fabrics, depicts an image of a shoe polish kit surrounded by a circle of shoe prints and a square border featuring the individual items from the kit. 

In the museum label, Setterington writes: “This large hand worked quilt is once again inspired by ordinary domestic objects and storytelling. It pays homage to the brushes for cleaning shoes that I inherited from my parents. The quilt recalls the long-gone daily rituals of shoe cleaning and polishing.” 

She then asks visitors: “What objects remind you of home?”

Setterington enjoys being playful with the colors and materials she uses. She also enjoys the slow, engaged pace of working with her hands, working with textiles, threading a needle and being present. 

“I think it’s really good for you,” she said.

Grappling with social issues

But the exhibition isn’t all light and breezy. In fact, most, if not all, of Setterington’s work is also a commentary on modern social issues as well as our history as humans. Through her work, Setterington pays homage to boys lost due to their blackness as well as uncredited makers and an underrecognized British suffragette. Her artwork, much of which is created within community, brings attention to the housing crisis, industrial waste and consumerism.

She grapples with her own relationship to everyday items like her hairdryer, beauty products and kitchen gadgets. She sews her garden and her grief into quilts and tapestries. She tries out different methods and materials, community engagement and communal making, embracing imperfection and grappling with climate change, sustainability, consumerism and daily life. 

Being in communities and teaching students gives me a lot of hope. They are so creative and they really care. They want to reuse everything, mend their clothes and make materials that are sustainable.  

— Lynn Setterington

While in Davis for her exhibition’s opening, Setterington held a workshop on campus on creating new items with different types of waste cloth. This type of community work is embedded in her art practice and the fabric of her soul. 

“We do what we can,” Setterington said. “We have a garden, we don’t buy much. I am lucky to have had a life where I can be an artist and experiment with different textiles. I’d been saving plastic bags for so long that I had this big stock of them — they ended up becoming materials for my art.”

She is teaching others how to use textiles as a tool for communication. 

For her, stitch is language.

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