If you come across Lysa Intrator, whether it is in a Zoom meeting or while she is working at one of her volunteer positions, she is likely to be doing some handwork. Her hands are rarely idle as she stitches and pieces together a wealth of storied creations. We’ll take a little visit with her now as she describes her life and work in her own words:
“I live in a small village in Downeast Maine, with woods surrounding me, tidal waters at
the end of my land, wild creatures sharing their space with me, in a log cabin. A (former) hippie’s delight. Nature is a source of inspiration. Reflection and quiet solitude guide me. Daily, I wonder how I am so fortunate.
"As a fabric artist, my palette is more than cloth. Every piece I create is made with my hands and tells a story. My current work is inspired by the anonymous women who have embroidered and fashioned counted cross stitch for their homes. These works are rarely dated or signed by these industrious, loving women.
"I choose traditional quilt blocks to pair with the embroidery to honor these anonymous women. An embroidered basket is paired with a pieced basket square, a counted cross stitch girl is paired with an appliquéd Sunbonnet Sue. I am amazed by the number of, and names for, the hundreds of quilt blocks created over the years by American women.
"Though constructed primarily of squares, triangles and rectangles, design possibilities are endless depending on fabrics chosen. Adding twists of words, their history and mine, I have created celebrations of life in embellished fabric.
"When I first picked up a needle and thread I must have been fairly young; I know I made doll clothes. My mother taught me to embroider. A friend of hers taught me to sew my own clothes on our knee-pedaled Singer when I was 12, and at age 19, I first tried hand quilting. In Kentucky in the 1970s, no one used a machine to make quilts.
"So for nearly all of my 70+ years, I have sewn. It is my comfort, my balm in difficult times, my exuberation in good times, my release of my emotions. And I continue to piece, appliqué and quilt by hand.
"Often, like a scrapbook, my work contains writing, my handwriting, in embroidery. It
adds the meaning for the viewer, I hope, to draw the viewer in close to the story being
told. It adds a layer of history. I use only printed fabrics, spaces are full, details abound.
"I am no minimalist. Each piece is bursting to share its story. I’m not famous, I shun social media, my life is ordinary. All that keeps me from being an Anonymous Woman is that I sign and date my work."—Lysa Intrator, Pembroke, Maine, 2025