Come on in for a playful hour or two of fabric fun!
Saturday, February 11th at 10 a.m.
This class is an in-person event at The Briarwood Imagiporium, 1917 Washington, Baker City, OR. Next door to Vintage Honey.
MASKS ARE REQUIRED
Online class available on request from 8-9:30a.m. Pacific, for $30, no materials included. Email (Click here) at least 24 hours in advance for info.
Learn the art and practice of slow stitch, creating perfectly imperfect fabric collage as a meditation practice. This monthly gathering is a chance to learn new stitches and ways to use materials, connect with other stitchers, share progress and questions, and, if desired, take on a new theme for the coming month of meditative stitching. This is beginner friendly, so even if you barely know how to thread a needle, you can learn this.
Slow Stitching is often associated with Japanese sashiko stitching, but that's just one form it takes. Anything that puts a threaded needle through a surface could be slow stitch, and many quilters and embroiderers (broderers), and even knitters and crocheters and fabric journalers and historical clothiers, and, well, lots of people who stitch anything consider their craft to be "slow stitch". It doesn't even really have to be hand-stitched, according to some practitioners. The essential thing that differentiates it from "just needlework" (as if!) is the use of stitching as an intentional meditation practice.
Did I spook you? Meditation can be hard for some. Some think it's too woo-woo or religious to consider. Some just don't see the point or think they don't have the time. Be assured:
Combining meditation with a repetitive motion activity, whether it's something like walking, cycling, garden weeding, or stitching makes meditating much more achievable for many people. Rather than struggling to sit still and silent, giving your body something simple to do gives the brain an activity to focus its problem solving skills upon, allowing you to more easily let go of the chatter and rest in the flow. You can also use the meditative state to chant mantras or affirmations and, eventually, these truths will pop into your head anytime you perform the activity, which is enormously beneficial to developing great life habits.
The fun of doing slow stitch with fabric collage is that you get the added benefit of unstructured, creative play. This sort of experimentation is vital for children, but we lose our connection to it as adults, in most cultures, which is sad, because its just the sort of thing that keeps our brains elastic and our magic in motion. I provide you with a suggested theme, a suggested color scheme, and nudge you gently through the process of playing with color, image and texture.
Some Materials Included. I will provide you with basic materials to create something similar to the sample of the month. You may wish to bring your own, however, including a variety of fabrics (including upcycled, recycled, and rag bag stuff!), trims, buttons, embellishments, sewing thread, embroidery floss, yarn and other fibers.
You will want to continue stitching on this project after class, so I do recommend you bring your own embroidery floss in a variety of colors, if you have it. I don't stock enough for students to take extra with them. BiMart sells floss.
You may wish to bring your own scissors, tiny is fine, and an embroidery hoop if you know you have a preference for using one.
Saturday, February 11th at 10 a.m.
This class is an in-person event at The Briarwood Imagiporium, 1917 Washington, Baker City, OR. Next door to Vintage Honey.
MASKS ARE REQUIRED
Online class available on request from 8-9:30a.m. Pacific, for $30, no materials included. Email (Click here) at least 24 hours in advance for info.
Learn the art and practice of slow stitch, creating perfectly imperfect fabric collage as a meditation practice. This monthly gathering is a chance to learn new stitches and ways to use materials, connect with other stitchers, share progress and questions, and, if desired, take on a new theme for the coming month of meditative stitching. This is beginner friendly, so even if you barely know how to thread a needle, you can learn this.
Slow Stitching is often associated with Japanese sashiko stitching, but that's just one form it takes. Anything that puts a threaded needle through a surface could be slow stitch, and many quilters and embroiderers (broderers), and even knitters and crocheters and fabric journalers and historical clothiers, and, well, lots of people who stitch anything consider their craft to be "slow stitch". It doesn't even really have to be hand-stitched, according to some practitioners. The essential thing that differentiates it from "just needlework" (as if!) is the use of stitching as an intentional meditation practice.
Did I spook you? Meditation can be hard for some. Some think it's too woo-woo or religious to consider. Some just don't see the point or think they don't have the time. Be assured:
- Slow stitch makes meditation easier for many people.
- The benefits of meditation are many and documented.
- Most of us waste more than 20 minutes a day watching junk programming or scrolling through social media. You do have time for a meditation practice. This one is easy.
- and as for woo-woo...well, this is the website of a Light Witch, so what I teach always has an element of Divine Magic about it.
Combining meditation with a repetitive motion activity, whether it's something like walking, cycling, garden weeding, or stitching makes meditating much more achievable for many people. Rather than struggling to sit still and silent, giving your body something simple to do gives the brain an activity to focus its problem solving skills upon, allowing you to more easily let go of the chatter and rest in the flow. You can also use the meditative state to chant mantras or affirmations and, eventually, these truths will pop into your head anytime you perform the activity, which is enormously beneficial to developing great life habits.
The fun of doing slow stitch with fabric collage is that you get the added benefit of unstructured, creative play. This sort of experimentation is vital for children, but we lose our connection to it as adults, in most cultures, which is sad, because its just the sort of thing that keeps our brains elastic and our magic in motion. I provide you with a suggested theme, a suggested color scheme, and nudge you gently through the process of playing with color, image and texture.
Some Materials Included. I will provide you with basic materials to create something similar to the sample of the month. You may wish to bring your own, however, including a variety of fabrics (including upcycled, recycled, and rag bag stuff!), trims, buttons, embellishments, sewing thread, embroidery floss, yarn and other fibers.
You will want to continue stitching on this project after class, so I do recommend you bring your own embroidery floss in a variety of colors, if you have it. I don't stock enough for students to take extra with them. BiMart sells floss.
You may wish to bring your own scissors, tiny is fine, and an embroidery hoop if you know you have a preference for using one.