Summer Wrap-Up #1: June, July and August 2017 Stitch-Ins

Barbara C.: Little hand-woven indigo boxes

It's so hard to believe that it's Labor Day today! I've been neglecting this blog in favor of Instagram! But...I promise I'm now back! I'll be spending the next few posts focusing on creative summer activities starting with images from Stitch-Ins from June through August.

Ann Z. took a machine embroidery class this summer at Artistic Artifacts...

Ann Z.

 I love this sweet bird!

Ann Z.

 Barbara C. started her line of hand-dyed thread and is calling her new company Studio Amaranthine.

Some of Barbara's hand-dyed threads. I've been using them on projects this summer. They are really wonderful to stitch with!

Here's a hand-dyed top using some of her threads.

Here's a fabulous Indian textile that Barbara bought while she was in London. Very inspiring!

Cheryl C. continued working on pieces she started in my Jumpstart in Hand Stitching workshop. She's planning to bind these and other pages into a cloth book. I'm teaching the five-session class in Hand Stitching at the Art League School starting on September 20.

Cheryl is a landscape architect. I love this printed and stitched "floor plan"!

Cheryl C. : Here Cheryl is using reverse applique to create a layered piece representing 3D forms.

Cheryl C.: Detail

Mary Louise M. continued exploring the mark-making with stitches that she started in the Jumpstart in Hand Stitching workshop.

Mary Louise M..

Holly C. continued to work on her expressive black and white stitched samples that utilize both machine and hand stitching. She mounted them on linen table runners she purchased at Ikea!

Holly C.

This piece is white hand stitching on a black linen table runner. She says that she was inspired by Australian Aboriginal art!

Holly C.

Jodie F. brought in a number of stitched works. I love this map piece with its wide variety of stitches.

Jodie F.

 Jodie used a number of fabrics inherited from her mom to create a small stitched book.

Jodie F.

 I love this combination of drawing and stitching.

Jodie F. 

This is the piece that Jody brought to work on. Reminds me of Zentangles!

Jodie F.

 Judy M. brought in her completed Story Cloth quilt featuring all the pieces she created in my class, To Tell a Story with Cloth: Impressions, Connections and Memories. Her stories were about her grandmother and times spent at her grandmother's cabin. I'm teaching this class again at the Art League School starting on September 27.

Judy M. talking about the stories behind her story cloths.

Judy M.

 I continued work on my Mom's 85th birthday celebration cloth. Each "moon" represents a decade...8 and a half moons in total!

Julie B.

 Jutta M. continued work on her healing cloth from my Patching, Stitching, Weaving: Creating Healing Cloth workshop. She's planning to add some stitched stars to the patchwork. I'll be teaching this workshop at the Art League School on September 9 and 10.

Jutta M.

Melanie H. continued stitching on her healing cloth too! She was inspired by photos of DNA and microscopic organisms.

Melanie H.

Susan G. started working on the second of her series of healing cloths. Each cloth represents one of her siblings and their relationship with family.

Susan G.

Megan P. decided to make a healing cloth for her sister who lives in Charlottesville.

Megan P.

Rebecca K. started work on a new piece during the Stitch-In using reverse applique.

Rebecca K.

Peggy G. started adding stitched details to her indigo-dyed bag.

Peggy G.

Willa D. decided to create a piece using torn strips and leftover scraps.

Willa D.

Liesel F. brought in some of her hand stitched Sashiko pieces. I love this one that is free-style!

Liesel F.

It was so great to spend time stitching with all you talented women!!

Stitch-In May 2017

Detail from a piece by Barbara C.

Finally catching up with my posts...and since today we are having the June Stitch-In...I wanted to get the May meeting posted!

We had a small group, but lots of interesting projects going on.

Barbara C. was finishing a piece that she starting in my To Tell a Story with Cloth: Impressions, Connections and Memories class. Her focus in class was memories of London. This piece came about after a recent visit and discovering T.S. Eliot's house...which she used as a inspiration for this and other pieces. Believe it or not...only some of the words are stitched...the rest are painted! If you want to see more work from this class go here (there will be links to the rest of the posts).

I always love seeing the back of a piece. The back of Barbara's piece is beautiful!

Susan P. worked on a bit of Boro...repairing the knee of her jeans. She's right in style these days!

Peggy G. was having fun jumping off from a black and white commercial cotton print.

Mary M. was working on a homework assignment for my Hand Stitching Continued class. If you want to see more work from this class go here and here.

Erika C was working on two commissioned dolls. We got to watch her do some needle felting and also see these incredible pieces in progress!

Erika C. making fingers!

I was finishing up these stitched word samplers. I had a lot of fun making them and trying out different stitches. The Ruby Red Fish...are the Swedish fish candies that my grandmother used to keep in her candy drawer.

Thanks for any enjoyable afternoon of stitching and sharing!

To Tell a Story with Cloth: Impressions, Connections, and Memories: Memory Cloths

Judith K.-P.: This piece...one of Judith's Memories of Japan series, was inspired by a Haiku by renown Japanese poet, Matsuo Basho. Judith printed the fabric flowers and crocheted the basket from twine. The poem is written with pen and embellished with stitching.

This is the final post of five showing student work from my To Tell a Story with Cloth: Impressions, Connections, and Memories class. I want to highlight finished pieces and works-in-progress.

Judith K.-P.: Part of the Memories of Japan series. This piece was started in the Mapping Memories lesson. It is an Impressions Map of her experience in Japan. Applique, Trapunto, hand stitching.

Judith K.-P.: Another piece from the Memories of Japan series featuring a Haiku by poet, Chen-ou Liu. The teapot print was created using an embossed aluminum printing plate.

Ann Z.: Memories of Beach series. This piece is still in process. Ann is planning to add some additional stitching. Here she is auditioning some textures.

Ann Z.: Detail of stitching and reverse applique. Ann is also working on a series of smaller pieces featuring stitched words inspired by Rachel Carson's writings.

Jan B.: In addition to the pieces about her parents (see Significant Object Portraits and Word Impressions posts below), Jan is continuing work on this Color Map. She is adding a stitched azalea over the spring greens.

Barbara C.: As part of her Memories of London series, Barbara created this little box sculpture featuring some of her hand printed fabrics along with fabrics purchased on her recent London trip. The house is the one that T. S. Eliot lived in. You can see the Eliot poem piece in the Word Impressions blog post below).

Barbara C.: Here is the incised craft foam print block she used.

Barbara C.: I couldn't resist including this incredible stitched ribbon that Barbara bought in London. She is using bits and pieces of it in her continuing series.

Alice A.: Alice fell in love with this little Mexican bull! It is a motif that reminded her of her childhood and visits to a marketplace in Mexico. Alice realized that watching the women weaving and making their wares is what inspired her to become a weaver and fiber artist. This print was created with a freezer paper stencil.

Alice A.: Freezer paper stencil.

Alice A.: This little red bull was created with a freezer paper stencil and an aluminum printing plate.

Alice A.: Alice made these miniature aluminum animals based on her memories of  Mexican tin ornaments. She plans to attach them to one of her Memory cloths.

Judy M.: A selection of Judy's Memory cloths about visits with her grandmother at the cottage near Lake Michigan. Judy is continuing to create more pieces and plans to turn them all into a cloth book.

Judy M.: Map showing the location of the cottage.

Judy M.: The cottage.

Judy M.: Completed version of Coffee and Milkshakes.

Judy M.: Good Night! Judy's grandmother used to wish her good night through the wall between their rooms. She would say "good night" in many different languages.

Judy M.: Judy's grandmother used to read lots of poetry with Judy. Here is a line from one of the poems.

I have to say that this was an extremely rewarding class to teach. First, I gave the original Story Cloth class a complete overhaul. Rather than having all the classwork culminate in one piece, I decided to break the class into themes. I also added journaling and assignments with cut paper and color pencils at the beginning of each class as a way to get students focused on the theme of the week. Students were able to choose from a number of suggested challenges. So the pressure was off about making one "perfect" piece and instead encouraged students to begin thinking and working in a series. It also helped to have a group of enthusiastic, open-minded and trusting students...so a BIG thank you goes out to you... intrepid students!

If you haven't had the chance to read the previous posts about this class you can follow the links below:

Color Connections
Mapping Memories
Significant Object Portraits
Word Impressions

If you live in the Washington D.C. area and would like to take this class, I will be offering an evening version in Fall 2017 and a daytime version in Spring 2018. Specific dates TBA. Please feel free to contact me with your questions.