Maine Stitching Retreats, Summer 2020

Another spin around the sun, and here we are back at my annual announcement. For those who have been here with me before, I hope this doesn’t feel forced or coy. The assembling of instructors for each year is this lovely process of conjuring up a scenario that is a small part me, and a large part serendipity. It strikes me as meriting some fanfare for the unveiling. I do notice an uptick in folks signing up for my newsletter, and inquiries as to when the information will go live in January. So I guess five years of this process has created it’s own milestone… Anyhoo, it is that time again, and so with no further ado, herewith my retreat offerings for 2020. Both images are links directly to the full web description. You can also get there by going to the Maine Stitching Retreats page itself.

For 2020 there will be two different sessions of Slow Stitching. Each one will be structured the same way the original has for the past five years. The instructors are the difference, although Chawne Kimber will return for both sessions! So for those who can’t get enough of Quilt Camp, if you were devoted enough to come for the two sessions, there would be little overlap.

In July Chawne will be joined by Jessica Marquez, who shared her mending magic with us at Slow Fashion last year. Rounding out the trio is Youngmin Lee from California who works in the Korean tradition of her homeland through the practices of Bojagi and Jogakbo.

This trio will bring their lovely energy to Medomak Retreat Center July 19 through the 25th, which is one day longer than previous retreats!

The second Summer session of Slow Stitching will take place in the original time frame of August 2-8, again, with an extra day added to our fun!

Chawne is joined this session by the returning Kim Eichler-Messmer with a new spin on her Natural Dyeing practice, and Nichole Vogelsinger, embroiderer extraordinaire, who will share her knowledge of decorative stitches.

There are a lot of details in these descriptions, which should give you lots to chew on for the next month. For those who have attended before, there is much that will be familiar. For the uninitiated among you, I am a wordy chick, and so there is much to read and absorb. I delay opening registration until the first week of March to give everyone time to think these over, confer with partners, spouses, children, parents, dogs, cats, bosses, the oracle, the tarot, or whoever else might need to be be included in your decision making process. I think decisions like this shouldn’t be made under stress, but thoughtfully with all elements at hand. If this is your first time interested in these retreats, you cannot register until the first week or March, you are not missing anything now. Go read the descriptions fully, they should answer most any of your questions. As in past years I will open registration up first to those who have attended before, and then to the full mailing list. If you are not on that newsletter list, you might want to sign-up now, as that is where all these announcements will first transpire. There is a link at the bottom of this page, or on the Contact page. Do not despair if you have not attended before, there is always room for newcomers, the ebb and flow of attendees is quite fluid. And this year there are two sessions…!

Thank you to those who have read all the way to the bottom here, whether you have or have not yet read the descriptions. I hope all the information you need to digest for the idea of attending a Slow Stitching retreat is contained within. For those mourning Slow Fashion, I am deeply sorry it is not on the docket this season. But do not despair, it will return, in a different shape, in the future. And until that time, it is most likely there will be a placeholder event, small in scale, but similar in ethos, to tide us all over. All announcements about any Slow Fashion event will be made through my newsletter, and with enough time for planning.

There will again be two scholarship opportunities offered for each session, as I continue to believe that this work should be shared as broadly as I possibly can. The application form will be posted here in a couple of days. In the interest of not cluttering your inboxes, I encourage you to check back by the end of this week. I will also post a reminder on Social Media if you forget. The applications will close on February 16th, and I will alert the recipients before the opening of registration.

I hope to see you this Summer here in Maine…!