Slow Stitching August
(SOLD OUT)
August 12-18, 2024
MEDOMAK RETREAT CENTER, WASHINGTON, MAINE
with Tara Faughnan, Sarah Hibbert & Nichole Vogelsinger
A small group of just thirty-six Makers will spend five full days in exploration of line, color, and stitch at a contemplative pace. Surrounded by the woods, on the edge of a lake, with the rustic beauty and charm of Maine as the backdrop. Small groups, individual pacing, natural inspiration-this will be a week for unwinding and exploring....
Slow Stitching August is now sold out. If you would like to be added to the waitlist, please email me.
We successfully gathered the last three years, with care and consideration despite Covid. We intend to do the same this year.
I continue to take Covid seriously. All possible precautions will be observed. Up-to-date vaccines are required for participation. Testing will be required upon arrival. There are protocols for the possibility of a case at Camp. Those will be shared with each group in advance of gathering.
Are you seeking the time and space to slow down and connect with your skills, your agency, your creative practice? In these challenging chaotic, isolating ‘post’ pandemic days, we crave connection and community with other Makers. Maine is a good place to retreat, step back from the daily pace, and spend some time in community with needle, thread, cloth. This August, I invite you to join Tara Faughnan, Sarah Hibbert, and Nichole Vogelsinger to make that time and space for yourself.
Join Tara, Sarah, Nichole, and I at the Medomak Retreat Center in Washington, ME where you can relax, unwind, and dive into your stitching practice. You will sleep in a modern yet rustic cabin, eat three meals a day with the community, and spend as much time as you like with color, needle, thread. Each day will be spent with Tara, Sarah, and Nichole learning their techniques and tips, and practicing new skills or sharpening old ones. In addition there are two days of time for musings, wanderings, exploration, and epiphany, both of the textile and human variety. The emphasis here is on settling into your Making practice and letting the rest of it float away....
~Tara is returning! She will lead you in an inspirational workshop of Small Studies. In this class you will delve into color interaction, the importance of value in creating movement, and how the use of shape can tell a story. Campers will work through a variety of exercises to create several small design studies, and can work any of these into a full size quilt afterwards.
~Nichole is coming back to share her new workshop, Blank Slate Embroidery. In this class, you will begin with a blank slate of fabric…which can be the scariest part of any embroidery project! With this plain and lonely piece of fabric, you will then create a layered piece of embroidery that will be anything but blank (or lonely!) by the time you leave! Nichole will show you how she uses photos and art as inspiration for her pieces. She encourages you to bring along pictures of color palettes and artwork that inspires you. You will learn embroidery techniques to create dimension as well as learn how to layer your stitches. Through the materials you use and the stitches you create, the piece that you create will be uniquely you and will serve as a sampler of the stitches you learn. If you have never embroidered before, you will learn the basics that you need to know and you’ll be stitching for fun in no time! If you have embroidered before, you’ll get a few refresher stitches and then we’ll jump into the threads and embellishments and techniques that can enliven your embroidery!
~Sarah is crossing the pond to spend some time with us. She will share her love of hand piecing and quilting. “Hand piecing and quilting definitely makes for a joyful day for me. Join me in piecing fabrics together in a layout along the lines of a log cabin. Let the fabric decide where they would like to be placed, very much a freestyle. You may wish to work with larger pieces to show your quilting style or with narrow strips to create colour. There are so many options to discover. We will be aiming for a block around 10” square, but the choice is yours. Once your blocks are pieced, I will be talking about different ways to quilt to add texture to your work. I will be talking you through different stitches or knots you may wish to use as an addition to your design. I will bring various threads for you to share. Again, feel free to bring your favourite threads. It is always a delight to see new colours. Finally, I will be showing you how I finish off the piece, either by a simple binding or face binding. I sometimes bring my backing fabric to the front as an funky addition to the edges”.
You will spend a day with each teacher, with plenty of time for inspirational wanderings. Two back-to-back, then a break. On the third day we will make a small field trip to the coast and a fabulous local fabric store. Or if you prefer, you can go for a swim, take a hike, do some stitching, some reading, or whatever your heart desires. The last day of instruction is on Friday. Then Saturday is entirely for you to do with as you please. Check in with one of the instructors on a technique you need clarification on, take a nap, sew with new friends, the day is yours!
We will have a fabric swap, so bring any fabrics that aren’t singing to you any more. I like the idea of moving fabric through the universe free of the capitalist system. The swap nights are always tons of fun!
The primary focus for the week will be on slowing down, taking time, connecting to your practice, the community, and your inner voice. Evenings will be open for more stitching, conversing, knitting, star gazing, cricket concerts, Loon appreciation, and anything else you might like to do in Maine in August....
Sarah Hibbert
Sarah Hibbert is a modern British quilter influenced as much by art and architecture as quilting heritage. She has made a significant name for herself on both sides of the Atlantic, which has seen her work shown as well as being acquired for both public and private collections. Her work has been featured in various publications such as Today’s Quilter, Curated Quilts and Simply Moderne. Her Reflections quilt was acquired by The Quilters’ Guild of the British Isles in 2019 for their permanent collection to represent modern quilting. Her Macaroons quilt has been used as the poster for Festival of Quilts 2020 and 2021. She also hosted a solo gallery at Festival of Quilts 2022. Sarah has also had two of her recent quilts acquired by The International Quilt Museum in Nebraska.
As of July 2023, Sarah has been newly appointed Ambassador to The Quilters’ Guild of the British Isles, Modern Group. This is a totally new role and Sarah is very excited about inspiring new and existing quilters. Sarah loves the combination of old and new; of the traditional and contemporary; she uses patterns passed down through the generations but always adds a twist of her own. Working mainly in linen textural fabric, hand stitching, natural, rich tones and clever, but limited use of prints, she brings her quilts into the modern vibe of design to create a conversation between the fabrics. Sarah’s second love is paper collage which has encouraged her to broaden her colour palette. From these simple paper creations, she has taken her designs through to quilt layouts and finished quilts. She loves seeing her design in two different mediums. This is what has inspired her first book From Collage to Quilt: Inspirational Quilting from What You Have which was published by Lucky Spool in 2022. sarahhibbertquilts.com instagram.com/quiltscornerstone www.instagram.com/cornerstonecollages
Tara Faughnan
I am a professional textile designer and quilter living and working in Oakland, CA. I started to quilt around 2001 or so, using a reprint of the 1931 edition of 101 Patchwork Patterns by Ruby Short McKim as my guide. I had no idea such things as rotary cutters, rulers or plastic templates existed, and spent many happy weeks tracing around cardboard templates and cutting out pieces with a pair of scissors.
Somewhere along the way, my love of quilting led to school and on to a career in textile design, with clients including Michael Miller Fabrics, Riley Blake and Pottery Barn Kids.
I find inspiration in forms, shapes and the place where 2 seams meet. Color interaction is the key inspiration that drives me. It's that intuitive moment when you put two colors together, and then two more, and two more after that that I focus on. The explorations are endless and I strive to try to walk the line of discomfort and still make everything work together as a whole. I draw a lot of inspiration from the simple bold geometry of antique quilts, the gorgeous bright colors from textiles around the world, and freedom and spontaneity found in unconventional and improvisational quilts. When I look at my current work, I see all 3 of these aspects represented. I like to use simple geometry, complex color interaction and find the line the exists somewhere between harmony and discord.
Nichole Vogelsinger
Nichole Vogelsinger lives in scenic Bucks County, Pennsylvania with her husband and two boys. She is a self-taught fiber artist and stitcher and comes from a family of creatives who she credits for her early interest in art and fabric and sewing. In 2012, she began creating her signature style embroidery hoop designs which involved cutting and layering pieces of fabric and then embellishing them with embroidery. She also began sharing her process on Instagram (@wildboho) and has inspired thousands since. She describes her work and style as a free-spirited blend of chaos and control and invites stitchers to be unafraid of bending (or breaking!) the rules. She enjoys teaching embroidery workshops throughout the United States. She is the author of Boho Embroidery: Modern Projects from Traditional Stitches and Boho Embroidery: The Pattern Collection. Her first class with Bluprint, Boho-Style: Mixed-Media Embroidery, launched in 2019. For more information, please visit her website at www.wildboho.com.
Registration includes lodging in a cabin (shared, or otherwise), all meals, and all instruction for six days. The cabins are rustic and spare, but modern and comfortable. Please do note that many of the cabins are in the woods, and require an uphill walk. If mobility is an issue for you, please contact me when you register. We can accommodate most dietary restrictions within reason, just alert us to your needs in advance.
There are ten private cabins available. You can make this choice at registration. However if you do not get a private cabin, I can assure you there is plenty of room in each cabin for two or three adults.
A supply list will be sent out at least a month in advance of your arrival in Maine.
Otherwise, all you have to do is get yourself here, I'll take care of the rest. I will send out recommendations for what to wear and bring in advance. I send very detailed emails about how to get here, what to bring, how to prepare. Read them when they show up, most everything you could need will be in there…
The food at camp is fresh, simple, wholesome, and satisfying. Please notify me of food allergies, or if you are Vegetarian (specify if you do/do not eat dairy, eggs, fish, etc…) , but we suggest that unless you have a specific medical condition, you will find plenty to nourish you during your time at camp.
Medomak Retreat Center is in Washington, Maine, about 80 minutes from the Portland airport, 3 hours drive from Boston, 7 hours drive from NYC. Washington is only 30 minutes inland from Camden. The campus has 250 acres of blueberry fields and forest, with trails for hiking, tennis courts, and lakefront where canoes and kayaks are available. The cabins are clean and spare and perfectly comfortable.
After three years of working with Covid as a complication I continue to take it seriously. I require everyone to be vaccinated as recommended by the CDC. You can go to the CDC website HERE for the current guidelines. As of November 8, 2023 the CDC recommends that all adults receive the 2023–2024 updated Covid vaccines: Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, or Novavax. The updated vaccines became available in September 2023. Your vaccination must be from September 2023 or later.
I will ask all who are traveling to be diligent in their masking protocol. We will test upon arrival. These measures are taken to keep us all safe, and allow us to relax into our Making practice. I will have protocols in place in case of a positive test. That protocol will be shared in advance of gathering.
In order to give you some time to check, and double check, your schedule, and confer with partners, bosses, children, parents, and pets, to make sure this will work for you, I delay the opening of registration. This year registration will open Sunday March 3rd at 3:00pm EST. I will send an email to my newsletter group when registration opens. If you want to be notified when registration is open, you should sign up for the newsletter, spots have gone quickly in the past….. You will need to pay a non-refundable deposit to register, and then arrangements can be made for how to pay your balance.
[Deposits are non refundable, but registrations are transferable. All efforts will be taken to accommodate Covid changes, but the virus moves in mysterious ways, and is good at outmaneuvering me. I ask for your patience and forbearance in dealing with these changes.]