Slow Stitching July
JULY 14-20, 2025
MEDOMAK RETREAT CENTER, WASHINGTON, MAINE
with Sarah Hibbert, Sujata Shah & Kathryn Davey
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....
• Single cabin, $2,250.
• Double Cabin, $2,050.
• Triple Cabin, $1,850.
For the best experience of all involved, I will continue to engage Covid protocols. While the danger of contracting the virus is less, it still holds risks for many. I will require up-to-date vaccinations for participation, and we will test upon arrival. I will also ask that all Campers take precautions in the week leading up to their visit. More details will be shared once you have registered.
Are you seeking the time and space to slow down and connect with your skills, your agency, your creative practice in community? In these challenging chaotic, isolating digital 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 with your peers with needle, thread, dyepots, and cloth. This July, I invite you to join Sarah Hibbert, Sujata Shah, and Kathryn Davey to make that time and space for yourself.
Join Sarah, Sujata, Kathryn, 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, and thread. Each day will be spent with Sarah, Sujata, or Kathryn, 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....
~Sarah was so much fun, she’s coming back! “Life is like a 10-speed bike. Most of us have gears we never use.” – Charlie Brown So why not spend a day playing with papers and some gorgeous fabrics? Either learning a new skill of English Paper Piecing or revisiting a technique you already know, but in a new way. English Paper Piecing is the long-established, time-honoured technique of sewing patchwork quilts by hand. The earliest known work still bearing its original paper templates; the 1718 Coverlet, belonging to The Quilters’ Guild of The British Isles. Well, I can’t promise that type of uniqueness, but we will have fun experimenting with your own designs to create an EPP piece. We will be covering drafting a pattern on to template card, colour choices to highlight the shapes, basting, and finally joining the pieces together. I will bring along some pre-drawn designs as well to get your taste buds flowing. Also, I will be showing you techniques on how to finish your work by binding or mounting onto a frame. A joyful day of slow hand stitching, chatting over stories, and and the odd treat of a homemade cookie, what could be better?
~Sujata returns! Discover the freedom of improvisational quilting in our Improv Triangles workshop! This process-based day will dive into the playful exploration of triangles in all their forms—experimenting with varying sizes, angles, and even gentle curves. Embrace the liberating technique of organic cutting and piecing, allowing your creativity to flow naturally. Through guided experimentation and design development, you’ll transform your ideas into a one-of-a-kind masterpiece, with a focus on composition and artistic expression.
~Kathryn is crossing the pond to share her knowledge with us. Join her for an immersive natural dye workshop where you will move through the entire process of transforming undyed fibres into a stunning palette of naturally dyed textiles. Together, you’ll explore how to prepare fibres, use simple mordanting techniques to fix colour, and create vibrant dye baths. You’ll learn how to extract colour, dye fibres, and experiment with modifiers to expand your palette, creating a unique range of plant-dyed textiles. Set in a supportive and inspiring environment, this workshop is designed for complete beginners—no prior experience is needed. It’s a chance to connect with nature, the magic of plant colour & the creative process.
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, patterns, yarns, or other notions etc, that aren’t singing to you any more. I like the idea of moving goods 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 July....
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. Her work has been featured in various publications. Her quilts have been acquired by The Quilters’ Guild of the British Isles together with The International Quilt Museum in Nebraska along with private collections.
Sarah has hosted varies solo galleries, Festival of Quilts 2022, Festival Internacional de Patchwork Sitges 2023, QFiK Seoul 2024, together with a collaboration gallery at Festival of Quilts 2024.
Along with being the newly appointed Ambassador to The Quilters’ Guild of the British Isles, Modern Group, she is 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 instagram.com/cornerstonecollages
Sujata Shah
Born and raised in India, Sujata Shah brings a unique vision to the world of quilting. An award-winning quilter and designer, Sujata is the author of Cultural Fusion Quilts from C&T publishing. She has been featured on The Quilt Show with Alex Anderson, and has led several tours to India.
As an international instructor, her experience includes presenting and teaching at quilt shows and festivals, quilts museums, retreats, and cruises. In 2020 she started teaching online workshops and continues to teach in-person and online workshops. Her work has been exhibited at various museums including Iowa Quilt Museum and New England Museum of Quilts and Textiles.
Drawn to imperfections and irregularities of handmade crafts, Sujata believes each quilt has the personality of the maker. Using imperfections as design element has led her to abstract interpretations of traditional quilt blocks. She finds hand stitching therapeutic and nourishing to the soul, ultimately helping her write personal stories in stitches.
Kathryn Davey
Kathryn Davey is a natural dyer based in Dublin, Ireland, where she works with pure fibres and plant-based dyes to create colours that are easy on the eye and our planet. Inspired by nature and the tones of each passing season, her work reflects a deep connection to the Irish landscape.
A self-taught natural dyer, Kathryn discovered her passion for plant-based colour more than 14 years ago. After exploring various creative mediums, she was captivated by the heritage, alchemy, and beauty of natural dyeing. In 2014, after two decades abroad, Kathryn returned to Ireland to establish her natural dye business, selling naturally dyed products, teaching workshops and sharing the art of natural dyeing. Today, her focus lies in uncovering, documenting, and sharing the rich sources of plant-based colour found in and around Dublin and across Ireland.
Kathryn’s book, Natural Dyeing: Learn How to Create Colour & Dye Textiles Naturally, was published by Hardie Grant in 2022. She regularly leads workshops in Dublin, London, and Greece, inviting participants to discover the transformative magic of creating sustainable, vibrant colours from nature.
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 four 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. This guideline may vary depending on the current political status. I will stay apprised of those recommendations and share them with all who register. Please assume that you will need to have been vaccinated up to the last valid CDC statements.
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 2nd 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 of $400 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.]