Happy New Year! I’d like to introduce you to the art of Mindful Stitching

How are you feeling about 2024? I’ll admit to feeling a bit apprehensive about things, the world feels pretty rocky. I’ve never been into making new years resolutions, because I think they put too much pressure on attaining some elusive goal, but I am a big believer in prioritizing creative pursuits and taking care of ones mental health. Having a creative outlet has always helped me work through difficult times, and for the last 4 years I’ve been dealing with my daily stress by stitching linen (in addition to my other projects). If you follow me on Instagram you’ve seen many of the pieces I’ve stitched.

My attraction to stitching began with a piece of navy blue linen and a bag of blue embroidery floss that I brought on my teaching trip to New Zealand in January 2020. My plan was to stitch a scarf inspired by my surroundings, letting the work evolve organically with improvisation.

That turned out to be the ideal travel project, because it didn’t require a lot of supplies, it wasn’t messy or need any set up, fit in a small zipper pouch, and most importantly I could work on it for long or short periods of time while on planes, busses, trains, cars or just sitting on a park bench.

By the end of 5 weeks I had stitched a scarf inspired by rolling hills, mountains, clouds, water, waves, rowing paddles, and vegetation.

A week after our return we were asked to shelter in place, so I figured I would spend the time filling in the background of the scarf with dark blue floss, naively assuming the pandemic would be over in a few weeks.

Stitching became a great way to distract myself and pass the time. It didn’t require any great skill and it was relaxing in a time of unprecedented stress.

I liked the heavily stitched texture of the finished scarf and found that the more stitching I added the softer the linen became, giving it a lovely drape. After I had stitched every inch of that blue linen my hands itched to do more.

I had a piece of dark orange linen that I had previously bought for a second teaching trip to Australia in 2020 that was cancelled, so I started stitching it using a palette of warm colored threads.

I stitched branches coming in from the edges of the fabric in dark reds, then filled in the background with echoing lines of stitching in yellow, pink, and orange.

I also added a few covid molecules in the center of the scarf to identify when the scarf was made.

By the time I finished that second scarf I had more ideas I wanted to explore.

The next piece I made was inspired by the Sacramento river and the agricultural area surrounding it.

Developing a daily practice of stitching during the first two years of the pandemic was pivotal to keeping a peaceful state of mind. It was so easy to feel overwhelmed between the pandemic, politics and fires. However, I found solace in stitching.

Each day, I set aside time to sit with my needle and thread, and as I stitched, I could feel the tension ease. The repetitive motion of the needle moving through the fabric created a rhythm that allowed me to quiet my mind and find a sense of calm. It became a daily ritual that I looked forward to, a way to slow down and be present in the moment and remind myself that despite the chaos, in my small world everything was ok.

Not only did stitching provide me with a sense of calm and peacefulness, but it also allowed me to express my creativity. I experimented with different stitches, colors, and patterns, allowing my imagination to run wild. There were no rules with this freeform way of stitching, only the freedom to create. It was a way for me to channel my emotions and thoughts into something tangible and beautiful. Stitching became a form of self-expression, a way for me to explore my inner world and bring it to life in a whole new way.

I intentionally decided to use improvisation to develop the design of each piece for a number of reasons, but foremost, I wanted the meditative process to be the focus of the work. So often we are impatient to get to the end of a project, stressing about how it’s going to turn out. I wanted to stay present with the act of making and let myself be surprised with the end result and improvisation keeps me actively engaged with a project from start to finish.

Since then slow stitching has become a regular part of my life in the way a daily meditation practice becomes and I have made many large pieces as well as quite a few small ones.

I have a new gallery to show the body of stitched work that I have made to date.

Workshops on Mindful Stitching

On my recent trip to Australia, I taught several two day stitching workshops and it became clear how much this kind of work resonates with people. We all seem to be looking for ways to be creative while living in a world that feels more stressful. and it was so lovely each time I had the opportunity to sit with a group of other women stitching and sharing our lives with each other. ❤️

For several years now, I’ve had numerous requests for an online class on this type of stitching and I am very happy to announce that I have finally done it, and you my blog followers are the first to learn about it.

A self-paced online course on improvisational slow stitching.

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ABOUT JUDY
Judy is an artist, explorer, image wrangler, knowledge seeker, instructor, speaker, creative alchemist, and purveyor of inspiration, helping others channel creativity on a daily basis.