stitching stories
Stitching – quilting, embroidery, sewing, knitting, crochet – has long been a site of storytelling and activism.
My younger son’s first quilt was a gift from a quilting guild in Vancouver, an act of care that accompanied the first three and a half weeks of his life in the NICU at BC Children’s Hospital. The first quilt I stitched, meanwhile, traces the story of my maternal family line and was created with the textiles of Suriname, a country profoundly shaped by colonialism: Maroon plaids, Javanese batiks, and bold African prints. More recently, I stitched a quilt that linked the personal with the political in homage to the reproductive lives of the women along my father’s maternal family line.
The workshops below are all about stitching and storytelling, from the intimate and personal to the political and activist, and everything in between.
Stitching Memories
In this introductory workshop we consider how to translate memories into stitched works. Our focus will be on emotional memories, and we’ll engage with a range of play-based exercises that allow us to explore all of our senses. Together, we’ll feel our way into textures, colours, stitches, and practices.
[3 hours]
The Embroidery of Trouble
Stitchery has been a site for the reproduction of conventional feminine roles, but it’s also long been a site for activism, protest, and even, rage. In this workshop, we’ll look at a number of ways that people have used embroidery to challenge the social and cultural status quo, and then, look at how we, ourselves, might make trouble through embroidery.
This workshop will include a mixture of stitching and writing. Together, participants will create a collaborative work that will be displayed at the end of the workshop.
[9-12 hours, spread over 3 or 4 weekly workshops]