quilting

Mindful Stitching

Mindful Stitching is the class I took while at the Minnesota Quilt Show with my quilting friend, Sally. We enjoyed a quiet morning of stitching together.

Mindful Stitching - A dish full of colorful threads - piecefulthoughts.com

Our class instructor was Maday of Sustainable Textile Design. She brought some of her quilts, and they were beautiful. Each one has a story, with bits and pieces of clothing, buttons, etc. that had meaning to her.

Mindful stitching is a process using scraps of fabric, worn or recycled clothing, etc. Big stitches, a stitching method also known as Sashiko, Boro or Kantha is used. A Sashiko needle is easiest to use with the different weights of threads. In the class, we tried Ito, Lucien, Sulky and Sashiko threads in varying weights. Here at home, I’m using Wonderfil thread in 3, 5 and 8 weights.

Here’s the piece from class, which I have continued to work on this week. Some of the fabric scraps were gifts from Maday, the rest are from my scrap stash.

Mindful Stitching - Sample piece from my Mindful Stitching Class - piecefulthoughts.com

It is a collage of fabric stitched to a piece of batting/stabilizer called battilizer. However, it works just as well with scrap pieces of batting.

Here’s a peek at some of the stitches I’ve made on my piece.

Mindful Stitching - Details of stitches using various weights of thread - piecefulthoughts.com

Mindful Stitching - Detail stitching, using various weights of Wonderfil thread - piecefulthoughts.com

Mindful Stitches - Stitching detail, adding in unique fabric, ribbons, and thread - piecefulthoughts.com

Mindful Stitching - Playing around with stitches and thread - piecefulthoughts.com

The backing is interesting too, with all the stitches running here and there.

Mindful Stitching - Stitching detail on the backside - piecefulthoughts.com

Mindful Stitching - Stitching detail on the back of the piece - piecefulthoughts.com

I still have a ways to go on this little piece before I’m ready to finish it. I’m still learning how to secure the fabric scraps well. I’m not sure what this will be, but it’s fun to stitch on at night while I’m watching a show.

Have you ever tried big stitching? I’d enjoy hearing about your experience.

Wendy

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