Introducing the #YearOfStitch
because rolling into a new year STILL in a pandemic means we need to level up our stabbing.
It's almost 2022 and I sure didn't expect to be rolling into the new year with another mutation and another round of covid explosion. Last year, we did #MakeDontBreak to get us through January but I see now that I should be planning for a whole year of mental health support.
Therefore, I invite you to the #YearOfStitch.
What is the #YearOfStitch you wonder?
Every Saturday in 2022 I will release a new stitch tutorial video in Patreon (this is a Patreon exclusive adventure). By the end of the year you will have learned 52 new embroidery stitches! I will be providing you with a new sampler every 6-weeks so you can practice applying the new stitches to a creative piece. At the end of the year you will get an epic sampler that will incorporate all 52 stitches...think family heirloom with a badass twist.
The logistics
January 1st I will drop the first sampler and the first video into Patreon. The videos are like a 5-minute workshop with me. I'll show you how to make the stitch, show you how it applies to the sampler, and then offer you some food for thought for that week's stitch time if you want it.
(If you know me, you know that I curse. I love words and I do not shy away from a well placed curse. If that upsets you, this is not the spot for you. My videos definitely contain curses.)
This Sunday, January 2nd I will be hosting an "Intro to the Year of Stitch" workshop. This is focused on people that are new to embroidery or have never attempted embroidery. I will teach everything you need to know to get started on this adventure and some things to think about over the year.
If you miss this one don't worry, I have scheduled several Embroidery 101 workshops throughout the month and any of those will get you set up for success!
That's the short of it. You stitch along as you like. It's self-paced. If you don't like a stitch - skip that week OR give it a go and see if you really don't like that stitch or just needed a different perspective on it (I'm talking about myself and chain stitch right now...you will see).
I will host a quarterly Zoom gathering for us where you can show off your sampler, ask follow up questions, share things you tried, successes, tips, etc. It will be super fun.
What else is happening in the Patreon this year?
#Craftivism Challenges
I will be putting forth a quarterly craftivism challenge. The purpose of these fun exercises is to help support you in identifying and challenging problematic dominant narratives. I will put forth a topic, materials that must be included in your piece, and some further instruction to support your research.
At the end of the quarter you will submit a pic of your work and some reflection. I will bring in an expert from within that movement/issue and we will talk through the narratives, your work, and we will select the strongest counter narrative as "star crafter" (there are prizes). I'm hoping this might then inspire some group counter-narrative art activism. Lots of opportunity here.
Stitch Ups
As always, I will host several Sunday afternoon stitch-ups each month. These are fun social gatherings on Zoom. Folks from around the world get together and work on their art while getting to know each other. It's been the part of the pandemic years for me. What an amazing and beautiful group of friends. You are all always invited. I put the dates out one month at a time based on my travel schedule.
January dates: 16th and 30th 3pm - 5pm ET
Skill Share
There are so many brilliant folks in the Patreon community with mad skills. Many have moved forward to offer to teach us the things they love to do/make. I am in the early stages of planning these out. If you have a skill you want to share with the crew please reach out!
I hope this excites you! It excites me!
I have made this adventure a Patreon exclusive because of the sheer amount of work that is going into it and my ever present student loan payments. There is now an option to pay annually (with a 5% discount).
Sneak Peek at the first sampler. The first 6-weeks of stitches include: straight, back, whipped back, stem, chain, and couching.
Craftivism Grant Winner
I am really excited to tell you that after reading through 24 fantastic craftivism project ideas, I have selected the winner of my first ever grant! The winner receives $500 in seed money and 10-hours of my time to support their project.
The winners are Kentucky-based artists, Cecelia Rhoden and Kiana Mahjub. They are connecting the future of needlework with its feminist and activist roots through their embroidery focused summer camp, The School of Needlework for Disobedient Women. Their two-week camp will be made up of up to 20 girls from the Madison County, Kentucky area, aged 13-18.
From their application:
The School of Needlework for Disobedient Women is designed to plant seeds of disruption and examine our place in the fabric of our community by connecting the past and the present, the radical and the beautiful. By encouraging girls to dig into the textile history of women in their own families, communities, and beyond, we can open discussions that build a bridge between women of the past and the girls stitching today. Women have always used needlework for personal peace, financial independence, self expression, and protest - we encourage girls to experience embroidery all over that spectrum.
In Appalachia, it’s rare for teenagers to be able to gather outside of school or church (where the adults tend to be authority figures before mentors, and their creativity must be diluted to accommodate the rules of these structured settings). In rural and semi-rural areas like ours, young girls' exposure to different types of women, different career paths, and the ability to be successful as a creative, tends to be limited.
More on this as we begin working together…
January Workshops
I am going hard with the online workshops this month to get us starting this year with a new stabby hobby. There are two a week this month.
You can pick a date and register here!
Radical Ritual Planner
The always amazing and generous Mindy Tsonas Choi has created a stunning Radical Ritual Planner for you to download + print.
Go check it out…it would be a fantastic Jan 1st activity.
Free Craftivism Zine
If you missed it, I made you a free zine about craftivism.
Travel update
I have spent the last few weeks on the very desolate Tybee Island, GA and it has been magical. It’s given me the space and quiet I needed to plan all of these exciting things for us for 2022. Check out this beach…
and my campsite is covered in beautiful pine needles so I spent some time making a little basket out of them. I added the shell I found on the beach as a tribute to the bivalve that died by moon snail murder which left the perfect hole for affixing it to the basket. RIP tiny bivalve.
I am making my way to Phoenix for QUILTCON! I hope to see some of you there. I’ll be teaching all sorts of classes on Craftivism.
Happy New Year Everyone!!! May it be gentler than the last two.
xo
Shannon
In closing, Maggie is still perfect and still in command…
