Stitchin' with my students

Last week, I held the first (official) Embroidery Stitch 'n Bitch over at the Stitch Lab. It's a special evening for former Stitch Lab embroidery students to meet up and spend the evening snacking, chatting and stitching on current projects.

Of course, I was looking forward to the evening. Stitching and friends in the awesome Stitch Lab environment? Sign me up! And I was glad there were a lot of people who wanted to come. I was nervous no one would RSVP, but ended up not having enough space for everyone who wanted to be there. Embroidery addiction rules!

And while I was expecting to have fun stitching and gabbing, I hadn't given much thought to what it would be like to see so many students and the projects they'd be working on since class. I was so caught up in talk, that I didn't get to snap many pictures (such a bad habit of mine) but I can tell you these folks knocked my socks clean off.

One pulled out a whole handful of projects, including pictures of embroidered portraits she'd stitched and given to close friends. Another pulled out an awesome apron she'd stitched with cute Sublime Stitching images and also screen printed in one of Kat's classes! One practiced silk ribbon stitches while another worked away on a doodle cloth. One student was stitching part of a cowboy-themed baby quilt she was making as a gift. Another student continued work on a complicated cross-stitch Christmas stocking she's been working on for her son.

One student, who had just taken my class less than a month ago, pulled out an awesome Eagle Scout stitching that will be turned into a pillow that she made for a friend. She also pulled out an amazing work-in-progress for her husband's Christmas gift. I'm not going to post the picture I took of that until after she completes it and gives it to him (no spoilers on the random off chance he'd see it) but let's just say it is beyond awesome and a huge undertaking. If anyone can do it, though, she can. She quietly stitched away throughout the evening and completed a nice chunk of it.


I felt incredibly lucky to have been able to get to know these awesome women and to teach them one of my all-time favorite activities. Even to be just a small part of their creative growth is an incredible privilege. It was also really special to sit around the cutting table, stitching and talking, like so many women in history have done. It sounds corny, but there was a definite connection to the past in that room last Thursday night. I can't wait to do it again.

If you are in Austin and would like to take an embroidery class with me (and then get on the super special guest list for future Stitch 'n Bitch nights) check out the Stitch Lab web site for class details! I'd love to see you there.