Our teacher, Jan Kamrath, is a MN State Fair award-winning stitcher. The sashiko piece she submitted this past year to the Fair was a blue ribbon winner. We are pleased that she has agreed to provide us with the instruction to create a piece utilizing this technique.

Sashiko means “little stabs” and Boro means “rags”.

Per Wikipedia:

Sashiko was first used in the Edo period (1603 – 1867) for practical purposes. It was a means of strengthening homespun clothes, attach patches to reinforce areas of wear and to piece old clothes together to create new garments. Sashiko is also used to create quilts and embroidery samplers utilizing a running stitch in repetitive, most often, geometric patterns.

Boro (also during the Edo period) referred to materials typically used to create clothing from the cheapest type of material – cotton, linen and hemp that was woven by peasant farmers.

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Learn a stitch, make a name tag! Becky Lieser will be showing us how to do a nun stitch around a piece of material that can be filled in with a design of your choice and your name. A fun project for those who “need” a name tag or those that would like to make a new one. A bit of history – the nun stitch is used to finish the edge to avoid having to fold the edge over. The origin goes back to the 14th-15th century associated with German convents where nuns would create elaborate embroideries. Amazing how stitches created centuries ago are still in use today!

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Kym Duea will be introducing us to English Paper Piecing, Part 1. At home or on-the-go, English Paper Piecing (EPP) is a fabulous way to occupy your time with a threaded needle. Join us in April as we explore everything Kym has learned along the way in her Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt project journey. Part 1 will include an informational session that takes a look at the fabric, thread, tools, techniques, and design options gathered along the way. Part 2 will be in June where there will be a hands on project.

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As the saying goes, April showers bring May flowers, and that is what Margie Newpower will be showing us how to stitch using Brazilian Dimensional Embroidery. Learn about this fascinating style of embroidery including the history, threads, and beautiful flower patterns.

Registration form

Kym Duea will be introducing us to English Paper Piecing, Part 1. At home or on-the-go, English Paper Piecing (EPP) is a fabulous way to occupy your time with a threaded needle. Join us in April as we explore everything Kym has learned along the way in her Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt project journey. Part 1 will include an informational session that takes a look at the fabric, thread, tools, techniques, and design options gathered along the way. Part 2 will be in June where there will be a hands on project.

Registration form

More details coming soon.