Carol Rand’s work in progress using the stitches

The third workshop was in Peterborough and was called Piecing & Patching African Style. I had brought some examples of traditional stitching from my own collection and we used these as a starting point to spark off ideas. But first the students had to learn  how to do the stitches! There were lots of ways in which we developed the traditional stitches and started to put pieces together, most of which are featured in my book Exploring African  Themes in fabric & stitch.

Mary Anne Hammond (above) and Seanagh Murdoch (below) experimented with combining patterned and plain fabrics using the new stitches.Here’s Lyn Prichard’s work in progress.Several students included found objects and buttons.

Deb Blackmore wanted to include some old buttons from her collection

Tracy Jaikaran used both sides of her fabric

The group from Peterborough provided the most wonderful lunch each day which was the icing on the cake, quite literally! It was the final workshop of a wonderful trip to Canada.