Stitching the City

I had the distinct pleasure of hosting an experiential city-to-fabric workshop through my friend Hillary’s studio and the afternoon had such a lovely flow to it! We met in a private room at Twin Bears Bakery in downtown Frederick, and chatted for a while about different clues to look for in the city, then set out on a walk in the October sunshine looking for inspiration for textile art.

One of the fun surprises along the way was a spontaneous tour of Frederick Book Arts Center, we poked our heads in just to take a peek and were met with the warmest welcome and a lovely walk around the space!

I took a few photos along our walk, and for some reason when we got back to the studio I found myself really drawn to these simple shapes and colors:

I’m working on a mini quilt top inspired by this palette and several other photos I took along the walk!

We spent some time capturing our thoughts in words and sketches when we returned to Twin Bears, and we had some delicious treats there too!

When we traveled to the sewing studio, I demonstrated a few techniques and then we were off working on mini quilt tops! One of my favorite parts of the workshop was the show and tell at the end, when each student shared their inspiration and how they chose to interpret it - each mini quilt top was so unique, and it was so fun to learn about the different things each person found inspiring!

One of the things we talked about during the workshop was how interesting it might be to host a similar event in twilight hours, to see the city in different lighting and with different activities happening. I hope that is something we can explore in 2026!

This workshop combined two of my deep passions - walking in and exploring cities and sewing and quilting - it was the biggest treat to share this combination with such a thoughtful and spirited group!