Exploring Stitch Meditation

Stitch Meditation does not have to be restricted to fabric. You can try other media as well. In fact, I decided to upcycle my stash of paper and fabric scraps. There's always a way to reuse them in the most interesting way, and stitch meditation and upcycling them into little booklets was perfect.  Inspired by India Flint, I scribbled,  I stitched and I folded.  And then I eco-printed.  As some of you may know, I had posted on my instagram what my freezer looked like - basically a garden waiting to be cleared out. 

I used bits of paper scraps, natural fiber fabric scraps (naturally dyed, some just plain) and then I raided my freezer and slipped them in between the folds of the stitched booklets before tying them up into bundles.  I used a brick to make sure everything was held in place. 

Plants used:

1. eucalyptus
2. rambutan and neem leaves (from The Tender Gardener)
3. betel nut (from Cultivate Central)
4. lotus leaf (from Native)
5. ixora
6. bougainvillea
7. rose petals (waste from a shop opening)
8. strawberry tops (from our food waste)

The 2 stacks were boiled in separate pots for about 30 minutes - the bricks were too big for me to put into one pot - before being cooled down and left for about 2 days.  

I love how the colours in the 2 stacks came out different and this was very obvious with the way the ixora turned out as you'll see in the videos below. Please excuse the way the videos turned out - I realised I was speaking way too slowly and having you sit through 20 minutes of boring monologue would be painful.

Next steps will be to sew all these beautiful booklets together!

Making the Invisible Visible

I spent the first quarter of this year looking at the invisible. 

I looked down all the time, but not at my gadget but at the weeds on the ground.

Weeds are a grossly misrepresented plant. We have been taught to get rid of them because they "invade" our manicured gardens and landscaped areas. But did you know that weeds are restoring plants, they bring the trimmed lawns back to their natural state - they are restorative plants.  Apparently, weeds lets us know how healthy the soil is - so if you encounter a lot of weeds, instead of reaching out for the weedkiller (actually you shouldn't), it's important to observe and "listen".  

Weeds also bring in diversity while monocrops don't, including a variety of insects and pollinators. 

I don't have a green thumb, but I do know that diversity is key to a better planet.

The items are for sale at the Actually Affordable Artist Market, 7 April, 2 - 7pm.

4x4" fabric collages, each free motion embroidered.

SGD 100

SGD 150 

SGD 150 

SGD 100 

 SGD 100
 

SGD 120   

Stitch Meditation Workshop at Earth Hour

Slow down.... find your inner tortoise.
Focus on the present
Focus on your breathing
Connect with yourself and nature.

30 March 2019
6.30 - 730pm
Earth Hour 2019, Event Plaza Marina Bay Sands
Sign up here https://stitchmeditation.peatix.com/view

Join Agy at Earth Hour 2019 as she takes you through a short meditative stitching session, exercises and a brief discussion on the outcome. Agy realised the importance of slowing down and finding your inner tortoise. For her it was discovering things with "new" eyes and translating what she sees into stitch.

Learn how to stitch in a meditative manner.
Learn how to relax.
Learn a new skill!
The aim of this session is not to make product but to bring slow into our lives.

PS. Agy will be using fabric remnants #zerowaste

Stitch Meditation

First week into 2019 - how is everyone feeling? Before we wrapped up 2018, I came across this relaxing, yet very creative process called Stitch Meditations. It is a bit like doodling in your sketchbook, but think of it more of doodling with thread. As Liz Kettle in the video says, there are no rules, or boundaries, just go with the flow and see what you come with.


Stitch Meditations with Liz Kettle from Liz Kettle on Vimeo.

I have cut my batch of 4 by 4 inch squares of cotton muslin and have started to set aside time to create a tiny collage. Sometimes I spend 15 mins, sometimes an hour or more.  It really depends on my mood, but at least I'm practising my skills.  You may notice that I don't use more than a handful of stitches - they are just straight running stitches, sometimes a few back stitches, but most of the time just running. I send the one direction and then back the other depending on how I feel or how the piece of fabric speaks to me.

So how did I get started?

1. Pre-cut your squares
Start somewhere! This was very important advice from Liz. Have the squares all pre-cut, put them in a box and you won't have the excuse of not having starting. The blank canvas is ready to be stitched on!

2. Limit your scraps and sewing thread to a few
I limited myself to 4 colours of thread and 2 weights, 12 and 30.  I grabbed a handful of scraps and put them in a box and that's all I was going to use. If you have too many choices, you'll end up wandering all over the place! Remember the power of limitations!

3. Dedicate a certain time for it
You know you! It doesn't matter when is best, only you will know!

This is what I've done so far, and I find it useful to do this concurrently with my walks and observation recordings in my sketchbooks. The best thing about it is you can carry your project anywhere with you! How fab is that?

PS - there is a Stitch Meditation facebook group if you're keen to join!