The Expressive Stitch - Day 2

Today we stitched blindfolded. Dorothy guided us down this path gently, but we definitely had to put our trust in her.

First, she had us make five French knots along the edge of our cloth and have ready five threaded needles. She also asked us to remove all the clutter from our workspace. Then we put the blindfolds on and she gave us thematic words to focus on while we stitched a line, using the Frenck knots as a starting point. Words like "gesture" and "dialogue". It was quite discombobulating, like reading a book upside down.

But when all the little squares are put together, it's quite interesting and textural. Both the quilts above and below were made by previous workshops that Dorothy led in Australia. After piecing the blind stiched squares, the whole piece was heavily quilted, one with white and the other with red thread.