I was thrilled to attend the Making Zen online free retreat again this year in May, 2023. the workshops offered this year were fabulous and I found lots of inspiration as I worked my way through a couple of the multiple lessons offered a day throughout the week.
I started my retreat with a “Blessing Book” courtesy of Suzi Banks Baum and used my eco-printed rose fabric for the cover (see previous post). I enjoyed this so much that I made a second book with different fabrics (specifically this beautiful fabric dyed by Buffalo Betty Trading Co.) and more colorful paper.
Another class I enjoyed was the “Shisha Somosas” by Jo Avery where I learned how to use buttonhole stitches to hold little bits of stuff to fabric. I used shells to begin with which probably wasn’t the easiest choice. Despite the difficulty I loved the process and was happy with the result.
I also made a “Zippered Gusset Purse” as outlined in the workshop by Ellie Beck. I used a fabric with forest creatures on it and decided to embellish it with some embroidery. I immediately stared using it to store all the bits of things I was making from the retreat.
One of the easier classes covered how to make a back patch. In “For the Love of the Back Patch” by Jody Alexander I used fabric with a little chick to create a patch on some thrifted napkin fabric.
But by far my favorite part of the online retreat was the “Quilted Brooch” tutorial by Heidi Parkes. In this class Parkes used recycled bottle caps to make a brooch pin. The pins were simple and easy to make in theory but a bit fiddly at first. I fell in love with the process quickly and raided my old spice jars for lids and inserts.
What started as a couple of brooches quickly spun out of control to be about a billion brooches. I used all kinds of lids in the house. I even turned one of my shisha stitch samples into a brooch!
When I ran out of lids I turned to 2″ wooden discs and created a whole collection of mixed media pieces that included acrylic paint and watercolors on the fabrics and the combination of scraps from my scrap bag (I knew they’d come in handy).
The entire experience was wonderful and I look forward to the next time Zen Stitching offers this opportunity. I felt empowered to try new things, revisited older skills with renewed eyes, and learned a few more artsy techniques to add to my tool chest. I would highly recommend attending the next session to anyone whose interested. It’s well worth the time.
Cry The Bird 
I can see how those would be addicting! They look really fun —