Connecting Threads

The past few weeks, I was busy chairing a free art camp for the children in my little town of Senoia. My friends and I managed to get two days of teaching fiber into the mix. I predict some future fiber artists or fiber art patrons in the group.

It took lots of individual volunteers, two organizations, the city, and a several businesses to pull it off. It was a clear example of the connections needed to accomplish a large project. Indeed, most projects outside of our individual creations take a certain connectedness to succeed.

That connectedness was in full view last Sunday at the color class taught by Rebecca Ewing and sponsored by SEFAA. Nancy Williams did a wonderful job chairing and setting it all up. The class was excellent and Rebecca was creative and engaging in her teaching. But the most interesting thing about it for me was the diverse group of fiber art people in the room.

I have taken numerous quilting and sewing classes over the years, but they have all been niche learning, with every participant being a quilter or “sewist” (the word coined in recent years to distinguish people who sew from a waste disposal system). The SEFAA classroom was different – full of fiber art people pursuing all sorts of different fiber tracks. There were knitters, weavers, quilters, crocheters and more. The connecting thread here was a love of fiber and a desire to learn. It worked really well.

Another opportunity for connectedness comes on August 22nd, when three talented teachers will combine their expertise in one fiber project for the SEFAA class, “A Taste of Fiber (Arts).” Students will learn fabric dyeing with Inko dyes, free-motion machine stitching and hand embroidery.

It’s unusual for three fiber professionals (Ray Pierotti, Leisa Rich and Jane Timmers) to teach collectively. I have seen the project example in person, and it is stunning! The cost for the all-day class (really three classes) is extremely reasonable. I hope we can post some of the resulting projects on the website or blog late next month. There is still time to sign up and make this connection. If you go back to “classes and workshops” on the fiberartsalliance.org website, you can download an application.

It is thrilling to see new groups joining SEFAA each month. We are establishing connections – connecting threads!