Courses and workshops at InStitches are all about building up people’s confidence in their abilities and one of the things that many people are often really underconfident about is the D-word!

People can’t draw: or at least that’s what they think.

But actually, we can all draw. We can all make marks on paper (did you have a go at the mark-making challenge in #institchescreative2020 week one?). As children we made marks on paper without thinking about what they looked like or whether they were realistic, and without listening to that inner critic. When did we lose that? 

This week we are carrying on working with a straight stitch.

Still? I hear you say,

Oh yes, I reply, keep reading!

​We are going to stack it, curve it, mix it up and generally become playful with it...have you realised yet how versatile this simplest of stitches can be?

Musicians do it; mindfulness practitioners do it; we all do it in so many aspects of our lives (our morning routine, walking the dog, taking the kids to school) – so a daily art or stitch practice is not such an odd concept.
Many people find that at times of high stress or extremely busy periods their creative juices dry up – usually just at the time when we need them most! Daily practice is a simple, non-threatening way of getting back into creativity again.

I don't know about you, but this last week I haven't been able to focus my mind or concentrate on any task for more than a few minutes at a time.  So I'm resorting to lists; many, many lists!   Breaking tasks down into small, achievable steps is how I cope.  It's SO satisfying to tick them off:

​Job done. 

One more step towards a normal life again.

It won't come as a  surprise to you then, that I've created a list for this stitch blog!  So now at least I know where we are going;  all you need to do is show up each week and we can go together.  For 10 or 20 minutes, maybe longer,  but at least we can do it together and we'll even be socially distant compliant!

Before I show you the stitches for this week, did you see our Monday Instagram post/story?  It was all about using an uneven running stitch to create fantastic ripples on a quilted surface.
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Last week Hazel was concentrating on one stitch and pushing the possibilities of it. So here in the paper blog this week we are going to do the same thing – but with a mark. This is one of the creative warmups we use with students on our year-long courses; these are a great kick-start if you want to do something creative but don’t know where to start or are out of ideas. Once you get doing something, anything, you’ll find the ideas start to flow. You might even decide to start a daily practice… (more on this next week).

Whether you are an experienced stitcher or  picking up a needle for the very first time, welcome to the beginning of our Cloth Project blog.  
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Go put the kettle on and brew your favourite drink (or if it's after 6pm, mine's a G&T please!), gather your supplies and join us as we embrace a slower pace of life, discover the joy of creating,  and hopefully in these troubled times, find some inner peace and fulfilment as well as a creative voice.  

Welcome to the first #institchescreative2020 - it's great to have you along!

Those of you who know us at InStitches will know that we love everything about hand-made books, so when we were planning this series this was an obvious place to start! These simple little books are easy to make and very versatile. You can make them any size, and if you make several the same size they can be linked together (more later) to form a much bigger volume. They are a great place to keep all your paper-based explorations and a useful small book to take with you on a (solitary) walk to record what you see in words and scribbles. They also make great little gifts to include with a card.

We set up InStitches because we wanted to share our passion and to inspire as many people as possible to get stitching and creating.  We know that for many of you it isn't just 'messing about' with paper, paint, cloth and thread.  It's about friendship, community, inner peace, fulfilment, the joy of creating, developing a creative voice and so, so much more.  We know, we get it; we are with you on that.  

Our gift to you over these next days, weeks and even months to come is a spark of creative joy.  Take this moment to stop, slow down and make time to appreciate the smaller pleasures in life.  

We are taking a break from our blog to concentrate on teaching and other aspects of InStitches - there are only two of us and we can't manage to do everything! 

But we are still very much here: check out our Instagram feed to see what we've been up to and our Pinterest boards for inspiration, or why not follow us on Facebook or sign up to our newsletter so you can be the first to hear what's new? 

We are leaving the blog links here as an archive. A very big Thank You to everyone who has followed it in the past :-)
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As Hazel mentioned last week, whilst she was in Petra I was at the other extreme in Iceland. And it didn't disappoint. Whilst its climate often has a reputation for being a colder, wetter version of our own, the week we were there started with glorious sunshine, with clear skies perfect for Northern Lights chasing, and ended with snow as Storm Gareth hit the east of the country.

We toured the whole island with an Icelandic guide, which was a great way not only to see the sights but also to hear about the way of life, customs, folklore and of course the sagas. Being on a minibus for long stretches of time even meant that the sketchbook (which always optimistically accompanies me on holidays and rarely sees the light of day) actually got filled, albeit in a somewhat wobbly fashion, which did sort of suit the scenery.

Iceland's location at the junction of two tectonic plates is responsible for the volcanic landscape, with rift-valleys (moving apart 2cm each year), 

130 volcanoes, ​many of them beneath glaciers [the one on the left below is Eyjafjallajökull, which erupted in 2010 and caused airline chaos in Europe], 

black sand beaches and seemingly endless flat lava fields stretching between the mountains and the sea. ​

​creating beautiful glacial valleys, meltwater rivers and waterfalls and which formed the eastern and western fjords.

It would seem that I have taken over 1500 photos, many of them of interesting textures and lines, for inspiration!! So here are a select few for you to enjoy.

And since I haven't yet touched on folklore, traditional houses, old ways of life and arts and crafts, I think there might be another post in the pipeline ….

Thanks for reading
Terry & Hazel