Welcome to
Thread Alchemy at Willa Workshops
Why Stitching Matters to Me
For as long as I can remember, stitching has been part of my life story. My mother and my grandmother were always sewing together, and from the time I was small, I watched their hands transform fabric into something beautiful and useful. They would give me scraps from their projects—tiny offcuts of color and pattern—and I would turn them into the doll clothes I desperately wanted but my parents couldn’t afford to buy.
As the youngest of 4 children, my parents poured everything they had into our education. There wasn’t much left over for hobbies or extras, but those fabric scraps gave me a kind of magic, an outlet for creativity and resourcefulness, that shaped who I am.
By the time I reached junior high and took sewing in Home Economics, I was already hooked. I was a natural behind the machine, and soon I was making my own clothes and spending every spare minute sewing at home. Looking back, I don’t quite know why I stopped. I suspect it was because I became so focused on academics—believing that the “right” college and career path were what mattered most.
{and Why It’s the Newest Addition to Willa Workshops}
I picked up fabric again briefly in college, sewing a few projects with my roommate Becky, but once again, life pulled me in other directions. Years later, as a working mother, I fell in love with knitting—and rediscovered how soothing and satisfying it felt to work with my hands. Around the same time, at my printing company Luscious Verde Cards, we began incorporating machine stitching into invitations. That combination of paper and thread was pure joy for me—the perfect marriage of texture, structure, and artistry.
Over the years, through Willa Workshops and Fodder School, stitching has quietly threaded its way into my creative teaching. Many of our projects have featured hand or machine sewing, and those moments have always felt like home to me.
Now, as Willa Workshops continues to grow, I feel ready—and excited—to expand this side of our school in a much more intentional way. Bringing sewing and stitching into mixed media art feels like a full-circle moment: a way to honor where I came from, to celebrate the makers who taught me, and to share the tactile joy of fiber, paper, and thread with our community.
This isn’t about reinventing the wheel—there are many wonderful artists and teachers exploring mixed media textiles. But I do believe I bring a unique energy, perspective, and sense of play to this space. My goal is to help you discover how sewing—whether by hand or machine—can add dimension, texture, and soul to your art.
This is the next chapter for Willa Workshops: a series of courses that bring the art of stitching into the heart of mixed media. And I can’t wait to see what you’ll create.
Now that you know the story, check out what classes we have in store for you!
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Threaded and Sewn: A Beginner's Guide to the Sewing Machine
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Modern Improv Pillow {perfection not required}