An artist friend, Erin Lee Gafill, recently introduced me to the Kawandi quilts of Siddi women — Afro-indiginous people now living in Western and Southern India. Their methods of quilting — creating unique patterns and color stories from scraps and offcasts — offer us a rich opportunity to explore hand-stitched quilting with a sense of discovery and play. Below you can see some work from the Siddi Quilt Collective and some quilts created in the Kawandi style by Erin.

You can use the Kawandi quilting techniques in your own expressive style. Love the bold colors and wonky patterns of the sample quilts? Go for it! Want a more subtle color palette and slightly more order? No problem, this process will work for you, too!

Join me at my inaugural Sew Slow Expressive Quilting Circle to see for yourself how hand-stitched quilting can be intuitive, playful and restorative in this fun evening of fabric play!

You don’t need a sewing machine or anything fancy for this class! No previous quilting experience required. If you can tie a knot in thread, you can learn the simple running stitch that is the backbone of Kawandi quilting.

By stitching together in a circle of warmth and fellowship, we will be embracing the rich history of women using textile and domestic arts to create practical beauty and a sense of community.

What You’ll Learn

• A brief history of the Siddi people, their quilting practices and comparisons to other similar African-influenced hand-stitched quilting styles

• The key elements and techniques of Kawandi quilting

• How to get started, make fabric choices, and finish a small quilting project

What You’ll Make

You will make an 8” square potholder or trivet. I chose this project because it is small enough for you to make good progress in a 3-hour class. Plus, it’s practical, in the spirit of the global quilting influences. (But you can also decide to make it the first square in a larger piece or use it as a wall hanging.)

What You’ll Get

For your registration fee, you’ll get classroom instruction and project assistance, and a “basics kit” of:

• Sashiko needles and straight pins

• 1 ball of perle cotton thread (size 8) in white

• 8” squares of batting (cotton or cotton/poly)

• 12” square backing fabric

• Access to some of my fabric scraps to accent your fabric selections (if needed)

I will also provide snacks and beverages (coffee, tea, water & wine).

Curated Fabric Kits

You can buy fabric kits from me for $22 each. The kits include over 24 different patterns of fabric in coordinated palettes with some contrast pops. The fabric pieces typically range in sizes from 2.5” strips to “fat sixteenths.” I have curated a mix of patterns and motif scales in each kit for your expressive quilting fun! Most pieces are quilting weight cottons, but there may be some fun surprise fabric types, too.

By September 15th I will send a list of the available fabric kits and you can pre-order the colors/themes that you would like to work with. (In the Sew Slow Circle, you can always share and trade with your fellow quilters to expand your selection.)

What You’ll Need

If you will be using my fabric kits, you will need one kit. (Though, in my experience, more is always better. If you know me, that will NOT surprise you. I’m a more is more kind of person.)

If you don’t choose to buy fabric from me, you will need to bring:

An assortment of at least 20 scrap fabrics or fabric cuts that you want to work with for the project. You won’t use them all, but you will want to have options as you go along — that’s part of the fun of expressive, intuitive quilting.

You can use pre-cut fabrics from a sewing or craft store:

• Jelly Rolls (2.5” rolls of coordinated fabrics) — please note: these are good for a few accent peices, but they are too narrow as your main source of fabric

• Charm Packs (5”square pre-cut fabrics) — please note: mini (2.5” square) charm packs are NOT well-suited for this project

• Design Rolls (6” rolls of coordinated fabrics)

• Layer Cakes/Stacker packs (10” squares of coordinated fabrics)

• Fat quarters, fat eighths, or fat sixteenths

You can also use fabric scraps from your stash (if you have one), old (clean) clothing, vintage tablecloths and linens, decorator fabrics, wide ribbons, or other textiles that you would like to create with.

PLEASE NOTE: For this project, I recommend that you avoid fabrics that are not machine washable. If you have fabric that is likely to shrink significantly, you may want to pre-wash it and smooth it flat or iron it gently before quilting with it.

Pre-registration is required.
Space is limited, so please sign up today.

Registration Fee is $50, non-refundable. If you need to cancel, your fee can be transferred to another participant that you recruit, or applied to a future Slow Sew Expressive Quilting Circle event.