Tennessee in March

January 3, 2026

Two years ago I had the wonderful opportunity to teach at Shakerag Workshops in Sewanee, TN. This place is a dream in reality. The Cumberland Plateau, the food, the folks — It’s one of my favorite places. The class, At Play in the Garden of Stitch, was a blast. We stitched with abandon, ridding ourselves of inhibitions and self doubt. The room was filled with laughter. We learned that there are no mistakes, just new ways of looking.

At Play in the Garden of Stitch - March 6-9, 2026

Do you love to be with creative folks? Do you want to feel more comfortable with free-motion quilting? Are you an artist who wants to experiment with cloth and thread? This workshop brings all of that together.

On March 6-9 I will be leading a weekend workshop at St. Mary’s Sewanee Retreat Center located on the edge of the Cumberland Plateau (a little more an hour from Nashville or Chattanooga, TN). It’s a quiet lovely space that brings contemplation and peace to those who travel there.

I’m dreaming of the Spring in Sewanee. I’d love to see you there.

I use these Black Locust thorns as a meditation. Scraps of the thread that I have used over 10 years are tied together and then used to wrap the thorns. I have to concentrate when I do this because the thorns will leave scratches and pinpricks if I don’t.

I wrapped some more thorns last night

December 31, 2024

While wrapping I kept thinking about what I had accomplished in a year and what is still on the list of things I want to do. This morning I drifted through my 2024 pictures and compiled this short summary. I do this to remind myself about the directions I want to pursue further and the directions that didn’t work out as I had expected. I’m getting to the point that if I don’t make a note to remind myself it just doesn’t get done.

Top row, left to right: *Redbud*, detail; drawings at Hambidge, *Everything Seemed Fine until the Earth Pushed Back* detail
Middle Row: Driveway cracks, Dynamic Symmetry study, drawing with thorns
Bottom: Texture exploration, *Brood* detail, *Nonsense* detail

First up. I spent two weeks at the Hambidge Center for Creative Arts & Sciences in northern Georgia in a residency. While there I spent a lot of time hiking. I experimented with folded papers, studied Dynamic Symmetry and did a lot of drawing. My palette reflected the colors outside my windows. I need to go back to that geometry this year. It was intriguing to see how a simple rectangle could change the way a composition moved.

When I returned I played with the black and white fabric I designed and had printed at Spoonflower in a piece I call Nonsense. Then I finished Brood — two quilts merged into one. See this post to follow my process.

Brood, 65” x 65”, merged quilts, 2024, Paula Kovarik

Teaching Inspirations

I spent a lot of time teaching in 2024 • The Stitching’ Post in Sisters, Oregon • Shakerag Workshops in Sewanee, TN, • Women Who Run With Scissors in Greenbay, WI • Quilting by the Lake in Geneva, NY • Madeline Island School of the Arts in LaPointe, WI • The Front Range Guild in Denver, CO and • Design Outside the Lines in Taos, NM. Not only were these groups talented they were also fearless. We had the best of times. I am inspired each time I have the opportunity to participate as an instructor and wish I had more time to just be a student too.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND taking workshops or attending residencies when you can. I seek spaces and people who inspire me. I look for opportunities to try something new and be in a space that is not my own nest. I like to be a little uncomfortable to change my perspective.

The beach was two blocks from my studio, The statues were at a shrine devoted to the Sleeping Buddha, my studio was a lovely open space just across from my living quarters.

A trip of a lifetime

In October and November I spent six weeks in the Itoshima Prefecture of Japan. The first four weeks were at a Studio:Kura residency. I lived in community with four other artists, had a studio to myself, a bedroom and a shared kitchen. The spaces were a bit raw but PERFECT for my needs. We were surrounded by rice and vegetable farms, mountains, and the sea was a two block walk from the studio. A 15 minute walk brought me to the local train station that would get me into the city. It was a spectacular experience. I’m still processing some of the things I learned. It was there that I started a drawing on a rice paper scroll. The scroll ended up being 18.5 feet long. It’s a stream-of-consciousness piece that is part journal, part imagination and part pattern. I’m not sure how I will ever be able to display it but at this point I like it for itself. A personal memory of a journey.

This year most of my time in the studio has been experimental. I’m attracted to layering and adding texture and detail. More is in fact more for me (though that Japanese aesthetic of simplicity is also calling me). I am drawing more, stitching less. Thinking about installations, moving to messier work. Edgy, layered, inventive. I still want to work in 3D but am running out of room in my studio.

I spent the whole year not doing work inspired by the news or politics. The subjects were just too painful.

Top row: Texture study, Playing with pink, texture study close up
Middle row: Scrap garlands, Grandson Fitz, texture study close up
Bottom row: Drawings from Japan, wrapped thorns, Japan scroll

The treasure at the end of this rainbow of a year is my darling, luscious grandson Fitz, born on December 21 weighing 7lbs, 7 oz. I love you so much my sweet angel.

Happy new year everyone. I yearn for peace.

No turning back

June 17, 2019

I had the privilege of spending a week at a Shakerag Workshop with Michael Brennand-Wood this past week. It was partially an escape from Memphis and the quilt festival that has entangled my spare moments and partially a way to peel back ossified habits and open up new space in my brain.

It worked on both accounts.

Fungi is an assemblage of quilt pieces, wire structures, wood, stitch and felt—A study in growth and emergence. — *Fungi* is an assemblage of quilt pieces, wire structures, wood, stitch and felt—A study in growth and emergence.

First, let me praise Shakerag Workshops. This place is a magical oasis in the hills of Tennessee that brings serious artists (both skilled and unskilled) and teachers to play with each other. The atmosphere is educated, welcoming and full of joy. And the food was from the gods. Go there. No, really, go there.

Michael’s class was called Random Precision: 3-Dimensional Line, Stitch, Structure and Light. We used drills, saws, glue, paint, thread, nails, twisty ties, wires and our thoughts to explore space, light and structure. Michael talked about building artwork physically but also conceptually. We considered the push and pull of dark and light, hard and soft, and structured and unstructured bits. It was a joy. And, it will change the way I look at my own work.

I have been eager to explore 3D qualities with my stitching. Through quilting I can build or deconstruct a flat surface that speaks to my fingers. The traveling thread becomes a narrative element that translates my thoughts. Now I will explore how that thread can build space, encapsulate ideas and stretch the boundaries.