I long, as does every human being, to be at home where I find myself. ― Maya Angelou

I’m delighted to share the results of our “Stitching Stories: What is Home?” in-person workshop offered by Vision’s Museum of Textile Arts that took place on Saturday, September 6^th. We gathered to write haiku based on the many versions of home we love and experience (physical, mental, emotional, spiritual) and during the second hour we learned how to embroider our words onto cloth under the kind direction of museum volunteers Helen Ashdown and Barbara Dodson. Then off we went into our separate lives for the month to stitch our haikus.

Last night we met at Liberty Station to see the harvest of our work. You can view the brief (under three minutes) but darling YouTube video compilation of our voice recordings set to images of a portion of our finished embroidery, below (thank you Lauryn Dove). Our cloth haikus will be on display in the hallway outside of Visions Museum of Textile Arts for the next two weeks so stop by if you’re in the area. My gratitude goes to San Diego Writers, Ink and to Visions Museum for the opportunity to teach this workshop and to have this absolutely heart-warming experience in community. 

I’ve never embroidered before—so fun to try something new! I was startled to find the process brought up many of the familiar phases of the creative process I’ve encountered as a writer: the joy and fear of the blank page (cloth canvas), the frustration of casting about to find voice (particular style of the way I stitch), and the internal voices of criticism: I don’t know what I’m doing…is it any good…I’m embarrassed to turn this in…

So I took a deep breath and leaned on my writing habits. I realized I had to do all of the following: let go into the not knowing…simply begin…ignore the critical voices in my head…and trust that my style of stitching would be uniquely imperfect, but…perfectly Tania-patterned. 

I loved the time writing in-person together, I loved learning about the choices of images connected to home countries and heart locations of others in class, and I loved the rainbow of color choices of embroidery thread and circles of wooden hoops with cloth waiting to be stitched. I loved watching the water-soluble pen draft of my haiku—undergirded with lines—evaporate just as volunteer Helen promised, leaving only the stitching behind. I loved the tangible focus embroidery’s task gave me while my daughter was driving through the night states away…near midnight, I stitched her part of the haiku—the word “daughter”—lacing it with prayers for her safety and keeping my thoughts focused on color and form and love.

At the time I taught the workshop in September, my family was in transition between locations in San Diego…so my haiku honors one of my favorite homes in nature: Goat Rock beach in Northern California, where every year at holiday time, I experience deep peace walking with my husband and my children, our Siberian Husky loping in oblong circles, wreathing the sand behind and before us with her pawprints. 

Lately, I’ve been telling friends that our sweet pup is “halfway to the stars…” we don’t have much time left with her….so I am grateful to have this little haiku to hang on the wall in our home to remind us of our love for her.

My gratitude goes to Visions Museum of Textile Arts, San Diego Writers, Ink, and Arts District Liberty Station for the opportunity to engage in this project. And most especially, to everyone in this beautiful workshop, each sharing so deeply from the soul. And I hope after reading this post you too will take up the pen(s) and brave translating and stitching your poem onto a cloth canvas!