Hand Appliqué, from Tiny to Humongous

Instructor: Heidi Parkes

📅 November 30 – December 4, 2026
📍 Aya Fiber Studio | Stuart, Florida

REGISTER HERE

A Thoughtful, Immersive Learning Experience

To help students arrive prepared and ready to dive deeper into composition and personal direction, Heidi will provide substantial pre-recorded instruction approximately one month before class begins.

Practicing foundational stitching techniques in advance allows our in-person time together to focus on creativity, experimentation, and the unique direction of each student’s work.

As with all workshops at Aya Fiber Studio, enrollment is intentionally limited to create a supportive, immersive environment with meaningful one-on-one instruction and ample workspace.

Many students travel from across the country specifically for these retreat-style experiences.

Come Ready to Play, Stitch & Experiment

This workshop is about more than technique.

It’s about slowing down long enough to reconnect with your materials, your ideas, and the joy of making by hand.

Whether your work becomes tiny and intimate or bold and humongous, you’ll leave with new skills, fresh inspiration, and a quilt that reflects your own creative voice.

Celebrate Fabric Through Hand Stitching & Storytelling

What happens when tiny stitches meet bold ideas?

In this immersive five-day workshop, nationally recognized textile artist Heidi Parkes invites students to explore the expressive possibilities of hand appliqué — from delicate miniature details to dramatic large-scale compositions reaching up to seven feet in size.

This workshop celebrates the fabrics you treasure most while giving new life to even the most unexpected prints. Through Heidi’s approachable and highly personal teaching style, students will create a quilt top while exploring composition, color, improvisation, visible mending-inspired stitching, and storytelling through cloth.

Heidi’s work is celebrated for its deeply personal narrative quality — quilts that function almost like visual diaries. Throughout the week, she will share optional ways to incorporate memory, symbolism, and personal storytelling into your own work.

Students will sew alongside Heidi throughout the workshop as she shares examples from her own quilts, discusses her process, and demonstrates techniques in real time.

Portability, efficiency, and the meditative rhythm of handwork are central to this experience, making it ideal for makers who crave a slower, more intentional creative process.

    • Knots for starting, stopping, and joining threads

    • Multiple variations of visible hand stitching

    • Small appliqué using an embroidery hoop

    • Large-scale appliqué using pins and ironing techniques

    • Thimble use and hand care

    • Composition and color relationships

    • Improvisational approaches to quilt design

    • Tips for portable sewing and stitching on-the-go

    • Introductory improv hand quilting techniques

    On the final day, Heidi will demonstrate hand quilting methods so participants can confidently continue and complete their quilts after class.

    • A quilt top in progress — or possibly completed

    • Confidence with visible hand stitching and appliqué

    • New approaches to composition and storytelling through cloth

    • Guidance for quilting and finishing your piece

    • Continued access to Heidi’s substantial pre-recorded instructional content

  • This workshop welcomes:

    • Beginners with limited hand sewing experience

    • Quilters and fiber artists seeking new approaches

    • Surface designers and mixed-media artists

    • Experienced makers interested in visible stitching and improvisational appliqué

    • Anyone looking for a slower, deeply engaging handwork process

  • Students should bring:

    • Fabric

    • Thread

    • Thimbles

    • Embroidery hoop

    • Pins

    A complete supply list will be provided upon registration, along with additional information about Heidi’s favorite tools and materials.