For my Pienza Cope giveaway, I asked my Patreon patrons what content they really enjoyed on my page or what suggestions they might have for future content. Overall, they are very happy with what is on offer—terrific! However, some suggested starting a Forum, hosting Stitch & Chats, or doing a SAL. In other words, they seek ways to connect with others in the historical embroidery community. As I live in an embroidery desert, I am all for it and very happy to host ways to make this possible. Read on for the fun new ways to connect with other stitchers!

Firstly, I’ve created a Forum for historical embroidery on Discourse. Access is included in all Patreon membership tiers. Why can’t it be free? I have opted for a non-big-tech solution to avoid data mining and annoying ads. Such a solution comes with a monthly fee that I pay. The forum is safe and moderated, and you can participate for less than the price of a cup of coffee a month! Posts are in chronological order, there’s no algorithm you will need to please, and the layout is very calm. When you visit, you will see all new content in a clean list, and you can easily choose what to check and ignore.

On the Forum, you are encouraged to introduce yourself and let us know what types of embroidery you do. You can share pictures of your latest historical embroidery projects or just that fun cross-stitch kit you picked up. Besides doing historical embroidery, I enjoy cross-stitching a lot, especially when I am travelling. Share details of the embroidery shops you visit—both brick-and-mortar and online. This will develop into a terrific resource for those hard-to-find embroidery supplies we all need. Ask technical questions, share your latest research breakthrough, share a lecture that’s coming up, post details on a workshop you will attend, etc. I wish for the Forum to develop into a great place to hang out and a formidable knowledge base. As I cannot do that singlehandedly, please join!

Secondly, I will host regular Stitch & Chat Zoom sessions for my Journeyman and Master Patrons. Again, I cannot offer this service for free, as a fully functional Zoom account costs money. These sessions will not be recorded. Attending is a great way to get to know new people who share your interest in historical embroidery. The first Stitch & Chat will be on Monday, April 14th, at 19:30h CEST. You can check on this website how that corresponds to your time zone. The monthly Zoom meeting of the Medieval Embroidery Study Group will remain on Saturday evening at 19:00h CEST, and these meetings will be recorded. You must be a Master Patreon to join us and/or watch the recording.

Thirdly, I will hold a SAL in the future. However, this requires a lot of preparation and isn’t something I can quickly come up with. But I have an idea stewing in my head.

Let’s build this community for historical embroidery one post at a time! And remember, if you would like to do other forms of embroidery, you are welcome to join the forum, too. You will find that most of us are stitching omnivores :).