New York Flora: Machine & Hand Embroidery with Water-Soluble Stabilizers with Amanda MacCavour

5 Days Monday – Friday, July 27-31, 2026

Discover the innovative world of water-soluble fabric embroidery in this immersive five-day intensive focused on the diverse plant life of New York State. This unique workshop combines traditional hand embroidery with modern machine techniques to create  botanical-inspired textile pieces that capture the essence of local flora.

Working from carefully curated botanical drawings, found specimens, and personal photographs, you’ll develop a cohesive series of embroidered works using a thoughtfully limited color palette. This approach allows you to focus on developing your mark-making skills, understanding scale relationships, and mastering composition techniques that will make all your pieces work harmoniously together.

Each day of the workshop will bring new creative challenges as you explore different approaches to interpreting plant life through silhouettes, expressive lines, vibrant colors, and organic shapes. You’ll experiment with both machine and hand stitching techniques, learning to layer soft materials and create entirely new textured fabrics rich with linear detail and dimensional interest.

The magic of water-soluble stabilizers opens up endless creative possibilities – your finished pieces can be seamlessly integrated into art quilts, transformed into stunning wearable elements, or displayed as standalone textile art. You’ll master techniques that can be applied to countless future projects.

Skill Level: No previous experience with water-soluble stabilizers is required, though basic sewing machine familiarity is helpful. Drawing exercises are included, but don’t worry – we’ll use tracing techniques and form simplification strategies that make botanical illustration accessible to everyone, regardless of artistic background.

Materials fee: $75 payable directly to Amanda MacCavour.  The fee supplies students with water soluble stabilizers, a complete selection of polyester machine embroidery threads, botanical drawing papers, ink and brushes, ribbon and yarns, and scrap fabric in coordinating colors.

All QBL workshops begin on Monday and end on Friday. Workshops are from 8:30 am to 4 pm daily. Students check in to their dorms and move into classrooms on the Sunday before the workshop begins. There is a welcome dinner with a lecture Sunday night.