Aya Fiber Studio

Curious About Shibori? Ready to Go Deeper?

I've added several opportunities to explore the beautiful world of Japanese shibori, whether you're just getting started or ready for an immersive deep dive into traditional stitched resist techniques and indigo dyeing.

🌿 Shibori Fundamentals — A One-Day Introduction & Practice

Due to popular demand, I've added three new dates for my One-Day Shibori Fundamentals workshops:

📅 November 16, 2026 – Stuart, FL
📅 December 15, 2026 – Stuart, FL
📅 February 5, 2027 – Stuart, FL

And there is still room in my upcoming Shibori Fundamentals workshop in Murphy, NC:

📅 June 23–24, 2026 – Murphy, NC

Perfect for beginners, these workshops introduce the foundations of Japanese shaped-resist dyeing. You'll learn how folding, stitching, binding, and wrapping cloth can create beautiful patterns when dyed, while gaining an understanding of traditional techniques, pattern development, and the fascinating process behind shibori.

✨ These classes always run and do not require minimum enrollment, so you can register and make your travel plans with confidence.


🌀 Already Taken Fundamentals?

Join me for a Two-Day Stitch Resist Intensive and experience the next level of shibori.

📅 September 15–16, 2026 – Murphy, NC
📅 April 19–20, 2027 – Stuart, FL

In these immersive workshops, we'll focus on more advanced stitched shibori techniques while creating a beautiful Japanese tenugui. You'll learn how precision, repetition, and thoughtful stitching can transform cloth into intricate and expressive patterns.

✨ Ready for the Ultimate Shibori Experience?

Shibori Mastery: Cloth, Process & Indigo Retreat
📅 January 18–28, 2027
📍 Aya Fiber Studio, Stuart, Florida

This special 10-day retreat is designed for those who want to fully immerse themselves in the art and practice of Japanese shibori. (Only 3 spaces left)

Over five immersive modules, we'll explore five distinct shibori pattern families, building technical skills and confidence while developing a deeper understanding of cloth, pattern, and process. These are techniques taught by only few instructors in the US!

The retreat culminates in dyeing with a traditional sukumo indigo vat—a living fermentation vat created from composted Japanese indigo leaves. Working with a sukumo vat is a rare opportunity to experience indigo as it has been practiced in Japan for generations.

Ready to begin your shibori journey—or take your practice to the next level?

Explore all upcoming Shibori Fundamentals workshops, Stitch Resist Intensives, and the 10-Day Shibori Mastery Retreat here:

👉 View Aizome Studio Workshops & Retreats->
https://www.ayafiberstudio.com/aizome-studio-workshops

From your first stitches to working with a traditional sukumo indigo vat, you'll find a pathway designed to deepen your understanding of cloth, pattern, process, and indigo.

Aizome Studio suzanne connors World Shibori Network Japanese Textile Slowstitch Studio

It's All About the Box with Claudia Lee

A box is more than a container—it can become a canvas, a sculpture, a keepsake, or a vessel for treasured objects and ideas.

Join mixed media artist Claudia Lee for four days of exploration into the art of handcrafted box making. Designed for artists, paper enthusiasts, book artists, stitchers, and mixed media makers, this workshop focuses on creating strong, beautiful box forms while giving you the skills and confidence to design your own structures long after the class ends.

Claudia began making boxes as a way to move her work beyond the flat surface. Drawn to the sculptural possibilities of form, she developed methods that are both practical and versatile, allowing artists to create custom boxes without relying on commercial patterns or complicated engineering.

Throughout the workshop, students will learn Claudia's straightforward approach to designing reusable templates that can be adapted to any size or purpose. Working with both handmade and commercial papers, participants will construct durable box forms while learning professional techniques for measuring, cutting, assembling, and covering structures.

Once the foundations are built, the creative possibilities begin. Box forms offer generous surfaces for collage, hand stitching, found objects, decorative papers, and mixed media embellishment. Whether your goal is a functional keepsake box, an artist's book container, or a sculptural artwork, you'll leave with a framework for creating boxes uniquely your own.

Students new to stitching on paper will discover an entirely new surface for needle and thread. Claudia's approach combines structure, craftsmanship, and artistic expression, resulting in work that is both practical and beautifully personal.

In This Workshop You'll Learn

* How to design reusable box patterns to your own specifications
* Techniques for constructing strong, durable box forms
* Working with handmade and commercial papers
* Measuring, cutting, and assembling custom structures
* Methods for covering and finishing box surfaces
* Stitching on paper techniques
* Ideas for incorporating collage, found objects, and mixed media elements
* Approaches for transforming functional containers into sculptural artworks

Who Should Attend

This workshop is suitable for paper artists, book artists, mixed media makers, fiber artists, collage artists, and anyone interested in creating beautiful handmade structures. No prior box-making experience is required.

Leave with completed box projects, reusable patterns, and the confidence to continue designing your own custom forms for future artwork

Build Beyond the Surface

Discover the satisfaction of transforming paper into sculptural forms while learning skills you'll use for years to come.

Reserve Your Space →https://www.ayafiberstudio.com/its-all-about-the-box-claudia-lee



Claudia Lee Paper Fiber Art Now Fiber Arts/Mixed Media Mixed Media Mad - Crazy About Mixed Media Art Where Women Create Workshops: Everything Fiber!

In a world that moves faster every day, making time to create has never been more important.

I’m honored that Aya Fiber Studio was recently featured in Florida Weekly's article, "Reconnect to Your Inspiration."

For many of us, creativity isn't simply about making art. It's about slowing down, working with our hands, learning something new, and reconnecting with ourselves. Whether through indigo dyeing, shibori, stitching, surface design, papermaking, or mixed media, Aya Fiber Studio was created as a place where artists can step away from daily demands and immerse themselves in the creative process.

If you've been feeling the pull to make, explore, and rediscover your creative voice, I invite you to read the article and explore the upcoming workshop season.

📖 Read the Florida Weekly feature:
https://www.floridaweekly.com/articles/palm-beach-ae/reconnect-to-your-inspiration/

🌿 Explore workshops and retreats:
Aya Fiber Studio

Reconnect to your inspiration.
Create with intention.
Find your creative path

Fiber Art Now MartinArts Martin Artisans Guild Discover Martin County Discover Stuart Florida Stuart Martin Chamber of Commerce Martin County Living Downtown Stuart Florida Surface Design Association South Florida Surface Design Association

Who else in Stuart or Florida felt the movements from Cuba's earthquake this afternoon? I thought I was imagining something.

"Every stitch tells a story. Every leaf leaves its mark."

Join Lisa Binkley for five days of botanical printing, natural dyeing, tannin-rich color, and Japanese-inspired boro stitching. Create cloth infused with nature, then transform it through thoughtful handwork into something uniquely your own.

🌿 Plants. Cloth. Color. Stitch.
🪡 March 8–12, 2027
📍 Aya Fiber Studio, Stuart, Florida

https://www.ayafiberstudio.com/boro-botanicals-lisa-binkley

Contact Printing; explore,absorb and share Fiber Arts/Mixed Media FiberTalk Fiber Art Now Surface Design Association Surface Design Guild Sarasota Studio Art Quilt Associates, Inc. QuiltCon South Florida Modern Quilt Guild Sashiko Jacksonville Modern Quilt Guild The Modern Quilt Guild

Imagine giving yourself five full days to simply create.

To slow down long enough to hear your own ideas again.

This November, .parkes is coming to Florida for an extraordinary retreat-style workshop experience at Aya Fiber Studio :

Hand Appliqué, from Tiny to Humongous
📅 November 30 – December 4, 2026
📍 Stuart, Florida

Heidi’s work is known internationally for its poetic storytelling, layered cloth construction, and fearless scale shifts — from intricate stitched details to expansive textile compositions.

Over five immersive days, students will explore:
• hand appliqué techniques
• composition and storytelling through cloth
• scaling ideas from intimate to large-format work
• intuitive design approaches
• layering, stitching, and personal expression

But what makes this experience truly special is the atmosphere.

At Aya Fiber Studio, workshops are intentionally small and immersive — allowing for meaningful instruction, creative breakthroughs, shared meals, conversation, and the kind of artistic community that stays with you long after the workshop ends.

Many of our students travel from across the U.S. specifically for these experiences.

If you’ve been craving dedicated creative time, this is your invitation.

✨ Seats are limited.
https://www.ayafiberstudio.com/heidi-parkes-hand-applique-workshop-florida

Quilt Surface Design Symposium Contemporary Quilt Art Association Quilt National Jacksonville Modern Quilt Guild QuiltCon Studio Art Quilt Associates, Inc.
South Florida Modern Quilt Guild The Modern Quilt Guild Fiber Art Now MartinArts

🌿 Cloth. Wax. Plants. Texture. Transformation.

What happens when textiles are distressed, unraveled, layered, burned, stitched, stained, and fused with encaustic wax?

Join Alaina Enslen for a 5-day immersive retreat experience exploring contemporary mixed-media approaches to cloth, paper, plants, and surface design.

Participants will experiment with:
• encaustic monotypes
• cyanotypes
• botanical materials
• fabric manipulation
• encaustic leaf impressions
• stitching & layering
• sculptural surfaces
• texture-driven compositions

Designed for artists who crave experimentation, process, and material exploration.

✨ Small-group immersive format
✨ Plenty of studio time
✨ Open to all levels

February 22–26, 2027
Aya Fiber Studio | Stuart, Florida
Save your spot: https://www.ayafiberstudio.com/fiber-wax-retreat-alaina-enslen

Wax Fiber Arts/Mixed Media Mixed Media Mad - Crazy About Mixed Media Art Art Cloth Network MartinArts Fiber Art Now Surface Design WA Surface Design Association South Florida Surface Design Association
Aizome Studio suzanne connors Contact Printing; explore,absorb and share