Learn to choose stitches for different textures to create petals, leaves, and stems in this floral still life embroidery workshop. You’ll learn how to sketch from observation and translate botanical forms into stitched illustrations using a mix of 2D and 3D embroidery techniques.
We’ll cover the reasons behind each stitch choice and provide live demos, guided practice, and a relaxed space to develop your skills.
This class is geared toward intermediate stitchers, but beginners are also welcome.
All materials will be provided in class.
This program meets in person at the Arboretum.
Instructor: Katie Vota, art professor
Age: 16 and older
Course number: A220
Instructor
Katie Vota, art professor, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Katie Vota is a Chicago-based artist using traditional textile techniques to create sculptural and woven dreamscapes that engage viewers in ideas of touch, pleasure, and the roles we play in shaping the world around us. By collecting cast-off objects and scavenging colors from nature, she transforms materials to create wholes from smaller parts, finding softness in many forms, textures, colors, and patterns based in cloth and in living. Vota received her BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art (2010, magna cum laude) and a studio MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2015). She was awarded a US Student Fulbright Grant (2011–2012) to study traditions of Andean back-strap weaving and natural dyeing in Cusco, Peru, with the Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco. Vota has exhibited in numerous solo and juried exhibitions. Her newest work focuses on the sea, juxtaposing the idealization of these images with the lived reality of our polluted water systems.
What to Know
This program meets indoors.
This class is geared toward intermediate stitchers, but beginners are also welcome.
All materials will be provided in class.
Program Schedule
Wednesday, March 25, 2026, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Founder’s Room, Thornhill Education Center (parking lot P-21), West Side
