You belong here

I consider myself lucky to live within easy driving distance of Gather Here, a stitch lounge in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It's a retail shop that stocks an absurdly lovely selection of fabric, yarn, and other crafty goodies (including Red Gate Stitchery kits - yay!). It's heaven to shop, but it is so much more than a retail store.

At Gather Here, owners Virginia and Noah and their staff have nurtured a vital and growing community of makers and creatives of all sorts. It's a place where everyone is included and everyone feels welcome.

This month they launched a community art project around the phrase 'you belong here' as a way of expressing their love and hope for the community. They are collecting handmade versions of the phrase in embroidery hoops, stitched into mini-quilts, or otherwise handcrafted to hang in their front window. Consider it a stitchy call to action.

I share their commitment to inclusion, their belief that everyone should be treated with kindness and respect, that violence, demeaning language, and hatred are never the answer.

My contribution to the Gather Here art project is made of bamboo and cross stitched with cotton embroidery floss. It is the biggest wood piece I have ever done, and I love it. I can't wait to see it hanging in the Gather Here window alongside so many others designed and stitched by similarly caring and hopeful hands.