When I first came across seam collective’s #SeptTextileLove challenge on Instagram, in August 2018, I was hooked! I’ve looked forward to it each year since then.

September is always a busy month for me because my life is regulated by school and/or university holidays but I actually find that the prompts provided by seam help me to get my brain back into gear after the summer. Term starts and I’m often exhibiting or doing a residency, but I’ve really enjoyed taking part in the #SeptTextileLove challenge alongside my return to work. I especially like it as I can be involved as much or as little as I like. I can be an observer throughout the month, following the hashtag and seam’s daily selected highlights, but I can also participate more actively when I have time.

The best part of #SeptTextileLove for me has definitely been about making connections. I’ve loved ‘meeting’ so many skilled and inspiring artists and makers from around the world who also use stitch in their work. It’s as if seam gathers a growing virtual community of stitchers each September to share an intense and thought-provoking conversation, accompanied by lots of amazing images and ideas. Bliss! It was especially wonderful, of course, to make those connections during the pandemic, and it’s been a great way to share our obsession.

As well as looking at other people’s posts via the hashtag, I always really enjoy thinking about my own work in relation to the prompts. Somehow, focusing on one or two keywords helps me to think differently about it. I definitely see it as a challenge, and I love it! I don’t think I’ve ever managed to post every day, but that’s fine too, of course.

I’m delighted to now be a member of seam. I joined the collective in January 2022 so it’ll be very interesting to me to be involved with #SeptTextileLove this year, but this time from behind the scenes. Already we’ve had fun choosing the prompts as a group and we’re looking forward to sharing them with you all soon. Members of the collective take it in turns during September to select and share seam’s daily highlights, so I’ll be doing that too, which feels like such a privilege. Come and join us and be part of the #SeptTextileLove virtual community of stitchers this September. I hope to see you there!

If you would like to take part in #SeptTextileLove 2022:

• Read about how #SeptTextileLove works in our blog post Not long till #SeptTextileLove 2021!
• Follow the seam blog to ensure you receive the prompts on 31 August, ready to start in September.
• If you’d like to start thinking about the prompts ahead of the challenge and prepare a few responses, subscribe to the seam newsletter and you’ll receive the full list of prompts one week before they’re publicly released. We also include a prompt planner for you to download too. The seam newsletter is issued four times a year and you can unsubscribe at any time.
• Remember when you write your captions don’t forget to use the exact hashtag #SeptTextileLove at least once in your post. There are quite a few similar hashtags available, but it’s a bit like a password; if you don’t use exactly those words other participants may miss you post and you won’t get as many likes, comments and follows!

Lou Baker