Stitched In Place: Needlework Conference

March 19–21, 2027 Stitched in Place is a two-and-a-half-day conference that invites you to consider how place is not only a backdrop but a central thread in the story of American needlework. Join us to examine how Americans have used needlecraft and sewn and embroidered objects, whether stitched in schoolrooms, parlors, or workshops, to understand and communicate how they see the world and their places in it. The conference will include research presentations, panel discussions, workshops for all interests and skill levels, special tours, and other exciting opportunities to engage with Winterthur’s extraordinary needlework collection. Participants will see behind-the-scenes in the Needlework Study room, visit our Textile Conservation Lab, learn how Winterthur protects and preserves its collections, and learn about scalable ways to bring those practices into your own home and collections. Registrants can sign up for a multiday workshop led by leading needle artists, learn more about our fantastic collections, and discover ways you can begin your own journeys of making and collecting. Designed for a variety of audiences, Winterthur welcomes seasoned embroiderers, collectors, and those curious and eager to learn more. This conference draws its theme from an exhibit of the same name. About the Exhibit Stitched in Place, on view through April 4, 2027, explores how American needlework has and continues to serve as a medium for expressing identity, belonging, and awareness of place. Featuring approximately twenty objects from Winterthur’s collection, including samplers, needlework pictures, hatchments, tools, garments, accessories, and furnishing textiles from the seventeenth through twentieth centuries, this installation invites reflection on how makers used needle and thread to communicate who they were, where they came from, and how they wished to be seen. Stitched in Place is presented as part of Winterthur’s ongoing Conversations with Collections series in the Galleries.