Improv Quilting as Creative refuge
Do you see your craft
As refuge or an escape—are they different?
When I run the Improv That Block Squad, or any class or in-person retreat that I offer, my guiding intention is to create a sanctuary and refuge for improv quilters and makers.
A community for restorative creative practice that gently supports self-acceptance, reflection, and honest making rooted in each person’s lived experience and values, is a place of refuge —a steady place to land. Yes it’s fun AND it’s far from an escape; it’s intentional, grounding, and woven into the rhythms of everyday life, —a practice you can return to, again and again.
Sanctuary is a place of refuge. Refuge is a condition where people feel safe and can find rest. When craft is practiced as sanctuary or refuge we are holding space to be brave, curious, compassionate, and flexible—where we can know and speak our truth, reflect, and grow. A refuge nurtures agency and connection with others. It is a source of self-discovery and a place to stay in touch with joy and delight as well as with sadness and fear—everything that makes us human in the best ways.
Engaging hands, heart, and mind to make something aligned with our values can heal us and keep us whole during chaotic times. When the world feels out of control, it becomes even more important to tend the inner flame of our humanity. Craft practiced as refuge keeps us whole; it is not an escape into numbness, disconnection, or inaction. It is a life-affirming immersion into our felt sense of who we are and what is right, honest, and good.
Think of Superman and his Fortress of Solitude, an arctic crystalline structure grown from a Kryptonian crystal, that serves as his sanctuary, laboratory, and repository of knowledge. It’s a place where he can drop his Clark Kent facade and remember where he is from and what is in alignment with his mission. He doesn’t stay there forever. It’s a place he returns to when he needs to heal, ground and recharge.
Still from Superman, 1978, ©Warner Bros. Superman in the Fortress of Solitude.
Craft as refuge restores sanity, integrity, and agency so we can remain connected to each other and to our full range of emotions. That connection prepares us to act in the broader world—whether that means contacting leaders, speaking truth to power, showing up at a protest, responding to a neighbor’s need, or taking whatever small and sometimes brave steps within our domain to create change for the common good.
If you feel overwhelmed by current events, resist the urge to numb or withdraw. Instead, take the smallest step toward creating in refuge. Making something honest, beautiful, and sometimes revelatory—something that brings you peace and joy and engages your mind and spirit in restorative flow—is not impotent. It’s resistance, it’s powerful. It matters.
Creative Refuge for Improv Quilters in 2026
FREE Improv Scrap Play Class - Sign up to watch the video replay
Improv That Block Squad / January-June / online community course
Blossom Retreat at Clos Mirabel / May 2-9 / France / 1 spot left
The Art of Sustainable Quilting Retreat / July 6-10 / Madeline Island WI
Intuitive Color Quilt Stories in Abstract Piecing / July 26-August 1 / Geneva NY
Check my Quilt Classes page for newly added events.
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Craft practiced as refuge keeps us whole; it is not an escape into numbness, disconnection, or inaction. It is a life-affirming immersion into our felt sense of who we are and what is right, honest, and good.