April Teaching Trips

What a whirlwind of a month. I have met some wonderful people from all corners of the US.

My first trip was to Nebraska where I taught at the Prairie Pioneer Quilt Guild in Grand Island, Nebraska. I was fortunate as the International Quilt Study Center and Museum had just open that week. The quilts were very inspiring as they were from all corners of the globe as well as a great collection of Nancy Crows quilts.

In class we worked on the Early Pin Cushion and the Fiddle Fern Quilt. These creative ladies enjoyed working with wool and embellishments.

My next trip was to 'Out of Hand' in Calgary.

This wonderful store is owned by Dierdre and is bursting at the seams will many textural fabrics and embellishments. It was a treat to teach here as we had the best resources right at our finger tips. It was a great weekend to sew as it snowed non stop.

We worked on Pin Keepers and then on the Greenbrier quilt for two days. I was amazed at the stash these girls had. I have included a picture so you can see what they brought to class. What an inspiring trip and the best part about it is that I was asked to return next year.

The last weekend in April was Sally, Alice, Melissa and my 5th annual retreat 'Workt by Hand' in Tipp City, Ohio.

I am very excited as I feel we achieved what I had envisioned this retreat to be all about. It was full with 43 enthusiastic participants.

This truly was a creative weekend with many one of a kind pieces being produced.

I have included pictures of each of our pieces. We each started with a cream piece of wool and then a different color for our path and house applique. We then told a story.

Mine was about my childhood in Africa. My house is a Cape Dutch design and it is covered with African animals, flowers, birds and trees.

I had a lot of fun embellishing and keeping a journal about my quilt.

The annual dinner was at the Tippecanoe Hotel Gallery.

Fun was had by all!

We will be having our next retreat the last weekend in April 2009. If you are considering attending you will need to sign up early as everyone expressed an interest in returning.

I am leaving for The Stitchin' Post in the morning followed by market in Portland and then a week long workshop with Kafee Fassett. I will make every effort to blog as I am travelling.

Creative Stitching

Sue