This past weekend, our annual State Quilters' Retreat was held at the Baptist Conference Center, White Oak, near Winnsboro, SC. And what a weekend it was! We had glorious weather when I arrived on Thursday--just the right touch of cool with a show of color in the leaves. And then the next day, the skies opened up, the winds spent their fury and trees were uprooted. But NOTHING can stop a group of quilters from their appointed rounds at the vendors' booths. The great thing about White Oak is that all of the buildings--except the motel rooms--are connected with covered walkways so, we could shop, eat and sew without getting TOO wet.
I taught my wallhanging, A Taste of the Lowcountry, to
12 great women. We all had a really good time and all of
them were able to get their projects done to the point where they could take them home and, hopefully, keep right on working on them. Didn't they all do a great job?One of the students from last year came by the room and showed me her almost-completed quilt fr
om that class. What a nice surprise that was and she had done such a great job. She changed the color-scheme and added elements of her own--and that is what I LOVE to see happen. One picture that I don't have to show is the student this year who was REALLY original. Instead of a palmetto tree, she choose to use a merganzer duck and put it in a horizontal setting. She left on Saturday so I wasn't able to get a photo of her progress but I'm looking forward to seeing it next year.I really like to teach classes that last two or three days because you have such an opportunity to get to know the wonderful people who choose to take your classes. Everyone has a story and in learning a bit of their story while you spend time with them, you really come to appreciate them in a way you couldn't have otherwise. I feel that I came away from this weekend with 12 new best friends. What a blessing.
6 comments:
Judy
They are all wonderful. I especially love the one with the light blue background. So, do you have your teaching plan ready to submit for next year yet? I hope so and can't wait to see what it will be. You are a gifted artist, quilter and teacher, to be able to have such beautiful results on such a difficult project. Kudos to you. Jeanne
Wow, Jeanne--I can feel my head getting bigger and bigger! Thanks for the very kind words. We had a great time in the class and I really enjoy it when students get to a point in their project where they are excited by what they see going on. And no, not yet--I'm still thinking about next year. Any suggestions?
SUNFLOWERS!!!!!!!
Love the variety from your class. Looks like it was really successful.
JUDY
What about portraits? I really want to try doing a portrait quilt. I have a picture that is really, really cool of an Old Maasai woman that a friend of mine took on his trip to Africa. I would like to reproduce the picture into a portrait quilt. Is that something that would be able to be done in a weekend class? Just and idea. Jeanne
I think that you should take Marilyn Wall's class, Jeanne. In there you work from a photograph and learn her method of transferring your image (whether from a photo or drawing or whatever) to fabric. Some of the work that comes out of her class is incredible. And she is a wonderful, encouraging person.
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