I Survived Vermont!

Last Sunday I returned from my first time teaching at the Vermont Quilt Festival. I am a bit late in blogging due to my sister visiting this past week. You may ask why I have worded my subject line as "I Survived Vermont"? Truth be told, I actually "thrived" in Vermont. It was a great trip ... lots of keen students doing great work in the beautiful state of Vermont.

I hadn't been to Vermont in a number of years because I had grown to fear it. Back in 2008 after leaving my conventional job, I decided to take a drive to Vermont in autumn and photograph foliage. I was alone on this trip and managed to have a pretty serious fall when I stumbled down the edge of the pavement, and headfirst into my car door, while photographing a covered bridge. Then I proceeded to have something go wrong for me on another three trips to Vermont: 1) a mouse moved into my glove compartment; 2) I forgot my medication at home; and 3) on the last morning of teaching for the Champlain Valley Quilters' Guild in 2011, I rolled over in bed and the room was spinning. I had come down with positional vertigo, that lasted for three months. I hadn't been back to Vermont since

Because I was a bit shaken by the above track record, I invited a dear friend (who is also a quilter) on this trip with me to help keep me safe. This is dear long-time friend Carole on left. I am happy to report that I was safe on the trip, but true to past experience, I encountered a problem the day prior. Suddenly my car started sounding like a jet engine and it was clear that I would not be driving it to Vermont. Small problem as I was able to rent a car on short notice. Everything went smoothly after that.

Sometimes teaching at shows can be physically grueling, but this one wasn't. We were able to drive up to the classroom door to unload, It was easy to get meals close by, and the show provided me a chair on wheels to take some of the strain off my knees from standing all day. I had shipped my supplies ahead of time and they were waiting in my classroom, access to the classroom was level, and we stayed in a hotel with an elevator. I had a car and my friend Carole kindly helped me. What else could a teacher ask for?

Classes were well-attended, with anywhere from 16-20 students each day. I did a good job of taking photos the first day in "Hosta Leaves 101" class.

A few students finished their quilt tops. As you can see, many purchased my kit of hand-dyed fabrics.

I must have been really busy because I failed to take any photos on day 2 while I was teaching "In Full Bloom". The photo below is from Day 3, "Collage Tree".

And finally, on Sunday morning, I taught a half day of Surface Design, where students had an opportunity to try Prismacolor Artist Pencils and Caran d'Ache Neocolor 2 Watersoluble Wax Pastels.

I visited the show and merchant mall twice, however, I ran into so many visitors I knew from Ottawa, Kingston, and Quebec that I really did not manage to capture photos. A kind soul I found admiring my work took a photo of me and the piece I submitted for the Instructor Showcase.

I did have a pretty good visit with the special exhibit of Ruth McDowell's work, however, photos were not allowed in this exhibit. It is easy enough to see photos of her work by visiting her web site at the link mentioned above. So I am afraid I have no photos of quilts to share. While many Facebook friends have been sharing photos from the show, most of them do not provide the name/s of the quiltmaker/s, so I will not be sharing them here. Please, if you appreciate a work in a show and must share it on social media, I'm sure the maker would appreciate having their name associated with it. 

Slowing Down

My boxes of kits and patterns and teaching supplies have been shipped off to the Vermont Quilt Festival where I will be teaching next week. My quilt has also been shipped there for the Teacher Showcase. I am breathing easier and sleeping better these days now that the spaces between teaching trips are a little more reasonable in length and the dyeing of kits has ended for 2016. When I tell you that I dyed more than 500 meters of fabric within about a two month period, I truly do not mean to brag, even though it may appear to some that this is what I am doing. I am just astounded that I did it and survived it, and want folks to know that this IS the reality of being a teacher on the road. Some folks think it is an easy job and a glamorous one, but it is a lot of tough work.

I may have mentioned this before on my blog, but I was travelling home from a teaching trip a few weeks ago when I suddenly thought that I better pay attention to when Easter weekend is. Then I suddenly realized that Easter weekend had passed and that I had spent it in my dyeing dungeon, while my husband spent a chunk of it ironing fabric. The same thing happened on Victoria Day weekend, although by that time I had only about 20 meters left to dye.

I'll tell you another thing. In April I started dreaming about retirement. I even went so far as to have my pension numbers crunched. While that feeling has now passed, I think I need to heed what this dream means: I need to slow down because I don't want to miss my life!

Over the past year or two so many of the things I used to do have fallen away. I missed the deadline to submit work to the SAQA Portfolio. One of my art works has been in each yearly Portfolio since I became a SAQA member in 2007. I also missed the deadline to submit work for the Haliburton faculty show at Rail's End Gallery. I've participated in this show for the last seven years. I didn't get a one-foot square quilt made for the SAQA auction and I've been contributing to that for many years. I haven't entered any shows, and in fact I haven't turned my sewing machine on since January. I've begun to question all my memberships in organizations because I'm not in a place where I can contribute right now, nor in a place to partake of the benefits of membership. For the first time ever, I did not publish my quarterly newsletter this spring.

So I have come to the conclusion that I need some time away from teaching. I have turned down and am turning down any additional requests for teaching for Fall 2016. So this means that after my classes at Haliburton School of Art + Design at the end of July, I will only have two teaching commitments after August 1: 1) a week of teaching in the Okanagan Valley, British Columbia (Cherry Tree Quilts retreat) at the end of September, and 2) a private one-day workshop in November. My 2017 schedule is filling up nicely, and in such a way that things are spaced out a bit more comfortablyI will begin dyeing kits in January 2017, if not before, to avoid the crunch I experienced this year. I'm still amazed at the popularity of kits, having never used one myself.

The fact is that it takes quiet time and contemplation to be creative again. I hope to get my mojo back this fall. Actually, I'm already starting to feel stirrings as I am less rushed right now than I have been in months, and ever so thankful that I am sleeping like a baby again :-))

Here's a little funny for you. A friend of mine says I dyed so much fabric this spring that I wore out my laundry sink! Yes, while mixing up dye fixative for the last 20 meters of fabric, the jug slipped out of my hands and landed spout-side-down in my laundry tub, tearing a hole in it! A plumber did a tremendous job of fixing it a few days later.

As I slow down and get more grounded, maybe I'll have more contemplative blog posts, rather than a running travelogue ;-)) My time away from teaching this summer/fall will be divided between time in the studio, vacation time, and professional/personal development. Stay tuned!

Salon 2016 in Montreal

I've probably mentioned a few times on this blog about the many kits I've been dyeing over the past 2-3 months. I know that prior to my most recent teaching trip, I had dyed more than 500 meters of fabric. Much of it was ironed by my husband. So off I went to Salon 2016 (the provincial show of Courtepointe Quebec) in Montreal with lots of kits for red or blue poppies, pink peonies and two types of hosta quilt.

The show opened on Wednesday night, and I found several works by students hanging with ribbons. This one by Annick O'Shaughnessy. It was started in my "Liberated Radial Piecing" class in Beaconsfield, QC last February (2015).

Suzanne Hurtubise started this one in the same class. Congratulations ladies!

I taught my Hosta Leaves

 and an In Full Bloom class. This class decided to pose showing the works I brought with me.

One of the lovely things about teaching at shows is meeting (or re-meeting) other teachers. In this selfie (me on right) I've managed to photograph several of my fellow teachers after dinner one night. From left to right, Dorothy Fu, Laurie Swim, Sharon Stroud, and Pat Pauly.

Although the show continued until Sunday, I left early (on Friday night) to drive to Cambridge, Ontario and attend our niece's wedding. That was followed by a 3-day visit to my father and sister. Managed to get my father fitted for some hearing aids. He turns 92 this month!

Irises were in bloom everywhere in Southern Ontario. This is a beautiful time of year, with so much of nature coming to life.

There you have it. A week in which I slept in four different beds! I guess that is why things hurt? I have only about 20 more meters of background fabrics to dye before my days of teaching at the Vermont Quilt Festival later this month. I'll be busy with that this week, as well as prepping the boxes of patterns and kits to ship to Vermont in advance. Then I plan to prep for my July classes at the Haliburton School of the Arts.

Return from A/The Grand Guild

It is Saturday night of a long Victoria Day Weekend here in Canada. Once again I'm working this weekend. Unpacking from my last teaching trip, doing laundry, and packing for my next teaching trip. It also seems to be the season that guilds are hiring for 2017 so I have several contracts to prepare. Some of my 2017 Teaching Schedule is already on my website, and more will appear soon. This weekend I am also dyeing more hosta kits. They sell like hotcakes. I'm cutting fabric and bundling kits in preparation to head off on Wednesday to teach at Salon 2016 in Montreal. Not too long after that I need to ship my patterns and kits to Vermont for my classes at the Vermont Quilt Festival.

A few days ago I returned from a teaching trip to the Grand Quilt Guild of Fergus, that was followed by a visit to family, seeing my father settled into his long-term care room, and helping him get tested for hearing aids.

My visit to the Grand Guild (named after the Grand River that runs through the town of Fergus) began with a lecture on the Wednesday evening and was followed by three days of workshops.

At the first workshop, I was delighted to find my long-time Facebook friend, Odarka Farrell, in my Tree Collage workshop. She lives in Prince Edward Island, but was in Southern Ontario visiting her mother. We snuck off to have coffee at lunch time. 

This is Brenda, the guild's Program and Workshop Coordinator, who I have dealt with over past months organizing my visit. Thank you to Brenda and other guild members for all of their help in moving my quilts and teaching supplies from car to lecture hall and classroom, and back to car. Here you can see Brenda working on her tree.

Here are a few more trees that were really looking fantastic.

Outside our classroom in Elora, Ontario, a magnolia tree was in full bloom. In fact, it is that time of year when everything seems to be coming to life.

Here are just a couple pieces from the "Liberated Applique class". This one is Brenda's

and this one Dawn's.

I was also delighted to meet Millie Cumming, who attended my workshop all three days. I have admired her work in many shows.

At the last class, students were creating hosta leaves. 

And just down the street from our classroom I found these hosta leaves unfurling.

The day following the last class, I returned to Fergus and Elora as a tourist. Enjoyed a walk along the Grand River in Elora.

I also took in the Threadworks exhibit at the Wellington County Museum and Archives just outside Elora. I was impressed by both the Museum and the show. The Museum is housed in a beautiful old, but impeccably restored and maintained building. At one time, in fact, it was a "Poorhouse".

A fascinating exhibit documents the history, Many of the poor included orphaned children

who were adopted out to provide free labour.

The theme of the show is "Flashback". Christine Earl created this piece from a photograph of her mother taking a "selfie" with her Brownie camera in 1952. It won the prize for best interpretation of theme. I thought it was well done in sepia tones.

Juanita Sauve had several works in the show, but I found this one particularly charming. It is called "When I was 21", and describes what it was like growing up in the 1960's, wanting to change the world.  

I spent a few extra days in Waterloo, visiting with my sister and father. My father was in good spirits the first day and hammed it up for the camera. Unfortunately he was a bit cranky and out of sorts the remainder of my visit. It has been a challenge for him having to move into long-term care, and I'm sure being almost 92 years of age is an even bigger challenge.

On my drive home to Ottawa I suddenly had the thought that I better pay attention to what the dates for Easter are this year, but then I remembered that Easter had passed, and that I had spent it in my dyeing dungeon, with my husband ironing fabric. So here we are at Victoria Day weekend, and I'm working again. Not to worry, when play time comes, I'll play pretty hard. I have plans to take a sabbatical from teaching most of Fall 2016. I will divide the time between my studio, creating some new work; professional and personal development; and some much-needed vacation. Next year I plan to space out my teaching a bit better so I can breathe. More details to share soon. But a few more major teaching trips first.

Four Days in Saskatchewan

As I write this, I am also madly packing to head to Fergus, Ontario tomorrow for a lecture and three days of teaching with the Grand Quilt Guild. Only yesterday I returned from four days in Saskatchewan. I was lucky enough to be able to fit in a brief visit with my friend Anna Hergert and her husband Colin, who live on a lake near Moose Jaw. They showed me around a bit, as it has been 32 years since I've been to Saskatchewan.

It was a thrill to come across an iconic prairie sight: a grain elevator. There are not too many of these around anymore.

Anna's studio is large and bright and looks out on a lake. If I had one like it, I probably wouldn't ever want to leave home again!

We went out one evening to photograph sunsets.

The smoke from the fires in Fort McMurray, Alberta, had already reached the area.

I spent two days with the Prairie Piecemakers Guild in Regina. The first afternoon we hung my show in preparation for my lecture that night. I think this is a fantastic way to show the quilts as people can already look at them when they walk into the room before the meeting. I had also not seen my work all together like that since I had a solo show! Here you can see the hanging team.

There were 20 students in my "In Full Bloom" class the next day. 

Lots of progress was made on poppies and peonies. I forgot to take photos at the end of the day, but managed to get one of Yvette's peony when she shared it on Facebook.

Big thanks to everyone who was so helpful! Especially Yvette, Jacquie, and Shannon, who drove me around, procured lunches and espressos and helped me schlepp my big bags from hotel to show, hotel to class and vice versa.

I'll be back in a few days with a report from Fergus.