Workshop pieces continued

These are some strip sets I sewed for the next exercise.

And here is what became of them (it's not quite all sewn together here).

Workshop Continued

Here is more work I did at the workshop.

Nancy Crow Workshop

The workshop was intense and lots of work. The first day we started around 8:30 a.m. and I finished around 8 p.m. I was the first one finished. So the others must have worked later. One day I completed the exercises before dinner, but most days we sewed from the time we woke up to the time we went to bed. I was usually the first one to finish or even complete all the exercises. I think this was because I wasn't worried about trying to make something great. I was just there to learn (as you will be able to tell from my pictures). The others were more concerned about doing a good piece and, hence, spent more time contemplating the arrangement (and staying up late).

Since we were at a horse ranch, there were lots of trails that we could walk on. But after two walks, I decided it wasn't worth it because you always had to watch your step so you wouldn't step in the horse stuff (and I don't own cowboy boots). I always tried to take some little breaks to go outside and enjoy the sun for a while instead of staying inside the entire time working. (This helped greatly in my mental well-being.) We were up in the woods so there wasn't much of a view. I found a porch swing that they had set in a clump of trees that faced on opening where you could see some distance pastures. This is where I often went if the sun was shining there.

The workshop was called Improvisations: Let's Experiment. Here is the first piece I did.


That was the morning exercise. In the afternoon, we worked with neutral colors. This is what I did.


My third piece is below. These are not strong pieces but I learned how to get the pieces sewn together and we were not allowed to use a ruler to cut fabric for the entire week (except to square up the edges of pieces when they were complete). That was new to me. Most everything we did was new to me. There were only 3 or 4 of us out of 17 that week that had never taken a class with Nancy before.

At the Ranch

On the way up to Sandpoint, I stopped and took a couple of scenic pictures.


We took over the Western Pleasure Ranch outside of Sandpoint. This is a picture of the outside of the lodge where we worked. They had six rooms in the lodge and some people stayed in those.

They also had three cabins a short walk from the lodge. I stayed in one with three other ladies. There was one bedroom downstairs for one person and the other three of us were upstairs in the loft. This is the outside of our cabin and my 16 year old car that got me safely there and back.

Here is a picture from inside the lodge of the sewing setup for upstairs. My machine is the closest on the left. There were five of us working upstairs and everyone else was downstairs in the main part of the lodge. It got much warmer in the upstairs, but we had much more natural light from all the windows and it was a cozy group as there were only five of us.


Here is the setup for downstairs (before the fabric started flying).

I'm Back

I arrived home last night from my Nancy Crow workshop in Sandpoint, Idaho. I will tell you all about it and show you some pictures, soon. I am still really tired from the long drive (yes, it takes 8-9 hours to get to Sandpoint from Boise) and the previous week.

Sewing in Sandpoint

I'm taking another break from the blog. Tomorrow I'm off to Sandpoint, Idaho for a week-long workshop with Nancy Crow. I am so excited. I'm not so excited that it is an 8-9 hour drive to get there. Anna is also not so excited that I'm going, even though Frank's mom and dad arrive tonight to help take care of her while I'm gone.

I don't think Anna remembers that I was away from her for one weekend when she was about two years old. I went to visit my college friends in Chicago. She has had two or three nights where she has slept over at a friend's house, but we were only a phone call away if she needed to be picked up. So, she is not too happy about me being gone for an entire week. I think it will be good for her. She needs to start learning some independence and maybe she'll realize how much I really do for her.

I will give you all pictures and update when I return!