EAC: Inspiring Threads

I just got back last week from teaching in Toronto at the EAC Inspiring Threads Seminar.  It was so much fun!  I taught my Dandelion and Beehive workshops and presented at the Saturday night banquet.  I had two groups of wonderful and enthusiastic students and got to meet many, many interesting stitchers. 

They had a wonderful group of faculty too.  It was such an interesting mix of teachers incorporating very non-traditional techniques and very traditional techniques.  I finally got to meet Alison Cole!  I have followed her work for a number of years and have heard so much (all good!) about her from people that have taken her classes or taught with her at different events.  I would really love to take one of her stumpwork classes and one of the thread painting classes with Margot Kearney (I do not have a website for her but you can see an example of her work on the Canadian Embroiderer's Guild London, Ontario Facebook Page).

It constantly amazes me the generosity of the people that I meet at stitching events, from the students, organizers and teachers.  It has been humbling experiencing it from the "teacher" side in St. Petersburg, FL and in Toronto.  I look forward to teaching and participating at many more seminars to come!

And, a few photos of my student's work in the workshops I taught:
"All the Buzz" Beehive Goldwork Sampler workshop (2 days)

 Jayne finished her piece a few days after Seminar!  Check it out her beautiful final piece on the Ottawa Valley Guild of Stitchery's Facebook Page.

 Natalie finished hers too!  Check it out here on her Facebook Page, "Sew By Hand".    She experimented with variations on the basketweave and the couching colors to darken the beehive up. 

 "Dandelion of a Thousand Wishes" workshop (2 days): 

 My wonderful group of students picked me dandelions while at lunch! 

 I've already sketched up ideas to submit for EAC 2018 Seminar in Prince Edward Island (crossing my fingers I get to go back!).  And, (though this will not surprise anyone here) I've already looked up plane tickets to St. John's just "to check it out" because the seminar next year looks like it is going to be wonderful!

EGA Sun Region: Red Sails in the Sunset Seminar 2016

This past weekend I had the amazing opportunity to teach at the EGA Sun Region "Red Sails in the Sunset" Seminar.  I really enjoyed meeting and stitching with some pretty wonderful stitchers!  The closing speaker was Gwen Nelson (former President of the EGA) who presented a showcase of some of the pieces from the EGA collection.  It was my first experience teaching for the EGA and I already am looking forward to the next!  Below are some images from the two workshops that I taught and the awesome students that I had in class with me.

Day 1:  Interpretations of Moss workshop

The students were responding to a photograph of moss digitally printed on Kona cotton (from Spoonflower) and re-embroidering the patterns of the moss and lichen with creative metal and basic embroidery techniques.  Techniques included (but I did not limit them to):  long straight stitches, french knots (with cotton floss and with smooth purl), bullion knots, stem stitch, s-ing and chipping.  It was a lot of fun seeing which techniques they enjoyed and how different each student's moss and lichen became. 

 

Days 2 and 3:  Dandelion of a Thousand Wishes workshop
 Students learned creative metal techniques using my Dandelion design.  The techniques they learned included:  a variation of burden stitch, couching, silk wrapped purl, stretched pearl purl, cutwork, cutwork over string padding and chipping.  It was a very non-traditional approach to goldwork and the students seemed to really enjoy themselves (it was a super group!).  I've included a few photos here of some of the student's in progress work.  It was so different seeing how shiny their dandelions were using the new metal threads (I had used tarnished and old bits for mine).  It was also great fun seeing how they clipped and pinned back the dandelion fringed pieces as their pieces blossomed!

2016: An Exciting Year to Look Forward To

As my brain catches up to the fact that it is now well into 2016, I thought it would be great to share with you some exciting events that I will be participating throughout this year.

I'll Be Teaching and Lecturing At:

April 28- May 1:  EGA Sun Region "Red Sails in the Sunset" Seminar  
 in St. Petersburg, Florida

Interpreting Moss with Creative Goldwork Embroidery Bowtie (1 day workshop on April 29)
Dandelion of a Thousand Wishes (2 day workshop on April 30- May 1)

May 17- 22:  EAC Inspiring Threads at Humber College, Toronto, Ontario

Beehave Goldwork Sampler (2 day workshop on May 18-19)

Dandelion of a Thousand Wishes (2 dayworkshop on May 21-22)

Historic Foundations for Contemporary Embroidery lecture


August 28- September 3:  Penland School of Crafts in Penland, North Carolina

 Embroidering Impressions of Nature (week long workshop)

 September 20:  SAGA National "Anchored in SAGA" Convention in Hampton, Virginia

Haystacks of Giverny (1 day workshop)
Evolution of Consuelo lecture about my Consuelo: Glitter of a Dollar Duchess gown 

November 2- 6: EGA National "Star Spangled" Seminar in Alexandria, Virginia

Beehive Goldwork Sampler (2 day workshop on Thursday and Friday)

Gregg Floral (2 day workshop on Saturday and Sunday)

Exploring Color Interactions Illuminated in Goldwork Embroidery lecture

Other Exciting Events:

October 19-23, 2016:  Textile Society of America "Crosscurrents: Land, Labor and the Port" Biennial Symposium in Savannah, Georgia
I will be presenting a research poster about my Exploring Color Interactions Illuminated in Goldwork Embroidery project.