So it's getting to be that time again...the time when I start thinking of next year's quilt class/workshop/vacation. Every year I start the hunt for where do I want to go and what do I want to learn. In the beginning, it was so much easier....I never had been anywhere and I didn't know anything, so it was all new. I remember picking Paula Nadelstern for my first class, not because I actually thought I would learn to make quilts like she did (which I did not) but because I just wanted to see what kind of woman could make such amazing quilts. What did I learn? A persistent, smart one! A hard-working one! A woman who didn't mind spending hours designing her blocks just right. That was my first clue that although most great art quilters did have talent, even more, they had persistence and tenacity.
Now 25 years later, it's getting harder to find classes/workshops I want to go to. One reason is it's become that much harder to keep these types of events going. Between the economy and the plague, it has been hard on quilt conferences and retreats. Plus as the younger generation is coming up, they are much happier to take virtual classes (especially if they still have kids at home) It's a sad fact that the ladies that I've been taking classes with are aging out of traveling. Then there is the fact, that I'm getting to the point in my art where I just want to go and create. I'm not at a place to learn techniques but I would like to play more with design.
Quilting by the Lake, in central New York doesn't have it's schedule out yet. Quilt Surface and Design Symposium in Columbus, Ohio is down to a 2-week schedule. Arrowmonth and John C Campbell's are always limited in quilting selections. Maybe I'll have to do a deeper dive into the creative places I wrote about here and here, It seems just too much to travel to the west coast.
hmmmm...shrug.... I dunno. Maybe it's time for me to just try joining a retreat where quilters go and just work on their own stuff for 5 days. Or maybe its the change of seasons and I'm a little down.
Anybody got any suggestions on where I can get away next year and sew?
Hi Nina, I was like you and took every class I could and went to all the great symposiums I could. Now, nope.I want to play with my own hand dyes and my own designs. I’m enjoying doing a Florida show quilt and a couple guild challenge quilts. Using their prompts and my work. Liking this new attitude.
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