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Breezes... moving through the Seasons, Bethany Garner (above)
IMPROVISATION... making do... Time to escape for a weekend and be with friends old and new... just making "STUFF"
Using what you have and committing to keeping the faith when it comes to your own work. Come enjoy this THREE DAY WEEKEND devoted to creating, making and perhaps finishing. Whether you have projects on the go, deadlines to meet or just need some time away from the house - this weekend will get you some free time with friends and see what is happening in the outside world.
Using what you have and committing to keeping the faith when it comes to your own work. Come enjoy this THREE DAY WEEKEND devoted to creating, making and perhaps finishing. Whether you have projects on the go, deadlines to meet or just need some time away from the house - this weekend will get you some free time with friends and see what is happening in the outside world.
The
plan is to share three relaxing days with NO Patterns, NO deadlines and
NO stress about what is good enough or if all the points meet... and
yes, it would not be a weekend with Bethany Garner unless we colour
cloth - so there will be a painting day on Sunday. You know how much I
treasure time to colour my white cloth and create a palette that will
carry me through until I have another opportunity! This time it will be
paint... not dye. And smaller pieces, but LOTS of them
We
will meet at 9:30 am each day and I will stay as long as you want to
stay - so for those of you who can't come in the morning - join in
during the day when it is convenient and stay late! LATE is when it will
quiet down and you will have the personal space to do YOUR thing....
So here is the break down:
Day One: FRIDAY November 13th
(don't worry its a GOOD DAY)....
'QUILTS IN THE CIRCULAR REALM'
NO PATTERNS - JUST PLAY ....
Whether
you love to create circles through laying circles as applique on top of
a pieced background (shown in the quilt show above), or fuse the
circles to a base of pre-cut squares and cut through them, adding some
great accent fabrics as you piece them back together (below) to enhance
your design, this is a play day you will enjoy from start to finish.
And
the design is YOURS to enjoy from start to finish...these samples are
just for inspiration and for getting your thoughts around a day of play!
Students
will begin the day with some graph paper and a ruler and pencil - just
about an hour to get some ideas down on paper. There will be a large
supply of circle templates in the room for you to copy onto cardboard or
plastic and cut for your circles. Or FREE HAND CUT THEM... remembering
that your design can use a favourite palette from a very traditional
stash or go to super contemporary with just the click of the scissor
blades and the fabrics YOU choose. This is intended as a STASH BUSTER
workshop day.... so go searching through the closets and see what works
for you.
Circles
created with bleach gel (below) on small hand dyed squares and added to
a pieced background sample shared here created by JUDE HILL of Spirit Cloth Blog...a great project for using up some of those hand dyed bits and YOU can do it here in the classroom.
(use a circular sponge to lay on beach gel, and in just minutes, you
have your circles!) Hand piecing used in this sample... the only way
JUDE works... and you can too! NO PATTERNS - YOUR RULES! Just play and have some fun as you create your new work.
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YOUR circles might be abstracted and free cut using scissors or a rotary
cutter and pieced by machine... curved piecing is another way to add
the illusion of circles to an art quilt... and make a real statement
(notice the pieced background fabric in the block third from left in top
row, and scattered throughout the design for extra impact). USE IT UP,
MAKE IT DO... MAKE IT OUR OWN!
The quilt to the left is by SAQA Artist Heather Pregger and certainly inspires me. IMPROV... at its best.
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INSPIRATION: Berries (shown above) is by our friend and recent Fibreworks Kingston Guest Instructor, Penny Berens
- (she stitched this one entirely by hand, and this sample is
BEAUTIFUL). An example of SLOW CLOTH that does not happen in a day.
Come spend this day developing your plan, choose the background and
threads from your stash and get started on a fall project that can carry
through to a great exhibition or collection piece. MAKE IT YOUR OWN... piece a background, applique the base circles and enhance them with your own beautiful hand stitching.
Class room opens at 9 am and I will stay late so you can get a great start on your project... BRING BROWN BAG LUNCH
and all the supplies you need to create your special and unique wall
quilt - or start a bed quilt project, with sample blocks created in
class!
Class Fee - $50 for one day or all three INPROV Workshop days for $120.
Registration Form on the right sidebar here at the blog... (click on IMPROV- Under The Influence and mail your registration. Seats reserved with payment in full.)
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Day Two: SATURDAY, November 14, 2015
'IMPROV... Under the Influence'
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The photo here is of my MARIPOSA... machine pieced and quilted created for the Kingston Fibre Artist's show recently in Almonte, ON (and yes, the photo is crooked - your eyes are not fooling you).
NO PATTERNS NEEDED -
bring your sewing machine (or stitch by hand) and a big box or bag of
the scrap (or new, yet to be used) fabrics that have been haunting you,
cluttering your closets or sitting in the pile - the pieces that you
painted or dyed or bought on a whim and WANT so much to use up and turn
into a new quilt, art piece or a gift for someone special. This is a day
to learn a bit more about how I start and work through many of my
pieces... with a focus on creating new CLOTH that can be worked into
your quilt projects.
The little piece below was completed in a day... and sold at a Limestone
Quilt Guild Auction. Totally free form piecing using up some scraps and
playing with colour and light...Happiness is a finished quilt and a
satisfied collector.
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You
will have the opportunity to add "foundation" piecing to your inventory
of skills - and I don't mean the "paper" kind. I stitch my work to
muslin or if working by hand, I use a fine, supple cloth like harem
cloth or a fine interfacing. Something that allows for pulling bits of
fabric together, but keeps the base soft for hand or machine stitch. All
you need is a base fabric, scraps, scissors or rotary equipment, and a
machine or needle and thread to start the journey. This piece was
completed and framed over two days. (in this workshop weekend, you can
devote to days and have your own table to work through the project and
get it DONE and framed if you like.)
MARIPOSA
above was pieced from scraps of my flat dyed fabrics and I had no idea
when I began the piecing how it would proceed, but just STARTED.... It
is amazing to see the work grow on a design all, and even more
satisfying to take it to the finishing stages with quilting and binding
or mounting over a canvas.
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DAY THREE - SUNDAY November 15th
SLOW STITCH... and a bit more
Spend a relaxing day with fibre and threads
creating some small works of art that make you HAPPY !!
I'm working on some new pieces, continuing with themes begun for an exhibition this past year. The colours are becoming more muted - the seasons of autumn and winter dictates this - my local sources of colour are limited by this part of the growing year. I am enjoying the way the bits and pieces of fabrics I want to stitch into are evolving into quiet and soulful colour families. I love stitching into my own hand dyed wool.....
Working
with needle and thread brings joy and peace in a life that has
experienced turmoil, injuries and is moving forward at a slower pace.
Making time to sit and stitch is a goal and a joy! Hoping you will come
out this weekend and share that special passion - and do some stitching
yourself!
There
simply is nothing better than sharing design time with good
friends...... and so I hope you will join me for a day to continue work
on the projects from the previous two days at Odessa or just come and
plan the stitches you will add to your finished work... you will be
among friends with common skills and we can all learn from each other as
the day progresses!
Look
for inspiration for your stitch everywhere... and collect old family
photos, magazines with photos which inspire you with their colour and
stitch opportunities (like the lichen covered stone shown here...) or
just sit and design using paper and pencil before you start.
Pull
together a collection of small bits - handkerchiefs, buttons, lace and
especially fabrics and threads that you would love to include in some
small pieces of collage work while at the SLOW STITCH workshop today.
I
enjoy creating my own coloured threads (which we can dye today in the
lovely space available at Odessa). There are not many options in our
area for purchasing variegated pearl cottons and floss skeins for slow
stitch work... so I make my own. You can too!
I
also enjoy using paints and Dyna Flo colour to add some accents to
fabrics I want to stitch... and will have a nice selection of colours in
Dyna Flo at the workshop for you to try. You can colour your collected
bits of silk or voile, laces and yes, fine cottons - pre-washed and
ready to apply some colour to (and ahead plan to bring table cover, and a
few brushes and paper towels to clean up your area).
I
crave the muted shades that approaching winter will bring and love the
piece below made by Mary Cope of Paris, Ontario... and that has been
traveling with THREADWORKS 2013 - WATER Exhibition.
As fall progresses, there are many challenges to address for 2016 - including the THREADWORKS Exhibition with the theme "FLASHBACK"
with a January - March 1, 2016 Open Entry deadline... so this weekend
workshop could be a great time to get a start on painting or stitching
some new fabrics for my entry - AND YOURS!
The
day will pass quickly, so plan to join in on the fun... start filling a
box now with the fabrics and threads you will use - perhaps a hoop or
frame and some thumb tacks 's get started right away at 9:30 am... ART
AWAITS.
The 'SLOW STITCH' workshop day is $50, or combine with the other two 'IMPROV - Under the Influence' days and pay only $120 for all three.Registration form is on the right side bar at the FIBREWORKS Blog
Hope you will join me and bring a friend or two!
Bethany
Contact Bethany for more details or a copy of the pdf Registration Form :
garner@kingston.net or 613-376-6150
