Great Workshop Day - Thanks Everyone

Last Thursday, June 25th, twenty-three amazing and wonderful friends converged at the Odessa Fairgrounds Hall for the PLAY DATE planned for painting and screen printing time together. The morning was spent getting screens ready and sharing some demos of basic screen printing on fabric. Everyone seemed very interested and excited about the possibilities! Some of the participants had never experienced any screen printing and were a bit confused about why anyone would want to "muck up" a screen with thickened dyes, and lay on bits of bubble wrap and torn plastic netting and then WAIT several days for all of it to dry before being able to print. After my printing demo with a dried screen I had brought along for sharing, the "strike-off" prints were an exciting "picture" of what happens when dyes applied to a screen, resists added including netting, bubble wrap and small bits of laid embellishments like string, buttons, pop can tabs and more can result in a wonderful "deconstructed" print with every pass of the squeegee. Several students got right to work painting and stamping and creating small pieces of fabric samples that can be beaded, machine and hand stitched and others tried sun printing with laid resist. The day was a bit windy and very hot, so results were mixed.

Sharing lunch is always the best part of any of the play days and the NETWORKING with old and new friends is a real treat. Many of us are just too busy to get together for stitching and just plain old FUN! This was an excellent opportunity to be laid back, enjoy each others company, pick up some new skills and just PLAY! The various treats and entrees that were prepared by friends were all delicious and a terrific mix of salads, sausage rolls, quiche, and so many wonderful desserts - thanks to each of the participants for their efforts and for the opportunity to sit down and visit for an hour and catch up on all of the summer's plans and activities.

Many of the stitchers were creating work that could be part of a new series, or experimenting with some colour play that will be included in a project specifically dedicated to summer work. Others brought their sewing machines and had a good day of stitching blocks, machine quilting playtime or finishing a UFO that has been languishing in the closet. That is what these play dates are all about! I loved watching the constant chatter and close friends making time for each other once again, renewing close ties and making plans for more summer gatherings.

I hope to share another play date this fall with a TRADITIONAL theme...plan to bring your quilt plans, fabric stash and let's work on creating a terrifc family quilt project (bed quilt, baby quilt, reproduction wall quilt, miniature or garment)...calm, easy stitching that will result in a family treasure to love. More to follow... stay tuned for details.

Again, thanks for a wonderful day. And to the students who came to the play day and then went on to class at St. Lawrence College with me for the evening - HUGE thanks for enduring a long day of creative play. Jenn, your help was very much appreciated....... Watch for more news about upcoming classes at St. Lawrence College in the next few days. AND I will be tring to keep the blog updated at least once a week this summer as a good place to check in for details about what is happening locally and across the Province. Have a great summer ladies!

NEWS FLASH:

Beth Abbott is teaching her SILK FUSION AND MORE course at Haliburton School for the Arts starting July 6-10th. With a class of at least 14 students, this will surely be an exciting week of fabric creation, colour play and more. Beth is an awesome Instructor and so organized in her presentations, this will be an excellent opportunity for her students to learn everything they want to know about working with silk - painting, dyeing, silk paper making and so much more. It is not too late to register, and you can call Haliburton's Registration office at 1-866-353-6464 to register. Have fun, Beth....

art with LOOSE THREADS, hosted by Catharina Breedyk-Law, Pat Lemaire and Wendo Van Essen this fall October 23-25th at the OPINICON HOTEL RESORT promises to be an outstanding weekend of techniques exploration including stamp construction, stamping, soluble stabilizing, free form knitting, tailoring techniques for quilters and needle felting plus so much more... Plan to spend three wonderful days exploring fibre arts and new skills with Cathy, Pat and Wendo and enjoy the wonderful Opinicon resort experience (amazing meals). Please visit Cathy's website for more information or visit her blog at www.catharinablog.blogspot.com