The third and final day of Sew Fun was a beehive of stitching activity all day long.
Everyone working hard on day three.
There were several interesting impromptu moments. A couple of years ago, I made a quilt called Dance Party at Tamara’s House. I named the quilt after a super fun evening dancing in Tamara’s unfinished cabin. Her friends pooled their money and bought the quilt for Tamara. It traveled in several shows until I finally brought it out to McCarthy for Tamara to hang in her newly finished cabin.
Dance Party at Tamara’s House with Tamara holding it.
Because the Old Hardware Store is located in downtown McCarthy–a very popular travel destination in the Wrangell St. Elias National Park, we frequently have tourists stop by. At one point a very traditional quilter peaked in to see what we were doing. If I had to describe her reaction to our activities, I would have to say that she was appalled. Fabric was flying, stitchers were cutting without rulers, no one was using a pattern–it was as if a fundamentalist christian had stepped into a witches’ coven. It was an interesting moment for me. I felt a bit chastised, but at the same time, I knew that what I was doing was helping to unleash insane amounts of creativity into the world, and that is always a good thing.
Here are some non-quilting tourists who seemed to like what we were doing.
Dinner outside in the July sunshine is always a gift.
The salads all week long were made of tasty vegetables from the Wrangell Mountains Center’s garden.
Green shirted stitchers having fun ironing. Ironing is fun!
Even when I am teaching children, I think it is very important to have a moment at the end where you share your work. It is great fun to see each others work and it is good for all of us to stand up in front of others and say “Hey, I made this!” My friend Jonny Gray calls this The Big TaDa. I hope you enjoy seeing what all these creators made in just three short days.
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- Lara used old quilts from her great grandmother had made to create this beautiful piece.
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- This wild apron is for work–look for it at The Potato.
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- She also made this dainty apron.
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- Christine made curtains.
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- Tamara made this adorable pillow for her niece. She learned how to free form piece and do fusible applique.
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- Curtains for Grandma’s cabin.
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- Andrea also made pajama bottoms. I think we might have to take these in a bit.
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- Beth made many oven mitts.
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- Beth made a tote for her quilt.
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- Beth’s baby quilt–full of great color.
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- Nancy worked hard to piece all of this into a quilt.
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- Cobi’s lovely landscape.
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- Petra’s oven mitt.
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- Petra went on a mending frenzy. Here is her new tricked out pants.
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- Mark’s Masterpiece. I love the work Mark did during the workshop.
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- Here is a close up of Mark’s quilt.
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- When ever Andrea needed me, but I was busy she made little art patches. They made a great surface design for tote.
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- Michele joined us on the last day. This is the beginning of her first quilt.
And finally, I must say that we had a tasty cocktail every night after dinner.
Beth says CHEERS!
The next Sew Fun Workshop shop will most likely be scheduled for the third weekend of July 2014. I really hope you will think about joining me.
Walt Sr. would have loved the plaid quilt as I do. Love it when a man is confident (and smart) enough to stitch.
You are right. Walt Sr. would have loved a quilt made of tartans. Mark is weaver, felter, and now a quilter. He is pretty amazing.
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