My classes at the Asociación Española de Patchwork festival are complete. The Spanish quiltmakers are delightful and I had a wonderful time! Thank you to all who made my visit possible.
One thing I discovered during this trip is that the love of hand embroidery translates easily across languages and borders. We all love color and pattern and texture. It’s an artform for all!
One of the mysteries of travel is how to pack a suitcase. For me, there are three big concerns: weight, keeping things dry, and packing so nothing breaks while en route. My lightweight cloth suitcase with wheels is my go-to companion on trips. And having seen my luggage sitting on the tarmac in a heavy rainstorm, I know that everything in my suitcase must be in a plastic bag.
And then there is breakage. In the past my hand-dyed threads were displayed in plastic trays at a venue. And often I returned with the plastic trays cracked or broken by the airline baggage system. But finally I came up with a soft, lightweight, non-breakable solution- fabric trays.
One of the things I like to do for my students is provide a kit of fabrics and threads for workshops. This way they don’t have to schlep a cart full of items to class. I become the schlepper. Above is the kit for the Improvisational Hand Embroidery on Wool class I’m teaching for the Asociación Española de Patchwork in March.
Students will have a selection of wool fabrics, a booklet of embroidery stitches, needles, an array of my hand-dyed threads, and a cute little needle hold created by moi. Ok. It’s true I don’t speak French or Spanish. But I know enough not to order liver and onions in a restaurant. And I know how to schlep.