A Most Excellent CQ Adventure

Irene's badge captures the spirit of beauty and individual creativity on display in Connecticut last week at the Adventure in Crazy Quilting.
I've been home for a day and have caught up on my sleep, processed my photos, and most importantly, spent several hours in my sewing room yesterday. That is the best way I know of to "ground" myself after a long and stimulating trip.

Maureen Greeson did the most fanatastic job conceiving, organizing, and manifesting this conference. Susan Elliott was our Mistress of Ceremonies throughout the 3 Days and her exuberance was contagious. Here Susan is presenting Maureen with some thank-you flowers on the last night of the Adventure.

I loved meeting so many of my online friends, and seeing some other dear ones whom I've met in the past. There were new characters too...
It was a privilege to be a teacher along with Sharon Boggon and Betty Pillsbury and I loved every minute of my classes. Thank you to all my very great students!

I did get to M&S Schmalberg in the Garment District of NYC. I didn't take a single photo there, unfortunately! But later one of our group snapped this picture of me and the Tailor, I think on 7th Avenue.


I love the homage this statue makes to a vanished way of life.

I also had the great opportunity to be a student myself, taking Sharon B's three day class after the Adventure was over. I learned ALOT.

Sharon has taught art for many years at the university level, and indeed majored in painting when she was in school. She brings enormous skills, therefore, as a teacher of design to crazy quilting. Her decades long experience learning, documenting, and practicing stitches is the other deep strength she brought to our class....not to mention her famous quilts and 75-foot long band sampler for us to refer to and enjoy.

My favorite part of her whole 3 days was the period she spent analyzing blocks students had brought to class to discuss their design possibilities. It was amazing to see how her knowledgeable eye zoomed immediately to the crux of the matter on each block. This was an experience for me, as student and teacher, that I will long remember.
Sharon, you absolutely rock.

I grouped the various techniques Sharon taught us in one corner of the block I brought.
But it wasn't just technique she stressed: her main themes were these: firstly, that more than anything else, contrast is necessary in a crazy quilt block to capture the eye and "pull it in". Secondly, if you understand the structure of a stitch, then you will be free to vary it in unlimited ways.

A very interesting sidelight....the trouble I had with certain stitches led Sharon to observe that she thought I perceive things upside down, or backwards. As an art teacher she has seen this many times before. She suggested I look in a mirror when attempting a new technique to see if things made more sense to me. I am going to try this!

It was a truly wonderful experience on so many levels. Deepest thanks to Maureen Greeson for putting on this Adventure...I hope she will do it again!