Thursday 14 October 2010

Vestlandstreff, Day 3

While I taught my students to make oval trees, mine are round and thus appropriately named “Pumpkin trees”, created to show different ways to quilt trees.
Sunday was the big yarn day with 4 drop in classes where the students learned how to build a flower quilt like “Luscious pinks” and “Bluebells & Whistles” and yards and yards of glorious yarn were floating around in the room (and floor).

50-60 minutes sound like plenty of time, but it’s really not when you’re having fun. The classes were over and done almost before they started and newborn yarn-obsessed quilters were sent out into the world, probably heading for the remnant bins of their local yarn shop first thing Monday morning. They all enjoyed just playing with colour and texture without any kind of pattern or rules, just simple techniques. I also got my first experience teaching with an interpreter doing sign language which made me want to learn more than the basic stuff we all use like thumbs up, showing and pointing at things. It’s amazing how much you can communicate through simple gestures and facial expressions though; it takes more that not knowing the language to stop me from talking, you know.

We had to rush a bit through the last class to make it to the closing ceremony, but everyone left with their projects properly pinned and ready for quilting at home. A part of the closing ceremony is Show & Tell from all the classes, but most of the participants leave before this. Fortunately a few of my students were there and a friend took pictures.
Then there was not much left to do that getting back to the classroom, clean up the mess (read stuffing everything into the suitcase) and get back into the car for the drive home. I caught up with some of my friends at the ferry and the ride was perfect, no unruly water in sight.
Another great day!!

2 comments:

  1. I actually trained to be a sign language interpreter while I was going to college. It was so much fun, but my wrist tendons were so inflamed I had to quit. Your yarn flowers are fantastic, and I'm off to go raid my sister in law's yarn scraps for some good little bits!

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  2. Pumpkin flowers, pomegranite flowers, grape flowers, they are wonderful and full of color. An hour for a workshop, almost not enough time to get started. Glad everything worked out so successfully. xox Corrine

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