Shakerag

I've done it now!  

I am going to Shakerag next June to spend 

a week with the inimitable Nancy Crow. 

This idyllic area is only a little more than an hour's drive from my home.  

So why not, I say.  Feed the soul, feed the creative forces within,
not to mention the exquisitely prepared
home grown, organic delights to feed the stomach.

I can't say when I've been more excited, except for week that I spent in the
presence of Ms. Ruth McDowell a few years ago.  

I must admit, that I was somewhat terrified after I signed up for the workshop with Ruth, so I spent months making samples and learning her techniques from her books
before I left for the workshop.  

I wanted to be prepared, you see.  

What began in this workshop was another bloom

I came home so full of self confidence that
I beat my all time recorded for completing a quilt.

This type of design and structure is my passion.   It is my own original design from start to finish with encouragement and assistance from Ruth in beginning a pattern. Rather than telling me what and how, she quietly guided me in the direction that I wanted to go and gave me more self confidence in myself that anyone had previously done.

So, now, I find myself yearning to broaden my field a bit.  I've never been comfortable working with solids and geometrics, other than coping other quilts.
Or making simple pillow tops.

I want to do grand abstract art quilts and simplifying does not come easily to me on that scale.  I am eager to learn and next June seems so far away.  But then Mama always said, the older you get the faster time flies.  And I've got lots of hand dyeing to do and lots of practice to do before next June.
I better start shaking