2018 Maine Retreat Dates (And Other Things I Did on My Summer Vacation)

It’s Labor Day weekend and even though we officially have 3 more weeks of summer to come, it feels like it’s time to wrap up the summer months and re-set for the upcoming fall— at least for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere.

I narrowed this post down to a few things that I’ve been working on and can check off my “to do” list: nailing down my 2018 Maine Quilt retreat schedule; the status of an on-line class; answering other FAQ’s; a couple feed-back requests for you, my readers; and—what I’m sure is foremost in your mind—how did my summer plans from an earlier summer post turn out?

2018 Maine Quilt Retreats

First things first, we’ll take care of the most immediate FAQ: “When will you be posting your 2018 Maine Quilt Retreat dates?” Here you go:

1. April 9-13: Five days at the Old Port Hyatt in Portland, Maine, All Levels, Price $925

2. June 5-8: Four days at the Harpswell Inn in Harpswell, Maine, All Levels, Price $740

3. October 2-5: Four days at the Harpswell Inn in Harpswell, Maine, All Levels, $740

4. October 15-19: Five days at the Old Port Hyatt in Portland, Maine, Advanced Students Only, $925

5. October 22-26: Five days at the Old Port Hyatt in Portland, Maine, All Levels, $925

I promised advance notice before opening these retreats for enrollment, so sign-up will begin on Saturday, October 7, 2017—9am Eastern time. I’ll be updating as we get closer.

Retreat Descriptions

All Levels: I start each morning with about an hour-long demonstration that will lay out the basics of each step in the fabric collage process, giving you the information you need to start each work day. I will then visit each student in turn to address individual needs and her or his project’s unique challenges. If you haven’t taken a class with me before or would like to have the daily morning demos as refreshers, this class is for you, though any level may sign up.

Cancellation Policy. A non-refundable deposit of $100 will be required upon sign-up. Payment in full is required 4 months before date of class. Refund policy will be described in a follow-up post.

Online Class

A frequent comment comes from those who a trip to Maine is not in the future: “I can’t wait until you offer an on-line class.” Here’s the status of such a class:

All along, Tom (my indispensable co-writer and co-conspirator) and I have felt that we’ve been writing an outline for an on-line class within many of these posts from the very beginning. Almost all the How-To posts deal with one aspect or another of the fabric collage process as I teach it.

With last week’s post Hang it Up: Making Your Art Quilt Art, most of the holes were filled in for an on-line class outline. Which means, essentially, there’s a class hidden within almost two years of posts.

Beginning next week, Tom, a book designer by trade, will start compiling those posts first into a reference list, then into re-formatted and printable pages that can be followed step-by-step in the creation of your own fabric collage quilt. This begins in September, when Tom’s skills as a Maine kayak guide are not as in-demand as they have been this summer. His goal is have something to offer by early October.

There will be a fee for this, probably offered in different levels, topping with a private Facebook group for an on-line classroom atmosphere and feed-back from me. We still have to figure out how that will all work out. Stay tuned.

Other FAQ’s

• How do you make the eyes look realistic? Top down from the bottom up. I describe the technique for making eyes and other features here: “Eye for an Eye.”
• What qualifications are needed to attend (a retreat)? A pulse. (Sorry, that was Tom’s attempt at humor.) There are no prerequisites to attend a class. I have novices in each and every class I teach (aside from the Advanced Students Only class above). You and your fabric stash will be welcome.
  
• How do you decide what subject to use? Go with your gut. I pay attention to what I’m drawn to instinctively. If you care about it, if you’ve been mulling it over in your head for a few years, a project comes together easier. Then again, it could be a flash of inspiration. If you have a choice to make, sometimes it’s as simple as what’s your best photo to work from? And I wrote a blog on just that subject, “From Photo to Fabric: Choose the Best Shot.”
  
• Is that a standard craft tacky glue you are using? It is indeed. I prefer Aileene’s Tacky Glue (original formula), just because. No, actually, I talk about the how tos and why fors of glue here: “Why Glue?”
• How do you choose fabrics that will work for your subject? You may have noticed a theme here of directing you to existing blog posts for the answers. Here’s a blog post that will help to answer this one: “Choosing Fabric for Fabric Collage.”
• Do you ever have problems with the glue gumming up your needle? No. I’ll direct you to “Why Glue?” again. I use a light smear of glue, just enough to hold things in place. It doesn’t take much and dries quickly and completely (not “tacky”).
• I don’t get the applique style that you used in the 80’s. The sheer was put over the raw edges applique pieces? The sheer (tulle) was placed over the entire piece, basted, then quilted. Check out the post here: “To Tulle or Not to Tulle.”
• May I please share this Facebook post with my quilting group? Of course. That’s what Facebook is all about. The more people my posts reach the better. If you choose to share it on another platform, just be sure that my name stays attached to the post. Also, you should know that I have a private Facebook page for Patreon subscribers of $20 per month or more. On that page students can post their in-progress work for me (and others) to give feedback.

Speaking of feedback…

Feedback and Submission Requests

Time for (optional) homework. Feel free respond to any or all of the questions below in the comments section. Thank you!

1.) Are there any areas of the fabric collage process that you feel I have not covered, or not to the extent or detail that you would like to see?

2.) Living in a “vacation destination” state is lovely, and perfect for setting up my Maine retreats, but there’s plenty of other lovely locations in this world of ours. Any ideas for other Destination Quilt Retreats? Accessibility, workspace, lodging and food all need to be taken into consideration—but have some fun with this.

3.) Eventually another “Finish Line” blog post will get back on the schedule. If you’ve been busy with fabric collage, as a past student of mine, working from a book, or merely just inspired by my work, please send photo(s) of finished work, your name, any associated story, and permission for me to post to this link: Contact Form.

What I (actually) Did on My Summer Vacation

In a mid-July post I anticipated my two month gap between teaching venues. As I’m sure it’s no surprise to you, it went by pretty darn fast. So here’s a rundown:

Family

Here in Maine we had around 60% sun coverage during the solar eclipse on August 21st—and we made the best of it. My sister ordered safety goggles and our small gathering proceeded to look a bit odd, but awed, by the solar crescent. All except my mom, who asked what the big deal was. Our son Sam (now sharing an apartment with friends) arrived with his girlfriend, and our niece Maia brought her boyfriend. A nice little multi-generational moment in time.

Walks

Our usual morning walk to Lookout Point (above) at the end of our road. Not much to look out at on a foggy summer morning. When we have more time, Harpswell has a few trails to explore. A favorite is the Cliff Trail (below). A fun aspect of that trail is the fairy house construction zone—you never know what you’ll see from those little folks.

This time there was additional embellishment on an abandoned woodpecker hole—two poems penned onto the bare wood:

Out beyond ideas of wrong doing and right doing

there is a field. I’ll meet you there.

 

When the soul lies down in the grass,

the world is too full to talk about.

Ideas, language, even the phrase “each other”

doesn’t make any sense.  —Rumi

 

As the crickets’ soft autumn hum

is to us

so are we to the trees

as are they

to the rocks and hills.  —Gary Snyder

Pets

Summer moments with our fur-babies: Djinni, Felix, and Kali.

The solution to “what to do with the not-so-feral-anymore cat” question was to lure him with food to my folks’ house next door. “Cookie” (below) adapted quickly and no longer taunts our pets, as he’s enjoying his new home with my parents.  More and more, day-by-day, he lets himself be patted, held, play with cat toys, nuzzles with my dad, and lounges on their living room floor.

Meanwhile, my niece found an abandoned baby squirrel at her workplace. Of course she brought the bald and blind being home and she and my sister became adoptive parents. “Rudy” has proven himself to be a red squirrel who will soon be gradually released into the wild.

I had my turns as a squirrel aunt, first feeding with a dropper and now pretending to be a human tree as this adorable rodent skitters up and around me at an amazing speed. This past week my mom and I were in charge of feeding time (below)—my mom on one side of the window and me on the enclosed squirrel porch side. Nothing like seeing a squirrel launch at your head.

Gardening

Tom’s salsa garden has been successful with a couple large batches so far. We consider his salsa a complete dinner when combined with tortilla chips.

So far twenty two monarchs—out of the 81 (!) caterpillars I found and am raising— have made it to maturity and flown away on their journeys. It’s become a bit of a summer volunteer job to refresh the milkweed every day. The two below left are little girls, and the one lower right is a boy—note spots along the lines of his lower wing—no spots on the females.

Kayaking

We didn’t make it on an overnight kayak camping adventure as we did last year, but Tom, Sam, and I got in a day trip to Eagle Island, the summertime home of Arctic explorer Admiral Robert Perry. It was a perfect day for the 2-mile paddle to get out there.

Eagle Island slide show:

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Tom found himself on the water quite a bit as we had some beautiful weather this summer for kayak tours—and Tom’s a Maine kayak guide.

Tom’s kayaking slide show:

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Reading

My summer reading list included six Stephanie Plum mystery novels by Janet Evanovitch, a “re-read” of Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird as an audio book, and Being Mortal by Atul Gawande (highly recommended for aging issues).

The Business of Art

An afternoon at our Maine Quilt Show in July was more pleasure than business as I met up with a teacher friend I hadn’t seen for awhile. Philippa Naylor traveled from England to teach at the show, and I thoroughly enjoyed going out to dinner with her.  She’s an amazing quilt artist, funny, and seems to be perfect in just about every way. I still like her though. Below, Philippa is pictured with her quilt, Bird by Bird. Yes, named for the book that I’m so fond of too.

I also had a reunion with my Farmer’s Market Series of quilts which are hanging in the cafeteria seating area at Pineland Farms. It’s only about 45 minutes away, but I haven’t seen them in years.

Unfortunately, my new quilt idea has not “materialized” yet—the business of art took front row with the goal of making headway toward an on-line class offering (as discussed earlier in this post). But Djinni cat expresses her pleasure at whatever I may be working on.

I’ll bring this post to a close with an interview by my friend, Lisa Redfern. Lisa is a singer songwriter who lives here in Harpswell and produces a series called Gingersnap: A Conversation and a Cookie with a Creative Mainer. She gives everyone the same questions and then films the interviews unrehearsed and unedited. Her easygoing personality makes it all ok. And we eat cookies!

Lisa has also stepped in as an assistant for my business in general and specifically my inadequacies in negotiating social media—so if you follow me on Facebook, you may have her to thank. Here’s Lisa’s Music Facebook page. You can click on the photo below for a direct link to my interview, or through my Facebook Artist page. Thank you, Lisa! And let’s not forget the link for the cookie recipe.