On October 31st I took a leap of faith and landed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, soon to be on my way to Cedarburg and the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts and Fiber Arts. I was met at the airport by Devyn McIlraith, the educational director at the museum. She and I had corresponded for probably three years now—and the long-scheduled workshop was going to happen.
The leap-of-faith had to do with the gathering of a group of strangers from many directions, spending five full days together indoors, in the arduous task of fabric collage—could we keep ourselves and each other safe, healthy, and sane? We did. And a fine week it was with plenty of pent-up creativity to go around—including the scuba-diver (photo above) by Lorna Millen.
That’s Devyn and I below. Devyn shuttled me to and from my Airbnb and the museum each day. Over the phone she has one of the sweetest voices you can imagine, in person she’s all smiles and quite easy to get along with, so no surprise there. One day before class she showed me how to take video selfies and then capture still photos from the videos. So we played around a bit, modeling power-poses and our super-capes.
This was my third trip to the Wisconsin Quilt Museum. The first in 2015 was to visit the “From Insects to Elephants” quilt exhibit, where both my pink rhino and crocodile quilts were hanging—the first exhibit ever for “Crocodylus Smylus.” My second trip to Cedarburg was in 2017 to teach a couple classes. Things haven’t changed much in six years. However this year I picked up a little croc buddy, pictured below, in the post-Halloween mark-down display at the local Pick-n-Pay. “Hector,” had a big smile upon leaving the supermarket and getting into the fresh air and sunshine. 😉
The museum has a nice big classroom (doors open ground-level in photo above), and a second room where I could give my morning talks and demos (below). I knew from the past visits that I could position chairs and tables with plenty of space between students, and the museum’s current policy is for everyone to mask when indoors. But for extra Covid safety, I also asked that everyone be fully vaccinated, play it safe for a couple weeks before class, and that we all test negative both three days and one day prior to class. I knew it was a lot to ask, and it did exclude a few people, but figuring out how to teach during a pandemic is a new thing. At this point in time, it worked.
Student Work Slideshow
What a great group to spend the week with. They worked nonstop, only pausing when Devyn delivered our lunches (thanks, Devyn!). Many were newbies to fabric collage—only two had been in prior classes of mine, and only two reached the point of tears—not an uncommon occurrence in a class. Five days is a long time for the amount of concentration fabric collage takes. You did superb, ladies—I’m so very proud of all of you. I look forward to seeing your work, or maybe even you, again.
Classroom photos (click on each to see larger): left to right above—Kate Braus, LaRinda Wilson, and Nancy Bitterling. Below—Dawn Lighthall, Lynn Kuehn, Julie, and Jane Benik
Left to right above—Karen Steinle, and Hector. Below, back row—Jackie Zydeck, Lorna Millen; and in front, Pat Trapp.
On the Road Teaching posts wouldn’t be complete without some armchair travel photos for you, my readers, to peruse (time for another cuppa?). I didn’t have my own transportation, so if it wasn’t walkable from my little main street apartment, and it wasn’t daylight, I didn’t get out—except for Halloween night. But there were a few strolls around downtown Cedarburg, especially along the Cedar Creek path, just around the corner from where I was staying.
Cedarburg, Wisconsin Sights Slideshow
One afternoon I was joined on a walk by one of my students, Jackie (photo above left), who I know from two past classes and met through a mutual friend. And another day it was my friends Nancy and Joe (photo above right), who I was spending the three days between teaching locations with. We all enjoyed being Cedarburg tourists the day they picked me and my luggage up for the next week’s class. On both days, the metal walking bridge over the creek seemed to be a good place for photos.
I arrived in Cedarburg on Halloween afternoon. After unloading and setting up class materials at the museum, Devyn dropped me off at my lodging. While walking around town and enjoying the remaining sunlight, I realized the pumpkins and decorations adorning the main street were set up for an evening Pumpkin Walk. I could hear and see families with dressed up kids and canines beginning around 6pm, and by 7pm I was out to experience the event as well.
Halloween in Cedarburg, October 31, 2021
Before playing tourist the day after class ended, I was back at the museum with my friends to pick up my suitcase of class materials—but our ulterior motive was to see the current exhibit at the museum, Victoria Findlay Wolfe’s “Now & Then, Playing With Purpose.” I had been at the museum all week without any spare moment to check out the exhibit, so it was fun seeing it with Nancy and Joe. Very impressive and inspirational.
Victoria is well known for taking traditional quilt blocks and reimagining them into something quite unexpected and unique (see Double Wedding Ring quilt detail below left—click to enlarge). I’ve heard Victoria speak a couple times and loved how she talked of her grandmother and the double-knit polyester quilts she would make (see both in photos below). These are just two of my favorite examples from this exhibit. If you’d like to see the exhibit yourself, don’t wait too long, it’ll be closing soon on December 5th.
And finally, parting shots of Cedar Creek as we’re ready to hit the road with our three cups of java, and Hector, along for the ride. See you next week with another On the Road post, covering my second week in Wisconsin at Woodland Ridge Retreat.
