Susan Carlson Fabric Collage Dispatch: Buon Giorno from Italy!

Salute! This past week I was in Citta della Pieve, Italy, a charming town about halfway between Rome and Florence, where I taught a fabric collage class for Strada Toscana. Accompanying me is my sister, Heidi, for this week and a couple more as we travel north to visit relatives in Germany.

We arrived to Italy a couple days before class began and were able to wander a bit, soaking up the culture of this small medieval city and the surrounding area. For the next couple very full weeks, I’ll be sharing a few photos and short captions that take you along with my students, Heidi, and myself in our travels and fabric collage in Italy.

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DISPATCH:
A message or report sent in haste, like a journalist’s report from a distant location.

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A week with Strada Toscana is a well-rounded experience that combines time in the classroom with planned field trips and activities: experiencing the harvesting of the fall-blooming crocuses that yield saffron spice, and also create a luscious yellow fabric dye as a classroom activity, pasta making (and eating), and tours of local museums and churches to learn about the history of renaissance art.

Another Dispatch comes your way next week, with more pictures of our activities both inside and outside the classroom. A future post will introduce you to my students and feature their inspired in-progress fabric collage work.

For today, enjoy this collection of photos from our first few days in Italy and in class—from our arrival, to our visit to Orvieto, to our exploration of Citta della Pieve, and the first half of our incredible saffron tour.

I will be returning to teach at this magical location next year in October of 2026. For more information about that trip or to register, please visit this link.

Arrival

Orvieto

Snapshots from Orvieto’s massive stone walls.

Out and about in Orvieto with our first cups of espresso in Italy and checking out  the pottery stores that Orvieto is famous for.

The impressive cathedral of Orvieto—with it’s wildly striped walls.

An Etruscan underground and pigeon holes in the depths of Orvieto.

Back to Citta della Pieve

 

Our first class dinner together.

Inside and outside of my classroom.

Class and Field Trip Teasers

Time to get started on our “Tuscan Sun” themed fabric collage.

The medieval garden part of our saffron field trip.

Come back next week as the adventure continues….