I’ve taught week-long classes at Woodland Ridge Retreat, just outside of Menomonie, Wisconsin, annually for years—but this year was the first two-week-long class at this great location, with only one group of students—which included Kiyomi Carter, photo above, with her amazing snow leopard fabric collage.
In last Saturday’s Part 1 blog post, I introduced you to Woodland Ridge Retreat and the first half of this 10 person class. Following below is the impressive work the remaining five women created in this 2-week class that I’m calling a Fabric Collage Immersion.
Ten days of class with two week-end days open in the middle for various activities is a new sort of class setup for me and my students. I plan to offer this sort of Immersion class once a year, at different locations—this year at Woodland Ridge Retreat in Wisconsin, was the second location—the first being last September 2025 in Bar Harbor, Maine. The location for 2027 will be Pacific Grove, California, at Asilomar Conference Grounds. Further notice and registration will come later this summer—for now, save the dates are, October 25 through November 5, 2027.
My updated teaching schedule was posted this past Thursday—and includes a 2027 return to Woodland Ridge for a week’s fabric collage retreat September 21-25—registration is open. Flower filled photos below, were taken during my September 2022 class.
My Class at Woodland Ridge Retreat—April 2026
Student Work from Classroom #2
The entrance to the second classroom at Woodland Ridge is on the left of the hallway that houses the inventory for Chris Daly’s Dye Candy Fabrics online store. Just walking in and out of this classroom you’re surrounded by inspiration—either by the bolts of luscious fabrics, or by the fantastic artwork that greets you at the doorway.
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Mary Caldwell
Mary with beginning and end of retreat photos of her barred owl portrait, are above—in-progress photos are below.
Mary’s goals for the class were: to create an “owl of the wild” based on a photo she took in a snowy forest. She knew she wanted to use fabrics in the black and white, grey and brown range—for an owl that would feel at home in her family’s cabin in the woods—though she did hide a small image of a hedgehog from a fabric print in the feathers.
In week two, Mary had her barred owl ready for quilting, so she switched projects to continue working on the background of a portrait of her daughter, “Katie and the Balsams,” begun in last year’s retreat at Woodland Ridge.
Marci White
Marci with beginning and end of retreat photos of the portrait of her very cute little dog Lucy, are above—in-progress photos are below.
Marci’s goals for the class were: to get good starts on portraits of two of her little dogs, Lucy and her buddy Maddy—both little dogs would be in black and white fabrics, though she wanted to work a little bit of color into each portrait. She also wanted to learn how to work with (relatively) larger pieces of fabrics to make best use of their printed patterns for the contours of fur.
Toward the end of the retreat, Marci was able to use a couple days for a good start on her grey dog, Maddy—using fabric prints beautifully around her eyes.
Kiyomi Carter
Kiyomi with beginning and end of retreat photos above, of her mesmerizing snow leopard, named Artemis, in honor of the ancient Greek goddess of the hunt—in-progress photos are below.
Kiyomi’s goals for the class were: to collage a “white but not white” snow leopard using fabrics with visual texture and values to create form and volume on her huntress. Kiyomi also wanted to have the opportunity to piece “real” eyes (as opposed to a fanciful eye of last year’s chameleon) and to at least audition some background ideas for Artemis.
Kiyomi found the snow leopard source photo by Robert Sachowski, on the royalty-free website Unsplash.
Liz Warters
Liz with beginning and end of retreat photos of her owl portrait, are above—in-progress photos are below. Liz’s working title for this piece had been, “Say Hooooo?” She says that the owl’s name became “Twinkle” as she worked her.
During our weekend between class weeks, Liz found additional inspiration from a piece of fiber art with hand-stitched stars at a gallery, Cultural Cloth. On day 2 of the weekend, Liz found a semi-sheer trim with embroidered stars that also spoke to her about adding to Twinkle’s potential background.
Liz’s goals for the class were: to finish the owl she had begun in a class last year, but just-in-case, she arrived with photos and drawings for three subjects—owl, orangutans, and a tiger.
Midway through class week #2, Liz was ready to get a good start on her orangutan pair. Note how she changed the color way early on, and then the portrait took off beautifully. She said that the orangutans will be one of a series of quilts she envisioned years ago called “Kissie Face.” Swans she collaged in last year’s class are also part of that series.
Liz purchased a license from Adobe for the use of photos from their site.
Barb Virtue
Barb with beginning and end of retreat photos of her dog Cooper’s soulful portrait, are above—in-progress photos are below.
I met Barb probably 20 or so years ago and she totally surprised me with a text the Friday night before this class started. I was finishing up Saturday’s post and had just added a blurb about the class, “For the determined and impulsive, April’s Fabric Collage Immersion: a 10 Day Workshop at Woodland Ridge Retreat has two spots remaining….” Little did I imagine that my friend Barb would be texting about signing up! What a challenge and goal for her to travel from Calgary in Alberta, Canada, to Woodland Ridge Retreat, with all her supplies, within three days! Good on you, Barb.
Barb’s goals for the class were: to jump-start pieces begun years ago—Cooper’s portrait from a 2022 class, and a tree frog (seen in photo above left) that needs a background from an even earlier class. What she unexpectedly discovered was how good and refreshing it felt, being around such like-minded creatives in such a supportive, energetic, and fun atmosphere.
The “Weekend” Between the Two Class Weeks
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Week 1 ended on a great note, literally. Prior to class, Chris, the owner of Woodland Ridge Retreat, alerted us to tickets for “An Evening with Bernadette Peters.” Being in the audience at the fabulous Mabel Tainter Theater was a unique and enjoyable way to unwind after an intense first week of fabric collage.
Chris’s husband Mark, very much a music guy, accompanied us. And below right, Barb is waving from (front row!) seats added at the last minute, which worked out well since she didn’t know that she’d even be in the country until the last minute.
Surprisingly, I found one of the songs Bernadette Peters sang that evening, from Into the Woods, on the internet. It’s got the same sort of stage, lighting, look, and appearance—as we experienced in Menomonie. A lovely song, it was nice to hear it again.
@janfrancken1 #CapCut #bernadettepeters #intothewoods #theatrekid #stephensondheim
Day 1:
The first week of class ended on a Saturday afternoon. Sunday was a bit slower start with a few of us walking to the local Scatterbrain Cafe for teas, lattes, and breakfast. Then we all loaded into three cars for some sight seeing. Along the way we stopped at a Mississippi overlook where at least four of us took photos of rock walls and dandelions. 🙂
Next stop Stockholm, WI, for cute and interesting shops, the “Best Pies in America” (though anyone who has experienced one of my husband Tom’s pies may argue with that claim), and an overall Swedish vibe.
I finally had the chance to visit one of Chris’s favorite places, Cultural Cloth, just down the road from Stockholm and full of inspiration. It was like experiencing world culture in just a few hours.
We arrived in Minneapolis (following the Mississippi River) for an early dinner at Owamni (soon moving to a new location in the city and with a new name, Indígena by Owamni). This meal of sharing many varied plates of indigenous American (pre-European) foods, definitely finished our day of cultural influences in a yummy, surprising, and educational way.
Day 2:
Due to various circumstances, our second day of the weekend fell on Wednesday, and we had fabric and fabric shopping in mind. The idea was to drive in and out of Minneapolis with the intent to avoid the worst of rush hour traffic, which we accomplished.
First stop: SR Harris—a fabric warehouse. Luckily I had shown my students the sorts of sheer fabrics that are helpful and fun to add to collages—they made some very good finds that I benefitted from by snagging a few rolls left at the cutting table. I however, experienced near immediate overwhelm and never got passed the lacey, sparkly, and patterned sheer trims—along with a few stray batiks—just a few feet from the entrance. The place is HUGE.
Second Stop: the Textile Center—gallery exhibits, displays, gift shop, library, and a second-hand fiber-oriented sale room. Unfortunately for us, the sale room was closed down for the week in preparation of a massive garage sale over the coming weekend.
It was interesting to see the exhibits and displays—the Textile Center is another place I had heard about but had never been to.
Thanks for coming along for the rides.
Goodbyes—Until Next Time
My favorite retreat place! What wonderful work by these students- my fav is the barred owl and I remember Mary from last year’s class!!!
Such inspiration!!!