Omaha Classes

I took three classes: Jay Rich, texturizing silk; Lisa Caryl, fantasea wall hanging; Mary Anne Griffin, needlefelted floral portrait.

(Click the link above to "classes" to see photos and class descriptions.)

The less said about the first class, the better. Not a good experience.

Lisa and Mary Anne are both talented, well-organized teachers with great communication skills. The provided clear instructions and demonstrations. Both provided excellent kits that were a great value. The classes were relaxed and fun, and we covered lots of ground. I felt like I took away a great deal of new information that I could apply to my crazy quilting when I got home.

In Lisa's class we created an undersea-themed wall hanging. Lisa included lovely blue/green pieced blocks in her kit, as well as beautiful yarns, charms, threads, silk ribbon, and so on for embellishing. The pieced block was wonderful because I could just jump into the fun part -- embellishing -- without stopped to piece a blocks. I didn't get my block quite finished in class, but I will finish it soon and frame it in a shadow box with some small shells.

Mary Anne's class was supplied with brand new BabyLock 12-needle Embellishers for us to work on. Mary Anne, designed a Floral Portrait, created on the Embellisher. You can see her recent machine embroidery Fleur-de-Lace designs at www.amazingdesigns.com. She took us through the steps of using the embellisher to "pound" fabrics together to make our own versions of the Floral Portrait, including wonderful raised flowers made from silk carrier rods. Her generous kit even included Swarovski crystals for the flower centers and border.

I always have a great time at the retreat and this year was no exception. A big thank you to Nancy Kirk and the many volunteers who make it possible.