marymarcotte.com

Tag: teachers

  • New Friends Learning and Teaching and Quilting

    My haul of purples from the vendor area. Shopping and teaching–that’s the life!

    It was quite a long week–teaching two days at SMS then racing off to the GSQA Seminar in Baton Rouge, which I wrote about here. Never the less, I had a great time meeting the other teachers, chatting about quilting, and learning about the small world a quilt teacher lives. I definitely had more listening than talking to bring to the conversation. My experience with high school and middle schoolers doesn’t so easily translate into teaching quilting. However, it does give one perspective. Okay, it also provides a bit of incentive to retire (again).

    Two of Vernon’s blocks from his morning of sewing.

    The hotel has a happy hour for free drinks, which certainly helped break the ice. I enjoyed the wine, although maybe I shouldn’t have had the full glass before dinner. (Silly giggles.) It also has lots of common areas with plenty of seating and tables, which adds to the ambiance of hospitality and friendship. It’s easy to make plans to meet downstairs for drinks, dinner or the evening lecture. Or all three.

    Photo from lisathorpe.com

    I especially enjoyed the lectures. It was nice to sit down and really hear what the teachers had to say. I was pleasantly enthralled with Lisa Thorpe’s surface design. She is an artist in the truest sense of the term. Really, you should check out her pieces. She seems to know every species of bird that exists.

    A happy mess!

    My day of teaching was Friday and though I’ll write a post on that, I took too many pics to jam into one post, so I’ve dropped a few here to give you a hint of what’s to come.

    And a happy quilter!
    Okay, make that two happy quilters!

  • You’ll Never Guess Where I’m Teaching

    I mean, I’m not expecting that you actually will guess, but I’m hoping you’re intrigued. I’m in Baton Rouge for the GSQA Biennial Seminar. The Gulf States Quilting Association covers Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. We have somewhere around 700 members, and a busy board of officers who somehow keep this thing going. This week is our seminar and I’m teaching one full-day class and (I hope) selling a few copies of This World So Fierce.

    The seminar is an educational event to which we bring teachers from all over the country. I was the teacher committee chairperson and have had the pleasant honor of spending a good bit of time with our faculty. So I thought I’d introduce you to the full-time teachers. The list follows the order of the photos so you can match everyone up.

    Sue Heinz hales from Minnesota and is the owner of Kismet Quilting. She has authored five books, each brimming with fresh design ideas for free-motion quilting and has also invented several innovative marking tools and rulers. She has a fun sense of humor.

    Nina Clotfelter lives in Mobile, Alabama, so not so very far away. She’s teaching free-motion quilting and a ruler work class. She had a sewing school in her home and (must) “LOVE!!! LOVE!!! Teaching Quilting!!!” She adds, “I’m a little quirky? But FUN quirky…right?” Yes, absolutely, right.

    Quiltmavendave is David Sirota from New Hampshire. He is the designer behind “No More Tears” paper piecing. You will not find a funnier guy. He is full of quips that seem to fire off rather quickly. He also apologies too often–as though I could be insulted. Please, Dave, they roll off of me as quickly as you can spit them out!

    Lisa Thorpe comes to us from Little Rock, Arkansas. She is just as sweet as her quilts! She is teaching surface design and birds. Seriously, her students will walk away with at least one bird quilt before it’s over. She says, “I love exploring and experimenting with new mediums and techniques and I relish the opportunity to share what I have discovered.”

    Say hi to Lori Dickman, who is from Rockford, Illinois, brings her 45 years of quilting “and teaching others to join in on this sewer’s/quilter’s love affair.” She is teaching some of her patterns classes, all of which are colorful and playful.

    So if you haven’t figured it out, I’m having a great deal of fun and making new friends. Tomorrow is my improv class, so wish me luck!