I went to Sue Spargo's Folk art quilting class on beautiful Madeline Island WI. It was a 4 hour drive and a ferry ride from my home. What a wonderful setting for a class! The classroom was large and well lit and there were 12 of us in the class, perfect size for a teacher to give one on one instruction. Sue Spargo is a wonderful teacher, I learned 6 new embroidery stitches as well as my first time quilting with felted wool. On the first day we looked at Sue's work and made a plan for our folk art quilt which had a theme of 'TRAVEL' I chose to quilt my watercolor journey to Provence which I made in 2009 with a group of artists from Bend Oregon. I sketched the themes, which were Van gogh's Sunflowers, the Farandole dancers, Lavender, a window with blue shutters, a field with lavander and sunflowers and of course the Poppies of Provence. From sketching we then assembled the quilt background, piecing the blocks of wool. Then the real fun began! Sue brought lots of beautiful silks, beads and embellishments along with gorgeous hand dyed velvets. I used these to applique my pieces.
On returning home I found a piece of foamboard insulation left over from Clyde's projects and pinned my quilt to the board so I could look at it. I decide to switch it around a bit, I removed the wine colored block and replaced it with a hand dyed pale green block which I appliqued with a huge sunflower and a background of a lavender field. Couched silks, embroidered by hand with sea grass and silks then beaded. One block took most of the day yesterday. I also changed the village scene to a bridge and house with a French barn.
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