Are you regretting that you didn’t sign up for Jane Davila’s workshop after seeing all of the fun they are having with image transfers and stamping?

Then why not sign up for Kathyanne White’s workshop coming up April 18 – 24 this year?!

Kathyanne will be showing you how to print your digital images on a variety of fiber surfaces including lutradur, tyvec, pimatex cotton, organdy, painted muslin, and watercolor paper!

Take a look at Kathyanne’s website and blog to get a better idea of Kathyanne’s amazing creativity. Then give us a call to sign up! (800-665-0044)

This group knows how to dive in and have fun with all of the techniques that Jane is teaching to them.

Here is a hub of activity with three friends who came to the workshop together. One of them is Susannah of O’ Susannah’s Quilt and Gift Shop located in Watkins Glen, New York. Now there’s a shop worth visiting just judging by the friendliness and enthusiasm of Susannah!

One of the trio is Karen, who joined her friends in the class at the last minute. She is a traditional quilter, but was willing to give this class a try just to be with her friends. Well, look at the fabulous pieces that she has created!

The piece below is one of the series that Susannah is creating. It commemorates her daughter’s wedding. It’s just beautiful and it is giving me ideas for my own daughter’s wedding this October!

One of the things the group was working on today was creating their own stamps and then using them in a small art quilt.

This is Jane’s wonderful arrange of inks and some sample stamps.

Here is a stamp that one of the students made and following picture shows the resulting image when it was applied to fabric. Very cool!

Here is Jane giving some advice to Linda, who is working with an image of a fish. I’ll try to catch a picture when it is finished, but it is looking good so far.

Today was the first day of a 3-day workshop at the Hudson River Valley Art Workshops with Jane Davila.

The group is going to be working on a series of small art quilts while learning all sorts of nifty tricks with image transfers onto fabric, as well as other embellishment and surface design techniques.

When Jane arrived yesterday, she presented me with this really great box of Creativity Cards. This is a new product by C & T Publishing – 36 Secrets and Quilts to Ignite Ideas! Perfect when you are sitting in your studio with a glazed look in your eyes trying to find some inspiration. I’m sure you can get a set for yourself from Jane Davila’s online fiber art supply shop.

She also gave a me a mini work of art that she created attached to a magnet. Love it!

It has been a quiet day over at the main inn because the class is so involved in creating we hardly see them, except for a couple of shopping excursions to our mini fiber supply shop and Cookie Time!

Cookie Time is spoken of in hushed and reverent tones around here and here is why . . . .

Just look at those monstrous cookies.

Tomorrow I’ll get some pictures of the class in action so that you can see what they have been up to.

Starting April 5th and going through April 10th is our annual Spring Retreat week. This is when you and your friends can come to get away and work on your favorite projects – painting, fiber art, quilting, knitting, whatever! No instructor, just plenty of time to play. And it includes Cookie Time (and other meals, too)! We’d love to have you join us.

The Susan Shie workshop is in its final day today. The week has gone by way too quickly, but some beautiful work as been started.

Every one has had the time to create multiple paintings on fabric. Susan has worked with everyone individually while they practice using the airpen.

Here is the happy group (from left to right) – Nancy, Karen, Susan, Adina, Joan, and Suzy.

Suzy, by the way, was the first prize winner of this years Early Bird Enrollment drawing! She won Free Tuition to this workshop! Was she ever surprised and happy! It paid to sign up early for Suzy.

Tomorrow the group for Jane Davila’s workshop checks in. Another 3 days of fiber art bliss. Not too late to sign up if you want to have a blast with Jane Davila.

Susan Shie arrived on Sunday to teach her 5-day “Dairy Paintings for Art Quilts” workshop.

Yesterday the group did their preliminary drawings on fabric and then colored them with textile paint.

Here are a couple of fantastic examples.

Today Susan introduced the airpen. She demonstrated the care and feeding of an air pen for successful drawing.

Here is Susan showing how she does the writing on her work.

The days are going by too quickly! I can’t wait to see how everyone’s work develops of the next couple of days.

We were also kept busy today with an interview by one of our area newspapers, The Daily Mail, that is planning on featuring Hudson River Valley Art Workshops and the Greenville Arms 1889 Inn in an article to be published April 15th. The reporter and photographer also took a lot of pictures of Susan’s class in action. If they publish the story online, I’ll post the link in this blog.

It just warms the heart of any quilter or fiber artist – the sight of fabric and supplies available for purchase in a shop! In this case the shop is at the Greenville Arms 1889 Inn and it is provided by Log Cabin Fabrics in Ravena, NY (just a short drive from the inn).

Londa, the owner of Log Cabin Fabrics, came by yesterday to set up because our first fiber art workshop checks in tomorrow. I always have to restrain myself from wanting to deplete the stock before the workshop participants even arrive. Such a tempting array of fabric and other goodies.

Karen Rosasco’s workshop group checked-out this morning. It was sad to see them go – such a happy group! Quite a few have already vowed to come back in 2011 for Karen’s workshop in June and one already signed up because she wanted to make sure she got in her request for her favorite room!

We are already for Susan Shie’s group to check-in tomorrow.

This will be the first time that Susan has taught here but we have been hearing such wonderful things about her for years and years. I’m sure it is going to be a fun and exciting class.

The smell of chocolate has been in the air recently (actually it is all the time!) due to all of the chocolate rabbits we’ve been busy making. Here is one of the chocolate display areas.

This years menu is still being tweaked (it’s an ever evolving thing) but two new additions are this yummy cream puff.

and this delicious meatball and pasta dish. The meatballs were made with a combination of beef, turkey, and lamb (and we made plain turkey meatballs for the non-beef eaters). The sauce included eggplant and broccoli. The pasta is a wonderful new organic pasta, Lensi, in a fun twisted shape called Gigili. It was one of the favorite meals this past week.

Susan Shie, Professional Quilter Magazine’s Teacher of the Year in 2008, will be arriving this Sunday to begin a 5-day workshop. She’ll teaching her “Diary Paintings for Art Quilts” class.

Diary Paintings for Art quilts

March 21 – 27, 2010

All Levels

In this five day class, you’ll explore hand brush painting and line drawing with markers and airpen (optional) on white cotton fabric, to create diary paintings for quilting. Figure one finished painting per class day, and you’ll get some of them “crazy grid” quilted during class. Your paintings will be about the size of a fat quarter, 18 x 22”, give or take a little.

You’ll draw freehand on Kona cotton with black permanent fine tip markers, then brush paint in the colors, and finally use the markers again, as well as airpen (if you want to use it) to write freehand on the surface, creating a verbal texture over the images in the story. You’ll be drawing like you did as a child, in relaxed wonder over your abilities, and writing off the top of your head, just like when you write a letter. No planning ahead. This spontaneity is what makes naïve art and children’s art so appealing to the viewer and so happiness-making for the artist.

The real purpose of Susan’s classes is to bring out your freer inner self, and to get your creativity really flowing out again. She will try her best to get you to ignore rules and just let the ideas come out in a smooth stream of consciousness.

There is still room in this wonderful workshop, so don’t delay!

As a special bonus, Susan is doing astrological charts for everyone in the class.

Everyone is raving about Karen Rosasco as a teacher. We never see the students except when they come up to the main inn for cookie time! They are having too much fun in the studio.

Here is Dune and Mardi, who are friends from Texas.

Les and Lil hard at work/play.

Karen is working on a few things herself, in between helping everyone else. Love that lime green Hudson River Valley Art Workshop t-shirt!

Here’s a preview of tonight’s dessert. It’s a work in progress, but I can’t wait to see what these puffs are going to be filled with. I’m drooling already.

The first workshop of the season has begun. We are so excited – especially since it is Karen Rosasco. You’ll never meet a nicer teacher and person!

We usually start our workshop season the 3rd week in March, but when Karen taught here last summer, all of the students “demanded” that Karen come for a repeat performance in 2010. Waiting until 2011 for Karen’s next scheduled workshop here was too long! So, since the only week we still had available in 2010 was March 14 – 20, Karen took it.

The workshop started with the first night wine and cheese reception, followed by dinner. This dinner marked the debut of a new dish – a Brazilian Tilapia Stew served over Basmati Rice. Everyone cleaned their plates and some asked for seconds.

The next morning after breakfast (the special was Cranberry Almond Buttermilk Pancakes – yum), everyone jumped right in to work in the studio. by the time I got over there later in the morning, everyone’s table was covered with the first exercises.

Here is Les contemplating the possibilities!

They are using every available surface to spread out the work to dry. Monday, the weather was still a bit rainy, but since Tuesday, they have been able to dry their work outside in the sun.

After a busy day in the workshop, everyone starts moseying over to the main inn for dinner. Usually people gather in the front parlor for a little glass of wine and conversation while waiting for dinner to be served.

Last night the dessert was a Lemon Curd and Raspberry Roulade. Lovely to look at and lovely to eat!

Here is Mark piping the whipped cream coating and below than, he is cutting the roulade into portions.