2012 BUZZ Word!

drum roll please.....COLOUR!!!!!!!!!! 

Last week the NSW Quitlers Guild Show committee rang up looking for a judge/sponsor for the colour prize....I could hardly believe my ears and it took me a second to realise they were asking me.  So, after blurting out an OF COURSE I WOULD LOVE THAT!!!! I turned to my partner in colour crime...Reece Scanell and we accepted the challenge.    Good thing we had two days of workshops coming up working our ideas together so we can solidify the plan for selecting the quilt that uses colour creatively, impactfully, smartly and stylishly.  It's a big task for the quilter and for us but we take this stuff seriously and will put our heart and souls into the process.  We'll also put together a nice prize with cash and colour combined!

So, for the past two days I have been teaching Colour Workshops with Reece..

        I love working with this guy.  It can be a bit scary because Reece, like me, is a high energy but the fact is he gets colour and he has a lot of interesting things to say and exercises to expand the words into concepts that stick.  He has a long background in photography, fashion and now his gorgeous textiles. We combine our  colour experiences into a session that speaks to quilters and makes them more aware of their personal colour environment. 
They were a well beautiful captive audience and two fun days flew by.  Day one was all about value and neutrals as we took the lesson of the morning to the stashes.  It was hard to stay focused on black, white and grey when you know what is coming but they did it.
It was a long day and by the end I know we all needed to sleep.  Day two started with lots of comments about dreaming of colour, obsessive thoughts of colour and a need to get straight back into it again!

And yes, that is Cardy Girl over there!  I have met Alison a few times but I have never felt that we didn't know each other.  Some people slip into your life and you just know they fit!

Yep.  A full day of working with the real thing...COLOUR!  Reece's fabrics are fantastic for establishing a palette.  The shot of colour that runs through makes them fun to consider and they looked fabulous in the variety of groupings that were made through the day.

Even our lunch area was full of colour so there was little time to let the brain escape!  We all worked hard and I can't remember a single minute when we weren't focused on the job at hand.  That is what colour does to us!  It gives us an all over body experience.  Here is a photo drum roll.... these photos are NOT posed...can't you just hear them thinking?

And what day is complete without the Wizard of Lunch behind the curtain whipping up the tasty treats! or is that cleaning up afterwards...not sure but she's still smiling!

The last part of the Reece session was analytical.  It was really fun to hear them express what they had learned in terms of quilts.

Look at that concentration...brains in FULL GEAR!

Some faces familiar and loved...

Alison got her oranges done quick smart!  Too easy.

Bronwyn blended the old with the new!

Mary dove into Kaffe's reds!

Marina got her green thing on!

Prize to longest distance traveled goes to Alex who lives somewhere 1,000 miles left of Alice!  My mind wanders when I think of this happy chick heading back to a remote locatio with a mind full of this stuff.  How will her environment shape what happens now? 

And Deidre got a mountain of blue shaped up beautifully!

I caught Kaye by surprise but she gets the prize for getting the most blocks sorted before pack up time!

And finally, where's Heather? 

I am grateful to all these women that took the plunge into the colour pool these past two days.   I am in love with all of them for their open hearted approach to the process.  The secrets of their personalities are somewhat revealed in this process so it takes a bit of courage...courage they all have in spades.  We look forward to hearing back how this impacts their quilts.  The goal?  To make quilts that express an inner message using the colour as a tool and controling the emotional attachement we might have to one colour or another.  k

Comments

[Sally]

Wow! Wish I had been able to be there. I know I would have gone home with a giant headache. But kudos to all your students. Great work! AndI imagine,great teachers.

[Chookyblue]

oh I see a couple oh my buddies there......hope they share what they learnt........they do look very deep in thought.........

[Pam]

Wonderful and reminds me of the great way things work in groups of quilters!

[Marina]

And what an exhausting but wonderful two days it was!! I just loved playing with all the colour. Thank you for organising such a fun and inspiring workshop ... though I now have quilter's neck ... and back ... and hand ... from cutting all those millions of strips. But it's going to be so worth it when that beautiful quilt starts to come together. Can't wait!

[Lynette]

Oh I say it again how I wish I lived in Sydney

[Cardygirl]

Finally home again with a head bursting with ideas...colour everywhere...you may have unleashed a monster! It was the BEST two days...highly recommended and much appreciated. Thank you to you, Reece, the calm Matteo, Wendy, Therese and Cath...the workshop was inspiring, educational and lots of fun! Can't wait to play with my strips!

[Carola]

Wouldn't Reece like to teach a color workshop in Munich, Germany??? Our quilting group 0f 12 would love to have him!

[wendy]

I want Kay's glasses. Those are cool.

[Elizabeth E.]

Looks like great fun, with great challenges. Because of you, I bought Australian fabrics this weekend at Road. I washed them all up, pressed them and laid them out one by one on the guest room bed and by the time I finished I could swear I had the beginnings of an "MO" quilt--a riot of pattern and color which I love. Now just to find the courage to cut them up and put them all back together. I'll keep reading. . .

[Heather Bright]

Wow! What a wonderful workshop! Thank you Kathy and Reece and all involved for so generously sharing your knowledge, expertise and insight. It was an inspiring and enriching experience. Thank you also to the lovely ladies who shared the days, it was so much fun. H