Before the end of summer, I was invited to attend an art retreat at the amazing Emandal Farm. You need to make a side trip to this link, so you can understand the complete awesomeness of this location. It’s a working farm that hosts family camps throughout the summer and other fun events throughout the year. Even though it is located only 16 miles from my hometown, I had never had the opportunity to visit or stay there until the art retreat. There were four different classes that were taught over the 3 day/4 night stay: quilt collage, photography, watercolor field journaling, writing, and an ongoing mosaic project reflecting Emandal and all its glory.
My class was taught by the gifted and talented Laura Fogg (Fogwoman), who taught us how to make the fabric collage, step by step. She also created a beautiful interpretation of the Emandal garden while there.
After a scrumptious breakfast, the six of us set up our sewing machines in the dining room, pulled out all of our fabrics and scraps, planned our designs, and began artistically laying out the different fabrics on top of a backing layered with batting. Later, we would pin a fine tulle over all of the artfully placed fabric pieces and then machine quilt the whole thing together. That was the most laborious part, and my old Pfaff gave up the ghost in the middle of the process. Luckily, a classmate lent me her machine while she wasn’t using it.
Besides quilting, we had time to enjoy each other’s company, peace and tranquility, the garden, and the pristine Eel River.
Being at Emandal, is like going back in time, there are no cars or traffic, and the night sky is bright with stars. Each camper has their very own cabin with flushing toilets and hot showers near by. Emandal treats their guests with garden fresh meals, including homemade ice cream made with their own dairy milk and fresh eggs. Folks from the nearby cities have been enjoying the family camp program year after year.
This was the first art retreat, and it was a great success. I encourage you to try it sometime.
So what did I make? I was inspired by the clothesline filled with the the little cloth napkins.
They were so unique and colorful and contrasted nicely against the leafy trees. I managed to complete most of it while there, and finished it upon returning home.
After free motion quilting for hours, I played around with the placement of the rest of the elements. I added the clothesline, napkins and the basket filled with the rest of the laundry. I like to imagine that the person hanging out the laundry, left in the middle of the chore to go cool off in the nearby river.
What a wonderful depiction, with words and pics, of our memorable time. Thanks for sharing!
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Wow, what an amazing place, perfect for inspiring creativity 🙂
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What a beautiful, inspiring, creative place. No wonder your quilt came out so beautifully!
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What a beautiful setting! I’d love to go somewhere like that … and your fabric collage is amazing :-).
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Your fabric collage is so beautiful! They’ll probably want to use it next year for a display to inspire everyone!
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It looks like a piece of heaven. How fortunate you were to attend that retreat!
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