Fun in my fabric world....

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Finally, back to the workshop...

...I had the best of intentions of being back yesterday to finish the workshop, but life just got in the way!
Here we go!
The second day began with our arrival and discussion about how we had been thinking about what we had learnt on the first day. Reece had tubs of his stunning rainbow coloured shot cotton fabrics ...truly drool-worthy and VERY tempting! We were all fired up for a great day. 
So much to learn and then apply to fabric. We made colour wheels from our fabric packs...learning about light/mid/dark...what is warm/cool...what adds depth...what has energy...what is calming.
 As Reece said, we all see colour differently...it was great to see how we interpret themes...we are all influenced by where we live and early influences in our lives. When I picked colours for a winter theme, I thought of where I live, the colours of an Australian country winter, but there was still some warmth with orange....Kathy interpreted her winter as that of an American winter...greys, creams...the colours of snow and a cold climate. Interesting.
But it wasn't just picking the colours, it was learning our personal responses and interpretations of a theme, and then discussing it with the group and appreciating our differences.
 We even had the opportunity to look at quilts and discuss colour, placement and the mood of the quilt...I looked at lovely Wendy's quilt ( she was doing the class too!).
By lunch time our heads were buzzing with ideas, but it was time to say goodbye to Reece and Matteo who had helped guide us through our steps into colour...thank you, it was fabulous!
Then we began working on our colour blocks with Kathy. 
Lots of fun, and wonderful to walk around and see  them all growing. Here are just a few...
Mary was full of energy...
...hi Heather!
and I do love my orange,
 ...and some pieces that followed me home!
If you ever get the opportunity to do either this workshop, or another colour workshop...do it! Whilst it initially takes us out of our comfort zone, it is quite liberating and adds an extra dimension to our work!
Thanks to Kathy, Reece & Matteo for your gentle guidance...and also to the MO girls who fixed our lunch, cut our fabric and cheered us on...Wendy, Cathy & Therese.
Cardygirl xxx

17 comments:

Fiona said...

are you sure it was the colours you were observing... not the hunks in the white T shirts????
Sounds like a fantastic workshop...
Hugz

Cathy @ CabbageQuilts said...

Absolutely wonderful to see what you guys did. How fabulous to soak in all that colour over two days. Thanks for sharing the time with us. xo PS, love Fiona's comment!!

Googy Girl said...

wow you have me so inspired, i am going to email them to see when they are going to run the workshop again...i am always so nervous with colour

Anonymous said...

lol,Fiona you are so funny.
Looks like a lot of fun Alison,cant wait to see the finished project Alison,well done.xx

rosie said...

How lucky are you Miss Cardy.. Fabulous ideas, gorgeous material, good company.. and, eye candy as well!!

Marg said...

Lucky you, it looks really interesting. I'd love to do something like that one day.

Chookyblue...... said...

lots of concentration..........hope you learnt lots.........

Heather said...

Fascinating to think that we all see color differently. I have often wondered if the light in Australia makes color look different, the color combinations are just so different that what we see in the US. Or maybe you are just more adventurous there!

Jenny said...

Colour can make such a difference. It's the thing that takes me the longest when I begin any sewing project, picking the colours. I LoOVE orange.

Mrs Dibble said...

Oh lucky duck....a class at Material Girl has always been on my list.

Miriam said...

Wow, sounds like a great workshop!

Pauline said...

Hi Cardygirl, that looks like a wonderful workshop..and easy on the eyes!! LOL

Victoria Findlay Wolfe said...

Looks like you had a blast! Envious!

Siobhán said...

It sounds like a fantastic time! I agree with Pauline--easy on the eyes, too! :)

Marina said...

It was great fun, wasn't it! But I was exhausted afterwards. How can it be so tiring just sitting around chatting about colour??

I diverted on to other projects when I got home, so haven't done any more yet on the soul searching quilt. How is yours going?

Mary said...

Oh my goodness! I am just drooling {and not just over the white T's}....this looks like a fabulous class!!! I think it would be worth me taking a trip to Oz for this one...don't you? That quilt Wendy is working on is FANTASTIC! You are such a lucky girl :)

Carole said...

What a wonderful workshop. Looks like you had fun! Thanks for sharing! cheers!