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Kali says: "Welcome to mud season!" |
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Toronto, Ontario
April 14-16
Mackinac Island, MI
May 2-6
Harpswell, ME
May 9-10
London, Ontario
June 18-22
& June 25-29
Harpswell, ME
July 22-25
Houston, TX
September 16-18
Harpswell, ME
October 12-15
Columbus, OH
November 18-19
& November 20-21
2015
Pacific Grove, CA
March 22-27
& March 27-April 1
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 Serendipity Quilts | |
by Susan Carlson
Signed by the Author
8.5 x 11 inches, 96 pages
$27.95 plus S&H
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Miss a previous issue of News from Susan Carlson? Are you a new subscriber? Now you can catch up on all you've missed. Visit my newsletter archives by following the link below.
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Dancing in Circles
It looks like I ("we" if I include my hubby Tom who takes care of all my computer stuff) will actually get the April newsletter out as April opens. A first, I believe. No April Fool! As I write this we're having torrential rain that's melting much of the remaining snow cover. It's about time. After all, it's been Spring for more than a week now. I've been garden dreaming already and have a seed order ready to go.
Tom and I just wound up a double session of beginning ballroom dance. It was fun, and I'm sure we could have been worse. I found it a good exercise to not take yourself too seriously. In any case, it inspired my choice in this month's pattern give-away. "Dancing in Circles" was a bug quilt I made years ago. Since I've got a few 2-day fish/bug/butterfly classes lined up this year, I've been thinking about adding some buggy versions to the patterns I offer. So, here's the first one, free.
Use this link to download the pattern to your computer. This will only be available to those who receive the newsletter, but feel free to forward it to anyone you wish. Enjoy! I'd love to see any resulting creations, maybe even to include in future newsletters?
As our daylight gets longer, it not only inspires thoughts of growing and crawling things, but of tidying and freshening my surroundings too. I'll never be accused of doing any sort of cleaning on a regular basis, such as spring cleaning, but I have been inspired to de-clutter lately... well, a little bit.
In a pile of long forgotten books, I found an old book from my college days: Hawthorne on Painting. I think I avoided reading it back then, but it's been speaking to me now. I haven't finished it or fully digested it yet, but it's worth mentioning for his encouragement to his students to be bold and colorful in their artwork.
"Have the courage to set down the colors you see there-overdo in color rather than be weak. See brilliant color, then paint it a little more brilliant than you see it."
-Charles W. Hawthorne
He also stresses how important it is to paint what you see and not what you expect to see. A distinction that I find myself bringing up to my own students (though we're working in fabric of course) and is a good reminder in my own artwork.
And one final note on inspiration is a blog I subscribed to a couple months ago. Busy Mockingbird by Mica Angela Hendricks. She's an artist who writes about her thoughts and experiences making art collaborations with her 6 year old daughter. Kinda like learning to ballroom dance, it's about letting go and enjoying the process. But their results are amazing and so very fun. I really like the way she writes, she makes me smile. I mention it this month since she's launched a kick-starter campaign to publish a book filled with their fanciful creations and I want to pass the word. Here's a link that connects you to one of my favorite entries.
With that, I'll say bye for now. May the returning sun warm up your days. And for those of you in the southern hemisphere, may you enjoy the end of your summertime!
take care,
Susan
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Where in the World is Susan Carlson?
Teaching Schedule Preview:
This month I travel north of the border and also come close enough to the border to holler across and say hi. April 14-16, I'll be in Toronto, Ontario visiting the York Heritage Quilter's Guild where I'll teach a two-day Cutting Loose Class and a one-day What Goes Around Comes Around Class. This will be my first time in Toronto, which I hear is a stylish and friendly city. I'll also be giving a slide lecture and trunk show of my quilts. At the end of the month I take off for Michigan, where I will spend May 2-6 at the fabulous Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island in lake Huron-first time there too. I'll be one of several teachers invited to attend the Grand Hotel Annual Spring Needle Art Seminar. As soon as I get back, I'll be teaching right down the road at the Harpswell Inn. May 9-10 is my annual Mother's Day Quilt Retreat. There's still room at the Inn, as we like to say. So check out the info below or through the link above. Hope to see you somewhere!
Last Month:
Sharing lunch with the locals and enjoying the local color in Pacific Grove, CA.
Taking morning walks with new and old friends from Australia, Canada, Texas, and Hawaii during the Empty Spools Seminars. Ain't this quilting world grand?
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Dates for 2104 Harpswell Retreats
May 9-10, 2014
July 22-25, 2014
October 12-15, 2014
 | | Students hard at work during the October 2013 Leaf Peeper's Quilt Retreat. |
2014 will be my fourth year offering retreats at the historic Harpswell Inn, a classic B&B, in my hometown of Harpswell, ME. I've settled into either 2 or 4 day offerings. The shorter retreat is on the Friday and Saturday prior to Mother's Day in May. It's great as an introduction to my approach to fabric collage, since subject matter is kept simple and fun with fish, butterflies, or bugs. However, it's also been popular to returning students who want to get a nice jump-start on their next project.
 | | Welcome to the Inn. |
The four-day retreat is, of course, lovely in that there's time to get thouroughly involved in a larger project of the individual's choosing. It also provides time for the class to bond in great ways, starting with an opening night sea-side lobster dinner the evening before class begins.
What both offerings have in common is that I only take 12 students per retreat to give everyone plenty of guidance and workspace. The workroom (in the same building as most lodging) is open 'round the clock for both early birds and night owls to get in as much work time as desired. The innkeeper will even put on a fresh pot of coffee, though wine is often the beverage of choice!
 | | From the 2013 Mother's Day Quilt Retreat. A fresh fish by Jean Savalchak from our fine state of Maine. |
Our creative days are broken up by tea and coffee breaks, and relaxing chair or hand massage given by massage therapist extraordinaire, my sister Heidi. This is not nepotism, she is truly an artist with a healing touch. Walking down to the shore from the Inn is a quick and relaxing break during the day as well.
 | | From the 2013 Summer Solstice Quilt Retreat. A portrait of her grandson by Rit Verhoeven. (All the way from Belgium!) |
One of the evenings we walk or drive the 1/2 mile to my (new!) studio to see how I have it set-up and for a showing of slides and quilts. Here's a nice article about Harpswell, that highlights our own Lookout Point Road, where both our home and the Inn are located. My former yurt studio is mentioned, now replaced with a red-roofed barn-like studio.
 | | From the 2013 October Leaf Peeper's Retreat. A colorful bird by Linda Baar of Colorado. |
Finally, to cap it all off, we include healthy and yummy foods for lunches and dinners (breakfast is included with lodging at the Inn). Part of my own cancer recovery plan has been to make careful choices in what I eat. Starting with last year's retreats, I've chosen menus that I can indulge in and enjoy along with everyone else. Dick, the innkeeper (also former restaurant owner and chef), then puts them together in delicious ways. The food has received rave reviews and many recipes are requested and sent home along with quilts and great memories.
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