Patter from Patti

Skiing in the Alps

No.  It isn't me skiing on the Austrian Alps.  It's our Heidi.  She returned back to Brussels after a week in the Austrian Alps.  This is a photo of she and Raphael at the top of one of the mountains.  Isn't it breathtaking?!

Heidi hadn't been skiing much before.  She said she really enjoyed it after taking some lessons.  She's in great shape because she is a long distance runner, plus takes ballet classes several times a week.  And, keeps up with the Jr. Highers in her classes at the International School of Brussels.

Not much time to catch up, but I will when I get on the cruise ship.  It's such a tough life that I lead.  Ha!

The only thing new here in San Diego and at our house is my newest pattern "Little Star Pincushion and Sewing Folder".  I've been on a sewing supplies holder kick lately.

I do like having a tri-fold soft container to hold larger items like full size scissors, rulers, notebook, pencils, pens, knitting needles, crochet hooks, etc.

In May I'll be teaching my Penny Pink Pocket, which is a sewing caddy doll.  I liked her so much I created two others in different colors.  Penny Pink Pocket will stay with someone after the Think Pink Gala in Aurora, Ohio.  Thus, I needed to make a couple more so I'd have something to hold all my other sewing needs.

Until next time, keep sewing!

England and Houston

October was an amazing month. It found me in England then at the Houston Quilt Festival in Texas. I finally downloaded pictures and have a few to share.
This year I was invited to do a workshop with a wonderful group of women in Torquay, England. Torquay is on the southwestern coast of England. Beautiful area. My hosts were so terrific. Karl and Sylvia knew of my love of English history and made sure I saw most of the important sites in their area. Karl drove me to Dartmouth so I could see where one of my uncles left for D-Day.

We took a wonderful ferry across the bay. Can you imagine 483 ships in this harbor? That's how many were here before the invasion.
Like a dummy I didn't get any pictures of Sylvia's wonderful workshop where we had the class. Next time I'll remember I have my camera with me.
After the Knitting & Stitching Show in London I spent a week in Great Missenden at Rainbow Silks. One of my favorite shops. Last year I taught a silk doll that I designed for Rainbow Silks. Jillian brought her Missenderil of Rainbow Valley to show me. She's a beautiful doll.

Again, I kept forgetting to take pictures of my classes, but I did remember during my last class. Unfortunately, after two people had left.

After England came Houston. elinor peace bailey and I were the two doll teachers this year. We both had packed classes for our doll making workshops. I also did an Altered Bag class and had 7 terrific ladies in the class. Small, but we had fun playing with paints, dyes, silk fusion, Babylock's Embellisher and free motion machine work.

Last days in Australia

My final few days in Australia were spent with Pete and Kay Lippman and Cath at Textile Artistry. Pete and Kay live in a beautiful home in McCrae overlooking Port Phillip Bay (southeast of Melbourne). The sunsets from their home were breathtaking.

Spring was just beginning so everything was starting to bloom. I was eager to see Peter and Kay's home. The last time I was here they lived a little further down the coast in Sorrento. But, I can certainly see why they love McCrae.

This picture is of Pete, Kay, Robbie and Tess. The paintings on the wall are all done by Kay. She works in oils and also does fantastic felting. She's an extremely talented woman.

My weekend class was at Textile Artistry in Dromana. I had another fun time. One gal, Jan, took the ferry from Geelong for my class. Jan had been in my class last month in Geelong. It was terrific seeing her again. Cath, the owner of the shop, was a joy. Kay used to own the shop and I had seen it soon after Kay had signed the lease several years ago. It was then empty. Now, it is full of wonderful "stuff" and Cath has carried on with all the great classes and supplies that Kay developed. Plus, Cath has added a lot of her own touches. If you are ever in Victoria and driving down the eastern side of the bay, stop in. There's so much to get inspired here.

Later I'll be adding photo's of some of the dolls, wearables, wall-hangings, quilts I saw and fell in love with. Way too many to share, but once I figure out how to do a slide show, I'll get them all posted.

Perth, Western Australia

Jaslyn and I figured out it had been 4 years since I'd been here in Perth. It seems like yesterday since I was here. The city is as beautiful as ever, and the people as terrific.
The day I arrived was warm, but fastly turning cool. A weather front was coming in but it didn't stop my short visit with Dale and Ian Rollerson of The Thread Studio. I get to see Ian and Dale in London, but it is far more fun seeing them in their lovely home & studio.

Ian loves to rib me about President Bush. He does like our Governor, though.

Di, of the Fabric Addicts arranged my classes in Perth this time. And, she also talked Pam Grose into taking the workshop. Di, Pam and I stayed in an apartment hotel and this is Pam unpacking after a long flight from Brisbane.

I love everything Pam does. Do check out that skinny cat and the fun woman walking the cat. The other pieces are Pams work. She's such an incredible talent.

The first workshop I taught here was my Viviana doll. The same one I taught at Anne's Glory Box in Hamilton. We had a small, and fun group.

It was fun watching Pam work on her doll. She ruched her dyed lace and attached it randomly along the arms and waist.

Marion proved that a doll could be made during a two day workshop. The shoes aren't finished, but you can see the beautiful beading both she, and Pam, have done.

My next class was my Stargaze Stitchery Tome Arca. Jenny Green had started a group through the Western Australia Doll Makers and asked Di to organize a workshop for the final project - the Arca. We had a fun day painting, burning, coloring, melting, collaging, etc.

Tomorrow, August 27, I'm off to Adelaide. Stay tuned for more fun photo's.

First days in Australia

September 9 I arrived in Sydney and was greated by my fun friend, Gloria McKinnon. She's been bringing we American designers over for about 20 years. This was my 12th year coming over and I love it more and more each time.
Gloria booked me to teach two Viviana workshops. We had fun making beaded shoes, flowers, doing faces, eating, drinking tea, chattering away, etc.

Teaching a class in Gloria's shop - Anne's Glory Box - is the best! Fabrics, trims, beads, charms, kits, etc., are there to give us inspiration, and shopping opportunities.

Gloria has been purchasing model dolls from us for years and the shelves are covered with them. If you are ever in Hamilton, near Newcastle north of Sydney, you have to stop by.
Her website is: http://www.annesglorybox.com.au

The first two photo's are the first class I taught. These next 3 are the second workshop. Both were two days of pure fun for me.

That is Gloria helping Rae. See what I mean about all the wonderful things in the store?
Stay tuned for the next installment!

Upcoming Events

elinor peace bailey, Barbara Willis and I are gearing up for our Flat Day on the Silly Side of the Sea in Ohio. We'll be at the Creative Festival June 28-30 in Cincinnati. All three of us are teaching classes, too.
What is the Flat Day on the Silly Side of the Sea? A fun demonstration and lecture from the 3 of us, plus Karen Shifton and Judy Skeel. Generally, we have Sally Lampi and Betts Vidal with us, but they had other commitments. Karen and Judy will join us in Ohio.
On top of the lecture and demonstration each person who attends gets a pattern from us. That means 5 patterns. Here's a picture of my Flat doll, which is really a fabric journal:

We have a fantastic time. If interested go to:
http://www.pcmexpo.com

As you can see, elinor is always in rare form at these events. Hope to see you there!

Creative Beading Cruise

We now have 3 of the classes represented for the Feb. 19 cruise. Dorice has created a beautiful mask that any doll sized 16 to 20-inches could wear. But, it doesn't have to go on a doll. Masks can be placed on a vest, quilt, wall hanging, picture frame, etc.

In case you haven't seen the other classes, here's the pictures:

Annie Hesse is teaching a beaded lariat.
I'll be teaching beaded flowers.

Contact Barbara Roby at: [email protected]
Or, call her at: 925-803-7504

Cruises

In my wildest dreams I never thought I'd enjoy cruises. I have fallen in love with them. Especially teaching on a cruise. I've taught on 4 cruises. The first one was a quilting cruise and I was the doll making teacher. The last 3 were strictly doll makiing cruises. I've talked about the most recent one earlier in this Blog.

The picture is of Carnival's Miracle. February 19-27, 2008 we'll be on board the Miracle cruising to Colon, Panama; Limon, Costa Rica and Belize. This allows us four full days at sea for classes. The cruise is based on my newest book "Creative Cloth Doll Beading". Annie Hesse, Dorice Larkin and myself are the teachers.

If you are interested contact Barbara Roby at BR Travel Services. Her phone number is: 1-925-803-7504 Ext. 106. Or you can email her at: [email protected]
You can also contact me for class information. Keep coming back here for more up-to-date information on the cruise, too.