Sew South Retreat…and a few more big plans…

Whoo Hoo! I’m doing a happy dance for joy because I’m heading to Sew South Modern Quilt Retreat in March!

 This retreat is being organized by the wonderful Jennifer of Ellison Lane Quilts, a blog that is a continual source of pretty color therapy for me on the days when everything looks gray. Bright, beautiful, clean modern quilting is her theme and she does it VERY well!

I found out about this retreat from my fellow Craftsy quilting teacher Amy Gibson from her blog Stitchery Ditchery Dock. Scrolling through her side bar, I saw the words “Charlotte, NC” and “retreat” and knew I had to go!

And to add to my cup running over, when I signed up for the retreat, Jennifer from Ellison Lane asked very sweetly if I’d like to guest lecture for 1 hour at the event. Of course! I’d love to bring a few quilts and share about them. It will actually give me a good incentive to get my two big quilts in progress done by March 2013 – a nice deadline to get them rolling faster.

Now for the bad news – As this is the very first year of Sew South, Jennifer from Ellison Lane is keeping things small – just 50 participants, and yes, it’s already full. If you’re dying to go, just contact Jennifer and see if you can be put on the wait list.

As for more retreats / workshops in the future – I admit that I’m going to stretch my travel legs a bit in 2013 and plan to attend both AQS Paducah and Spring Quilt Market for the first time.

I’ve also decided to teach a workshop at Sew Much Fun in Gastonia, NC in March 2013. I do love to connect with students in person and feel this is such an important element to learning how to be a better teacher, both in person and online.

However, I’m still sticking close to home and do not plan to start traveling and teaching full time. I still feel the best place for me to teach is here online, where everyone can benefit from my videos, no matter where you live in the world.

When James is a bit older we might rent an RV in the summer and start driving through this beautiful country, hitting guilds and shows along the way. There’s a great big world out there, and I’d love the chance to see it, show it to my son, and share and teach quilting all at the same time.

So lot’s of big plans in the works! Make sure to check out Sew South and contact Jennifer if you’d like to be put on the wait list for that wonderful modern retreat.

Also if you’re really hankering for a workshop in person, and willing to come to NC to take it, just contact Sew Much Fun to sign up for that workshop today.

Now speaking of teaching, I’ve got a handful of new videos to shoot so I have something fun to teach you all come January!  Better get off the computer and get busy!

Let’s go quilt,

Leah