A little background information is in order here . . .
In 2010 my good friend Sheila and I were visiting and sadly lamenting the lack of workshops to attend in our area. There were some classes being taught by local quilt groups, but there was no large scale organization for bringing outside teachers in to teach to large groups of people. We figured that if this was bothering us than likely there were others in the quilting community that felt the same way.
So, the question was: “why doesn’t someone coordinate this and bring in teachers for workshops?” The light bulb went on for Sheila and I – WE COULD DO IT!! As The Crow Flies Quilting Workshops was launched. There are now the four of us doing the planning and executing of the various facets needed to sponsor these workshops – Sheila, Val, Sheryl and myself – it has become too much for just two people!! Quilters have come from Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan, north of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, and I’ve lost track of how many other communities in Manitoba.
So in 2010 we brought in the Quilt Patch girls from Moose Jaw, SK for a trunk show and workshop;
June 2011 we brought in Joan Statz from Alberta; 
October 2011 we sponsored “The Crows Have Flipped Mystery” workshop,
as well as hosting and teaching a “Beginner’s Workshop”;
2012 we put on “Quilter’s Camp”
as well as “Santa’s Workshop”
in 2013 we hosted the “Down on the Farm” workshop which was our first 2-day event with a total of over 90 people registered!!! I will have a separate post on this workshop very soon.
Which brings me to our teaching gig . . .
In 2012, we received an invitation for Sipiweske Quilt Designs and “As the Crow Flies Quilting Workshops” to submit teaching proposals to be reviewed by the Manitoba Prairie Quilters 30th anniversary committee.
To celebrate this milestone the group was hosting a quilt education conference – Friday, April 5 – Sunday, April 7, 2013. They booked five classrooms at the Canadian Mennonite University (North Campus) in Winnipeg and were looking to fill those classrooms with a variety of quilt instructors and lots of quilters wanting to learn new techniques.
Two proposals were submitted by Sheila and myself and then we sat back to await the outcome. Both proposals were accepted and the planning began . . . we are usually the ones that book the venue, provide the lunch and deal with all the emails with registrants, teach/facilitate the projects, etc., so this was a nice to change to ONLY be responsible for the actual instruction part.
We chose the Loonie Blooms pattern (see sidebar) as an Intro. to Appliqué project.
And then we chose the “twofer” pattern to introduce quick piecing as well as how to use 12 fat quarters to make two awesome quick projects (see side bar).
We had the best students and they produced some gorgeous projects!
Most students were able to get their blocks for the All Cooped Up quilt completed that day which is always a bonus. 
It’s always interesting to see the different looks you get by using different fabrics.
My apologies for the long post, but I have been long overdue in blogging about As The Crow Flies and this wonderful teaching opportunity that we had. Every second year the Manitoba Prairie Quilters host a quilt show and the opposite year they will be hosting workshops. In 2014 the quilt show is scheduled for March 28 – 30, 2014 in Winnipeg.
I’m sure there will be a van load going for a road trip in March!!! Hopefully the weather is a touch warmer than it is right now . . . feels like –45C with the wind chill – brrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
Stay warm wherever you are.
1 comment:
Well done to you and your crew, first for finding the need and then for doing something about it! The snowy weather has been making headlines here; we are having record-breaking heat while you are setting records with the cold.
Post a Comment