I started this final day of my Pretend Empty Spools Seminar by gluing together Draft # 2. My goal for today was to make Draft # 3 (hopefully the final draft) ready for quilting.
The next step in the process is to add more in the way of decorative sheers. The pink tulle is added over the butterfly in the top right. I felt it needed to be less white. Likewise I added the black sheer with metallic dots over the camels. The white sand was too white. In the past I would have used Derwent Intense pencils to mute that white. Now I know another way. The blue tulle was added from the center of the dark blue spiral around to the end of the leafy branch on the right side. It makes the dark blues a bit lighter and the greens just a bit less green.
The next step was adding an overall tulle. The other option would be to glue every edge securely down, way too much work for me, especially as I get closer to the end I want to see it finished. The tulle will add a subtle change to the overall effect so auditioning is necessary. Below you see I auditioned 4 different colors of tulle. The dark blue (upper left) and dark green (lower left) make it too dark. The pink (upper right) make it look washed out. The brown (lower right) actually brighten up the whole thing. It turned out to be an easy decision!
The next photo shows two important things about my Pretend Workshop. The first is the quilt which has been layered up with 4, not the usual 3 layers. There is the backing, batting (the soft innards of a quilt), the top which we’ve been looking at all week and the brown tulle. They are all basted together with safety pins.
In the background you see my laptop. When at a real quilt workshop, not pretend, there are a lot of other people around creating, asking opinions, just talking all the time! In order to add that into my petend workshop I continued something I started ever since we have been sheltering in place to flatten the curve of Corona virus. I tune into the Rancho Cordova Arts Facebook page at 4 PM. https://www.facebook.com/RanchoCordovaArts/ I actually have a daily timer set on my phone to remind me. I use it as a parallel play time in my sewing room. Each week day at that time there is a tutorial on some artistic activity to do at home during these stay at home days. In this picture you see Marsha Mason’s video tutorial on making a split primary color wheel. Someday you may even see me do one.
At the end of my final day I had reached beyond my goal of being ready for quilting, but unfortunately it is not my final draft. My husband came into my sewing room at this point and asked, “Shouldn’t this area be green?” Well yes it should, why didn’t he come in earlier? So before I go further I’ll need to go under the brown tulle and change that small left corner to green. Also I’ve decided to reorient the whole quilt, so that the sea turtle is not swimming straight up. As I was creating the collage I often rotated the quilt to have easier access to the different areas, so it’s not surprising that it needs reorientation. See the little pinned reminder in the lower left. Oh, I need to change the direction of the little pink heart in the upper left too. Luckily none of these changes are difficult because I have not quilted over them yet. Whew!
So as my day and workshop closes I have a request. What should I title this? Usually I know my title. Often the title actually comes to my mind before I even start! Not this time. If you create the winning title you will receive a fabric postcard made by yours truly. Thank you for following along during this fun, creative process.
At the close of my Pretend Empty Spools Seminar at Asilomar in Pacific Grove, CA I drove to Pebble Beach (aka American River, Rancho Cordova, CA) and found this lovely creation.
From My Sewing Room 
Hi Frances! Thanks for sharing your very real spiral from your pretend seminar! Your posts were very entertaining and interesting for me to see how your week progressed. You were a very attentive student, and would love to see you in another class someday! FYI, I’ll be sharing a link to your series of posts in my Saturday (May 2, 2020) blog post—your creativity and optimistic take on a disappointing situation is definitely inspiring. —Susan
Thank you Susan. I feel like I’m getting to know you. I enjoyed all of the Spiral eWorkshop and all the Thursday Nights From My Studio Live. I look forward to next week on Improvisational Faces.
Hi, Fladack! I truly enjoyed reading your delightful and creative posts about your Pretend Empty Spools Seminar this morning (May 2) after Susan told us about it. Having been lucky to spend a week at Susan’s Portland Maine class in 2017, I know full well the excitement and anticipation that you had and the big girl way you turned this disappointment into a great experience, not just for yourself, but for many of us in this other-world kind of time warp we seem to be in! THANKS!
This was very interesting, Frances. I really enjoyed following along. I’m glad Susan mentioned it. I have that book. I’ll just have to have me a pretend retreat like yours. Thank you, too, Susan, for making this possible with all your creative help.
I finally found your blog and really enjoy your posts especially the pretend Asilomar retreat. Very clever of you to turn this disappointment into something creative and fun for all of us!!! I have the same class from Susan and hope to get started on it soon. Watch out, I may be coming to you for pointers. See you at the next Zoom meeting.
I’d love to see your progress.
Thank you, Frances, for sharing your experience. It’s now mid-August, and this past week my generally good spirits flagged significantly. This morning I took myself in hand and began one of those “down the rabbit hole” internet journeys in search of inspiration and instruction for a quilt I’ve long had in mind: a fabric collage of my ebullient red poodle. I’m so glad I found Susan Carson’s website, and then your record of the pretend retreat you developed — it’s exactly what the doctor ordered! My stash is modest, but as a new retiree, I can make that “problem” into a field trip (virtual, of course). By the way, what did you end up naming your spiral quilt?
I’m happy to inspire you. An ebullent red poodle sounds exciting.
I need some inspiration again too. I’m currently trying to finish a bed quilt, but haven’t devoted as much time to it as I did the week of my Pretend Empty Spools. I need to be reminded of my own lesson!
Yes, I named the spiral, Spinning Flora and Fauna. I actually just finished the label this week and need to post it.
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