Day Three of the Jason Collingwood workshop on Twills at Vavning Studio

Ahhh this is it, the last day of our weaving adventure.    I have been so busy since we got home, that it is taking me a few days to catch up and get these blogs out.  Ya know how that is, it's just like getting home from vacation.  But this was like school, vacation, rving, and working all rolled into one weekend!  So this is the last blog related to the Jason Collingwood Twill workshop.

Although this blog post is about Monday, I forgot to post a few more pics of Sunday.  The weather was nice on Sunday, when we posed outside for the group pic on my previous blog.  A few of us wandered outside to eat lunch on the picnic table alongside the studio.  Here, on the left, Karie and her husband Mark soaked up a bit of the rays while relaxing out on the front lawn.  Mark is also a spinner and knitter, and here he was working with a drop spindle during some of our lecture sessions.

Mark and Karie's blog:  http://vdcalpacas.blogspot.com

Juanita's studio is so welcoming; from the sign out front greeting Jason, or walking into a room full of looms and fibers and laugher.   Here is the little coleus plant I put by the door each year when I come to her classes.  I grow these coleus from the same snips of plants that I winter over in my house from fall to spring.  Then I replant them outside for the summer.  This is the same strain I have kept going since the 1990's when I got the snips from my friend, Connie.  I keep re-rooting more cuttings and keep the same strain going all these years. 

Here are a few shots around the Vavning Studio, with rows of Juanita's big looms along the sides, and her displays of handwoven items for sale.   She has an open studio where customers can stop in, and she also gives lessons throughout the year in many artistic methods, including watercolors, weaving and other arts.  PS Juanita is a retired art teacher, can't you tell? 

Our Monday morning was busy busy busy ---

trying to catch up,

going over a few more notes, 

weaving a few more things on our loom samples, 

asking a few more questions and 

preparing our notes and samples to make sense to us once we got home again!

I love this pic of Juanita on the left, she is sooo studious, with her print over her shoulder of herself in a past era, and the chalkboard of diagrams saved from the first Jason Collingwood Workshop she hosted in 2004. 

Everyone's brains were saturated with thoughts of which harness, which shuttle, which warp, which color, which pattern, which what when where why who and how??????

In the photo on the left, our friend Katie is working across from Juanita on a table loom, and on the right is a shot of the two guys, John and Mike, bringing up the rear of the studio.  They put up with us chattering women, and managed to get a lot woven on their samples too.

 

Karen York, a friend of Juanita's, stopped by for a visit.  She is a fellow weaver and we have gotten to know and appreciate her fine weaving and lovely garments over the last 8 years.  She is also a very good "sock customer" of mine!  She picked up these hand-dyed socks I cranked up for her, and she ordered two more pairs of socks from me.  (I have to get them done this week and in the mail as soon as I can)

So here is Juanita partaking of the goodies with our coffee on Monday morning.  Karen York and Jason are discussing the weaving world of fibers, and we are slowly starting to wind down.  

The Monday morning weather outside was gloomy and wet and starting to rain as we were all taking down our looms and clearing out the center of the studio.  Dashing in and out between downpours, we all stowed our gear and got the main banquet tables set up for our final dinner.  It's amazing how much room there is in the studio when the center is cleared out.  Juanita found some Italian checkered tablecloth runners, so we were fittingly set up to a theme for the meal I prepared.  

Yes, my Kitchen Wench duties include a nice meal to send folks on their way home with full bellies.  I made up some lasagna, both meat and veggie versions, some garlic bread, salads, and Juanita ordered a luscious turtle cheesecake from Annie's Restaurant down the road.  Being that they are located by Turtle Creek in the Township of Turtle, it seemed only fitting.   Working in the quintessential "Church Kitchen" I could feel the years of meals served there by the church ladies in the past.  What a history----

 

The meal went well, and soon goodbyes had to be said as each member went out the door.  It was time to travel home and bring along a bit of the workshop in each of the weaver's hearts.   Another Jason Collingwood workshop is over.  Sigh. 

I hit the kitchen for clean-up time, and Steve helped carry out more stuff to our rig.  He had the motorhome all road-worthy and hooked up the Tracker.  My loom and weaving items were carefully stowed away and it was time to go.  We hugged goodbye to a pooped out Juanita and Norm, and I was just as pooped out too.  

Steveio drove us towards home, through rain, road construction and Monday rush hour traffic by the time we hit the Fox Valley.  Arggghhhh   Four hours later we were backing the motorhome into our driveway.  

Our doggie, Duke, pulled his normal temper tantrum about coming in the house.  He sure enjoys RVing and just hates looking out the open door, only to see his own yard and house again.  He sits out there in the driveway and pouts, and tries dashing back into the motorhome as we unload items from the fridge.  He just wants to be camping!!!   I know the feeling........