My (!!!) Quilting Arts DVD Workshop
Can you believe it? I’ve been to Loveland, Colorado, taped a Quilting Arts DVD Workshop, come home (exhausted but elated) and I can still barely believe it. Yes, I have been “on the set” filming this week. Due out in September as both a download and as an actual DVD (which is wonderful for us who live in the boonies with glacial internet), the working title is “Fused Collage and Thread-Coloring,” a Quilting Arts Workshop from Interweave Press!
The project I used for the workshop is my Tomatoes, Basil and Garlic quilt (No. 1) [there will be 3 versions before I’m done], but the workshop is to teach you how to use your own photo to make an art quilt:
My trip to the airport was an omen–a good one–for how the trip was about to go. I mean, look at the beginnings of sunrise as I crossed the driveway to the garage!
It got even more dramatic just over the ridge heading to the coast, at the intersection of Route 105 (the Camden Road) and High Street in Hope:
And ten minutes down the coast in Rockland:
I flew Cape Air (maximum of 9 passengers) to Boston, then JetBlue (for the first but not the last time!) to Denver, where I caught the shuttle to Loveland directly to the Interweave studio where I met Helen Gregory and the filming crew. There we set up my materials, hung the quilts, and went over my plans for filming the next day. Congrats to Helen on her promotion to Vice President for Content, Interweave and Martha Pullen, and upcoming move to Colorado!
And boy did I prep. I had about a month (shorter than usual I think) between my contract and filming date, so I pretty much did nothing but make step-outs, more step-outs, refine, video (to get used to talking to a camera and to time myself), cut/edit, cut/edit/shorten more, etc. For a month. Non-stop.
Interweave has a make-up artist come do you up for camera, as there are special products that make you look right on camera under all those bright lights. I shoulda shot a picture of me sitting at the table looking at the room…it was FULL of big tripods, cameras, and cables and cords EVERYWHERE. Miraculously, I did not trip and break anything or anyone!
Then it was time to get changed and start taping. Then we mostly forgot to take still pictures! But here are some….
I never saw this view, but either Helen or Lauren kindly took this photo for me, which shows the jib camera shot of the table with my project and quilts on it:
Then it was time to go home. Early.
I’ll spare you the tedium of a crowded plane from Denver to Philadelphia, a smaller more crowded plane from Philly to Boston, the utter hopelessness of Logan Airport (UGH UGH UGH), but flying home on Cape Air is always fun. As we approach the mid-coast, first I’ll spot the Camden Hills:
Then
As you near Dragon Cement, we turn right and head for Owl’s Head (Knox County, RKD) airport. The lights of home!
Travel was the usual crowded insanity and waiting, but I was home 16 hours later to son, hubby, cats and dog. Two of the seven are here:
In the past month, I’ve not only prepped this, but THREE articles (more on them when they are close to being published), have a quilt to make in a week, another article to write, then teaching in North Carolina in June and southern California in July, then a quilt to make by August 5. Then I can collapse a few weeks before school begins (how will Eli be a SOPHOMORE already?) and fall teaching in Massachusetts and at International Quilt Festival in Houston. So I HOPE to blog more often, but at this rate can’t promise. I have so much to catch you all up on, pictures from teaching in Florida, Vermont, and Mass….but must be mom, wife, and author first. Stay tuned!
May 3rd, 2013 at 3:13 pm
Congrats! What great to have your own DVD. And what a great views! Very inspiring.
May 3rd, 2013 at 3:54 pm
What a whirlwind of a trip! Glad everything went so well. On another note, I found my keys in the pocket of a pair of pants I hadn’t checked yesterday — not in the refrigerator!
May 3rd, 2013 at 4:46 pm
Congratulations Sarah! How very exciting for you and for all who will benefit from the DVD. Loved your step by step blog entry and amazing pics. Thanks for sharing. Cheers!
May 3rd, 2013 at 4:59 pm
Awesome trip and blog. I am looking forward to the DVD, congradulations.
Janet in FL
May 3rd, 2013 at 9:50 pm
Maybe now I can get my guild to book you!!! Congratulations!
May 3rd, 2013 at 10:47 pm
How exciting to read about your taping the DVD. I can imagine the thousands of hours of preparation that were required. But I’ll bet you came off looking smart and relaxed! Good for you!
Martha
May 4th, 2013 at 3:07 am
Well, well, you are a busy girl. And congratulations on your DVDing. Do you have any time for yourself and to relax and do nothing? Of course not. You can do all that when you’re my age. I noticed someone wrote that you’re a big girl now. You certainly are. Again, congratulations and enjoy!
May 4th, 2013 at 7:59 am
Thanks somuch for posting this all! It was so interesting to follow your trip thru the pics, it looks wonderful!! Good luck on your upcoming busy schedule! Beth
May 4th, 2013 at 8:22 am
Sarah, congrats on the DVD. And may I say that it was certainly fun to see the behind the scenes pictures.
I know what hard work making a video can be. Even though I have only done process videos for YouTube, I have been on set for a couple of interviews on news shows. those huge cameras can be quite distracting.
May 4th, 2013 at 9:09 am
Fabulous!! Can’t wait to get a copy when it comes out!
May 4th, 2013 at 9:36 am
What a whirlwind time! Thanks for letting us in on the excitement. I’m sure the DVD will be full of your energy and enthusiasm.
May 4th, 2013 at 12:25 pm
Fantastic, thank you for sharing… those of us that don’t travel much enjoy seeing where others live and their wild lives. PS.. my husband is, (going to retire this year), a wrestling referee for Greco and Freestyle wrestling. Has been for 40 years. Used to travel the world for Tournaments.
Love your art, wish some day to take a class from you, where will you be in So. Cal. I live in Central Ca. near Yosemite Nat. Park.
May 4th, 2013 at 5:45 pm
Thanks for sharing the journey with us! And I love the landmarks you use when flying home – although I certainly can’t imagine 9 people on a plane – way too small for me!
May 5th, 2013 at 8:28 am
I love the way you documented your trip with the photos, beginning with the beautiful sunrise shots. It was, I am sure, an exciting time, and I enjoyed seeing the process of filming.
I agree that a trip in a 9-passenger plane is fun–recently I made a trip to Nashville, TN from Athens, GA, in a plane that size, their only passenger. I felt like royalty. 🙂
Congratulations on the forthcoming DVD.
May 6th, 2013 at 8:46 am
Uber awesomeness! Can’t wait for the DVD!
May 7th, 2013 at 10:06 am
Congratulations! Thank you for the great photos and description of your wonderful adventure. Wishing you many more adventures like this one. I really enjoyed this Blog. Keep doing more Blogs like this one – if you can – as you continue your busy and interesting schedule. As they say here in SC – “You done good girl!”
May 16th, 2013 at 7:33 pm
[…] My (!!!) Quilting Arts DVD Workshop […]
July 5th, 2013 at 6:52 pm
[…] Well long ago and many degrees cooler than now (about 75 degrees cooler to be precise), I began work on a piece for a juried exhibit / book, and I’m thrilled to say that my piece was accepted. Mary W. Kerr, author of Cutting Edge Art Quilts (see my book announcement blogpost here), came up with another great idea for an exhibit: “Dare to Dance, An Artist’s Interpretation of Joy.” It worked so well, she sent out an invitation to make a quilt 18 x 30 inches for possible inclusion in a book on that theme. Immediately I KNEW what my image would be… but it would just need to get squeezed into a very busy time period when I was also writing three articles, doing new artwork for the articles, AND prepping and filming my Quilting Arts DVD (post about that here). […]