The Sisters experience

I taught in Sisters Oregon last week and uneven internet access prevented me from blogging while I was there, but now I'm back and here's the scoop!

Sisters is a beautiful town in the high desert of central Oregon. It has a wild west vibe that's very foreign (but very cool) to this Connecticut Yankee.

The hotel where all of the teachers stayed was also a llama ranch - it was really, really cool to wake up every morning and look at the herd in the paddock outside the window.





I taught a different class every day at the high school in an open area in the middle of all the action.



On two of the days I presented one of my favorite classes, Project Patchwork, where I challenged my students to create three small quilts in six hours, based on different criteria. One of the challenges was to randomly select a fine art postcard and use it as a source of inspiration, no copying allowed! The best challenge on Project Runway last season was the one at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and I wanted to capture that energy. Here are a few of the pieces made in class, plus the postcards that inspired them.








Another of the challenges involved interpreting a cliche. Here is good things come in small packages.



I'll post a few pictures from the big outdoor show later today and more pictures of my students' work. The whole thing was a terrific experience - the students were wonderful, the organizers were organized and thoughtful, and the show was outstanding. And of course, hanging out with the other teachers was a treat.