30 October – 6 November, 2010

Have you thought about making a quilt to capture your memories of a special place?  This week in Fiji is a marvellous opportunity to do just that. You will have a rich choice of subject matter in and around the resort where we stay – the mountainous landscape, the view over the bay, the tropical gardens…or you might like to use a scene from a nearby village or the nearby market. No matter what the inspiration, creating a landscape quilt is an achievable project.  The process combines making decisions about design and colour choices as well as incorporating accurate construction techniques.

Over the week, Gloria will show you how to choose the subject, what aspect to focus on, how to make it come alive, and where to begin. She will then guide you through the process, looking at how to translate what you see into an image in textiles. By the end of the week you will have had the opportunity to produce  a wall hanging depicting a scene of your choice.

You will need to bring basic sewing supplies and a sewing machine, and she will supply hand dyed fabrics, fabrics to paint and the paint.
Gloria Loughman lives by the sea, on the beautiful Bellarine Peninsula, in Victoria.

She has been teaching patchwork classes for many years and enjoys sharing her knowledge and skills with others. She likes to challenge students to design their own quilts but is also happy to provide patterns for those less confident. Her classes are very popular with lots of students coming back. She has also travelled extensively overseas teaching classes in New Zealand, United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Europe, South Africa, and Japan.

Over the years she has dabbled in many areas including strip piecing, bargello, colourwash, fabric dyeing and painting, and machine embroidery After completing some studies in design and colour as part of a Diploma of Art in 1996, she began to make her large vivid landscape quilts depicting the Australian bush. Most of the textiles used have been hand dyed or painted and feature extensive machine embroidery. These quilts have won many major awards in Australia, Europe, Japan and the United States. Her quilt ‘Kimberley Mystique’ was the winner of Australia’s most prestigious national quilting award in 2003.

She has also curated eight exhibitions of Australian quilts to the United States and have had the privilege of judging at many major shows. She has had a number of solo exhibitions, including an invitation to exhibit at the prestigious NEC Show in Birmingham, UK. Her book, Luminous Landscapes, was released by C&T in January 2007, and her second book, Quilted Symphony, will be available in January 2010.

Programme

Saturday 30 October
Arrive Fiji and fly on to Savusavu.

Sunday 31 October
Morning workshop: an introduction to the week. Learn about designing a landscape quilt.  Look at different colour choices.  Begin to design quilt, concentrating on the background.  Poolside lunch and coconut cutting demonstration, followed by a walk around the resort gardens.

Monday 1 November
Morning workshop: Watch demonstrations of fabric painting then have fun painting your own unique fabrics.  Paint fabric for your sky, water or any other areas of your background.  After lunch you will have some free time for snorkelling, swimming and relaxing.  Or there’s an optional visit to town, visiting geothermal hot springs, local market and shops.

Tuesday 2 November
Morning workshop: Time now to construct the background of your landscape.  Simple construction techniques will be outlined including mosaic piecing and invisible appliqué.  There will also be a tapa making demonstration.

Wednesday 3 November
Morning workshop: Today we will look at the various techniques that can be used to create trees, buildings or other elements on the surface. Appliqué, painting and machine stitching will be explored to give extra texture and dimension to the landscape. In the afternoon we will have a boat or beach outing.

Thursday 4 November
Continue with individual projects.   In the evening we will go into Savusavu for drinks at the yacht Club and diner in town.

Friday 5 November
Finish individual projects, concentrating on quilting and looking at various options for borders and binding. End session with a show and tell.  Afternoon visit to Vivili village for traditional meke (dance).  Final diner.

Saturday 6 November
Return home.