Akasha is the Sanskrit word for Spirit, but more directly, it means the basis and essence of all things in the material world. Spirit dolls are art objects that are easy to create from recycled materials. These spirit dolls were initially created as a way work through grief and trauma. The ritualized deconstruction of the garments and repetitive wrapping works as both art technique and meditative process. The finished dolls become the embodiment the spirit of memory and can be used as a vehicle to transfigure sadness. These dolls are easy to create with simple household materials. Some physical dexterity is needed for hand sewing and stitching.
 
Location: Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Instructor: Lorraine Reynolds
Cost: $135
Sponsor: Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts
Website, email, (608) 987-3292

We will be creating a small piece using the images from my book Folk-Tails. Choose your favorite animals, trees or flowers. We will begin by preparing and layering a textured background. Then add the appliqué incorporating hand-dyed fabrics, threads and beads. You can either plan to do the whole quilt or make a smaller version for the center of a cushion or bag.
 
Location: La Pointe, Wisconsin
Instructor: Sue Spargo
Cost: $870
Sponsor: Madeline Island School of the Arts
Website, email, (715) 747-2054

Perfect for one or two women ~ Immerse yourself a world away at Dorothy Fagan’s breath-taking Art Cottage Studio by Chesapeake Bay. Customized Lessons in oils, pastels, watercolor, drawing, fabric painting, acrylics, or mixed media. Enjoy every season on the private pond. Paint in the studio or en plein air with Dorothy at her favorite gardens, coastal marsh sanctuary, riverfront, woodlands, farms and vineyard locations. Relax on the expansive adjoining deck, or visit artisan studios down the lane. Walk to the Chesapeake Bay, or sit on the dock on Queen’s Creek and meditate, sketch, or paint the sunset. Wade in the shallows on the beach at the mouth of the Piankatank River. Paint the sunrise over Hills Bay.
 
Location: Richmond, Virginia
Instructor: Dorothy Fagan
Cost: $300
Sponsor: The Painting Lesson
Website, email, 804-366-0990

This class will be an open class. Our focus will be on texture: What is texture? How to create texture. How to use texture. How to create texture on the edge of our rugs. Choose from a vast array of patterns on the instructor’s website, bring your own pattern, or design your own. Nola loves all color - bright to muted! Any size cut is fine. Creativity is taught and encouraged in her class. This annual 3-day Rug Hooking workshop/retreat is open to students of all levels from beginner to advanced. Bring your own pattern, frame, hooks and wools and receive individualized instruction. Open studio time is available on Friday and Saturday evenings.
 
Location: Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Instructor: Nola Heidbreder
Cost: $255
Sponsor: Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts
Website, email, (608) 987-3292

Each quilt reflects the personality of its maker. By the shapes we prefer or colors and patterns we choose, how we finish a quilt ultimately puts our fingerprints on a quilt. In this class you will study Indian folk art quilts and American antique scrap quilts. Sujata will discuss bold and abstract interpretations of traditional quilt blocks as well as the process of making do. From the examples provided, each participant will choose one or two traditional quilt blocks or geometric shapes as design elements for a quilt top. The focus will be on template-free shapes and organic-piecing methods. Sujata will demonstrate traditional Indian Kantha stitching; discuss organic hand quilting and bias binding for students to finish the quilt.
 
Location: La Pointe, Wisconsin
Instructor: Sujata Shah
Cost: $870
Sponsor: Madeline Island School of the Arts
Website, email, (715) 747-2054

This 5-Day workshop will explore the fundamentals of shibori resist, traditional techniques to contemporary variations such as sewing machine stitch on a wide range of fabric surfaces and combinations of opposite fibers including cotton, wool, silk, organza, and polyester. Yoshiko will be available to guide you through this exploration process. She will use easy to follow Michel Garcia’s organic indigo vat 1-2-3; fiber reactive dye to enhance the degumming effect on silk organza; disperse dye to venture into heat transfer printing. Participants are asked to bring small fabric in various fiber or other dye-able materials in different texture, pattern, and opacity/ transparency to gain own visual vocabulary.
 
Location: La Pointe, Wisconsin
Instructor: Yoshiko I. Wada
Cost: $915
Sponsor: Madeline Island School of the Arts
Website, email, (715) 747-2054

Fresh indigo and natural dye materials from the fields and farm and easy accessible pantry products will be on hand to enhance the learning and dyeing process as participants learn new ways and expand skills with natural dyes. History of dye use, ways to create beautiful fabric and paper designs incorporating traditional and experimental techniques will be covered. Expect to leave with recipes, new ideas, test samples, a completed wall hanging and the confidence to dye at home. An introduction to batik and paste resist is provided and this technique may be explored. Explore and learn about other artists who use this medium and the current movement connecting art and agriculture sustainability.
 
Location: Denver, Colorado
Instructor: Catherine Cross Tsintzos
Cost: $240-$270
Sponsor: Art Makers Denver
Website, email, 303-263-6963

In this week-long intensive Kate will teach the techniques she uses to build her sculptural figures using polymer clay, cloth, and wire construction. Create two sculptures - a horse, bird, or rabbit approximately 15" tall - as your major piece. From a drawing, design and make a fabric pattern, then use wire to build the form that will animate your piece. Use paint, found objects, fabrics, or collage to embellish your work. In the second part of the class you will create a figure to ride, lead - maybe dance - with your fantasy critter. Kate will have patterns available if you feel you are not ready to design your own. Get ready for an extraordinary, fun, and inspiring ride!
 
Location: Mineral Point, Wisconsin
Instructor: Kate Church
Cost: $700
Sponsor: Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts
Website, email, (608) 987-3292

Improvisation is key to successful design and developing your style in stitches. Hand quilting offers a look at the handwork of the artist. It sculpts the quilt top enhancing the visual and textural presentation of the quilt. A rich textile tradition offers a starting place to inform our contemporary ideas. We will address the fundamentals and beyond so you can enjoy slow stitching in a hoop, a frame, or without either. Your designs will be your own freeform wanderings, engaging you from start to finish. No marking or templates are necessary. Our primary focus is the design and process of quilting by hand in which you will create original quilting lines and themes making a whole cloth wall quilt.
 
Location: La Pointe, Wisconsin
Instructor: Pam Beal
Cost: $870
Sponsor: Madeline Island School of the Arts
Website, email, (715) 747-2054

Life is a pathway, a road map of sorts, filled with people and places and memories, a rich tapestry of learning and experience. In this class Sue invites you to stitch your story in cloth using this simple ‘house and road’ design as a creative framework. Discover the complexity of Sue’s approach to creative stitching as she guides you through this process. Begin by texturizing a background of soft, hand dyed wool with simple stitching and fabric layering techniques. Build layer upon layer, embellishing your piece with wool, silk velvet, silk dupioni, linen and cotton fabrics. Experiment with an array of specialty threads using embroidery stitches and stitch combinations, each stitch and new technique adding depth and texture to your work.
 
Location: La Pointe, Wisconsin
Instructor: Sue Spargo
Cost: $870
Sponsor: Madeline Island School of the Arts
Website, email, (715) 747-2054

This is a design class for beginners through intermediate quilters with colorful goals in mind! You will have the chance to design a Double Vision quilt by simply layering Shapes and Color for richly complex designs. Or if you prefer you can design a Fractured Curves quilt by fracturing quilts for easy, curvy and colorful results. Either design is available; make one, make both or a combination of the two - it's your choice! At the start of the class we will discuss and show you the many designs available to you, students will then determine their own direction for the week with lots of one-on-one direction from Louisa.
 
Location: La Pointe, Wisconsin
Instructor: Louisa L. Smith
Cost: $870
Sponsor: Madeline Island School of the Arts
Website, email, (715) 747-2054

Combine creative piecing with traditional techniques to design a quilt inspired by the ones you love! This workshop will take you out of the box with new takes on composition, interesting backgrounds, story creativity, color theory and more. Mary Lou’s approachable nature and teaching style make it easy to understand and apply these techniques into your own quilt. Techniques such as drawing, lettering, embellishing with old linens, jewelry and rick rack will all be integrated into this fun workshop.
 
Location: La Pointe, Wisconsin
Instructor: Mary Lou Weidman
Cost: $870
Sponsor: Madeline Island School of the Arts
Website, email, (715) 747-2054

Established by artists Penny L. Arrowood and Michelle Davis Petelinz, Your Creative Connection, Haw River 2018 is an all inclusive, mixed media art experience set in the scenic foothills of North Carolina. Designed for women by women: a memorable event to inspire creative discoveries. Aside from travel to and from the venue, everything that students need is included: lodging, linens, studio space, instruction, supplies, chef-prepared meals, daily snacks, and engaging evening activities. Immersed in our art-venturing, we will explore surface design employing myriad mixed media techniques and a variety of mediums. Studio time is structured to inspire new-comers, seasoned artists, and creative writers alike. Our final day will feature a showcase of the work created during our time together.
 
Location: Browns Summit, North Carolina
Instructor: Penny Arrowood & Michelle Davis Petelinz
Cost: $1,500
Sponsor: Your Creative Connection
Website, email, 910-875-7416

Stitching is a uniquely textural and versatile form of mark-making. Explore its potential as textile art in a welcoming community environment.Learn several basic embroidery stitches, fabric collage, and techniques for drawing with needle and thread. Create embroideries for display on their own or incorporation into sewing projects and multimedia artworks.
 
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Instructor: Sheryl Kessler
Cost: $195, Lab Fee: $25
Sponsor: Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Website, email, 215-972-7632

Life is a pathway, a road map of sorts, filled with people and places and memories, a rich tapestry of learning and experience. In this class Sue invites you to stitch your story in cloth using this simple ‘house and road’ design as a creative framework. Discover the complexity of Sue’s approach to creative stitching as she guides you through this process. Begin by texturizing a background of soft, hand dyed wool with simple stitching and fabric layering techniques. Build layer upon layer, embellishing your piece with wool, silk velvet, silk dupioni, linen and cotton fabrics. Experiment with an array of specialty threads using embroidery stitches and stitch combinations, each stitch and new technique adding depth and texture to your work.
 
Location: La Pointe, Wisconsin
Instructor: Sue Spargo
Cost: $970
Sponsor: Madeline Island School of the Arts
Website, email, (715) 747-2054

Learn Susan’s innovative layering/collage method using your own photo as inspiration to make a quilt that pops! Patterns and templates will not be used. This five-day format is ideal for expanding on each student’s unique design. Susan will introduce different aspects of the quilt collage approach each day, using her own quilts as examples. Fabric selection and how it relates to the subject matter, construction, backgrounds and borders, quilting and finishing for display will be discussed.
 
Location: La Pointe, Wisconsin
Instructor: Susan Carlson
Cost: $870
Sponsor: Madeline Island School of the Arts
Website, email, (715) 747-2054

Six months before the workshop, our team will help guide you through the process of customizing your personal project using design elements never before released by Quiltworx. Use the Quiltster tool (6-month membership is included) to design a project on your own or work with our design team one-on-one to create your project. All projects (kits are purchased separately) will be completed using a wide range of current and popular fabric collections selected by the local quilt shop from companies such as Hoffman Fabrics, Timeless Treasures, Free Spirit, and more! We will prepare the kit for you, have it waiting at the event, and bring a team of instructors ready to teach whatever you need to know to make your design.
 
Location: Tucson, Arizona
Instructor: Judy Niemeyer
Cost: $1,175
Sponsor: Madeline Island School of the Arts
Website, email, (715) 747-2054

Join Sue for six days of folk art bliss. You will spend your first day getting acquainted with the beautiful ambiance and culture of Santa Fe, and spend the afternoon at the Museum of International Folk Art. The Museum is home to over 130,000 folk art inspired objects from over 100 countries. While there, you will gather ideas and become inspired to continue on the journey to creating a one-of-a-kind piece of art. For the next five days, Sue will guide you through the design process, specifically on how to choose color, and techniques of layering and embellishing. At the end of the six days you will have the confidence to finish your folk art original.
 
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico
Instructor: Sue Spargo
Cost: $970
Sponsor: Madeline Island School of the Arts
Website, email, (715) 747-2054

Design and construct your own landscape quilt, learning the key elements of design and experimenting with colour. The first project, a colour exercise, will be a small scene where the pattern will be provided. Focal point, perspective and other basic design principles will be discussed then you will begin to design your own wall hanging working from a photo, sketch or picture. Your design can be abstract or as realistic or anywhere in between. Consider piecing, stripping and mosaic options for different areas then using an overlay technique, construct your quilt. Fabric painting, fusing, invisible machine appliqué, free motion stitching and quilting techniques will be included.
 
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico
Instructor: Gloria Loughman
Cost: $770
Sponsor: Madeline Island School of the Arts
Website, email, (715) 747-2054

An art quilter’s most valuable asset is his or her creativity. In this workshop you’ll find creative thinking exercises. Beginning with an exercise related to the seven principles of design --work instinctively with color – explore creativity through experimentation. All works are small, enabling you to develop ideas quickly and freely. You will create paper map-like collage compositions through a series of quick "hands-on" exercises and subsequently make fabric constructions. The goal of this class is to allow you to create little spontaneous works that can become the basis for a final small quilted art map. You will develop these pieces using freehand scissor cutting, layering of varied fabrics, and other techniques to create an interesting work of art.
 
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico
Instructor: Valerie Goodwin
Cost: $870 + $10 materials
Sponsor: Madeline Island School of the Arts
Website, email, (715) 747-2054

We will be creating a small piece using the images from my book Folk-Tails. Choose your favorite animals, trees or flowers. We will begin by preparing and layering a textured background. Then add the appliqué incorporating hand-dyed fabrics, threads and beads. You can either plan to do the whole quilt or make a smaller version for the center of a cushion or bag.
 
Location: La Pointe, Wisconsin
Instructor: Sue Spargo
Cost: $970
Sponsor: Madeline Island School of the Arts
Website, email, (715) 747-2054

Our most memorable quilts are often those that speak to special times, places, things, and people in our lives. Using your photographs as the place to begin the design process offers a personalized and memorable look to your quilts. Based on the design methods developed by Ruth McDowell, this class takes you through the design process – from photo to pictorial quilt. This style of quilt emphasizes the use of patterned cotton fabrics in unique ways yet is grounded in traditional piecing methods. The result is a quilt design with a somewhat abstract quality that is uniquely your own. This course is best suited for the confident beginner to advanced student.
 
Location: La Pointe, Wisconsin
Instructor: Ann P Shaw
Cost: $870
Sponsor: Madeline Island School of the Arts
Website, email, (715) 747-2054

This class combines painting and quilting. Using acrylic paint, the students will create layers of imagery onto thin canvas, applying fused fabrics and many layers of thin, fluid acrylic paint. A color scheme is chosen and two to three canvases are painted within that color scheme. Then these canvases are cut apart and combined to create a complex composition. The reconstructed canvas is then layered with batting and backing and stitched. These stitched pieces can then be stretched on a frame ready to hang or inserted into a quilt of the same design to create a many textured creation.
 
Location: La Pointe, Wisconsin
Instructor: Katie Pasquini Masopust, www.katiepm.com
Cost: $670
Sponsor: Madeline Island School of the Arts
Website, email, (715) 747-2054

Create a pieced and layered indigo wool and fabric background. Add a Flower Pot appliqué drawing inspiration from a choice of flower and pot designs creating the elements by machine or hand appliqué techniques using textural silks, velvets and wools. Finish with a unique border and embellish with stitching to bring your design to life.
 
Location: La Pointe, Wisconsin
Instructor: Sue Spargo
Cost: $970
Sponsor: Madeline Island School of the Arts
Website, email, (715) 747-2054

In this hands-on embellishment class, you will study numerous ways to create texture using neutral-colored threads. Please arrive in class with your base block already appliquéd with 20 circles. We will then spend the week embellishing a one-of-a-kind piece. You will learn many variations of stitches as well as techniques including shadowing, beading, dimensional embroidery, ribbon play, and dimensional art using different stitches and textural threads.
 
Location: La Pointe, Wisconsin
Instructor: Sue Spargo
Cost: $970
Sponsor: Madeline Island School of the Arts
Website, email, (715) 747-2054

Enjoy five full days of quilting bliss with designer and master quilter, Jacqueline de Jonge while working on the design of your choice! Learn Jacqueline’s unique approach to paper piecing that will have you creating unbelievable work with show-stopping color and movement! Enjoy personal daily instruction, demonstrations, laughter, fun and plenty of time to sew. Each student works at their own eight foot table in a studio that was built from the ground up with quilters in mind. The studio is open 24/7 throughout the week and is flooded with natural light, comfortable chairs, bottomless cookie jars and plenty of room to spread out make this a true quilter’s dream get-away! Treat yourself to the best!
 
Location: La Pointe, Wisconsin
Instructor: Jacqueline de Jonge
Cost: $870
Sponsor: Madeline Island School of the Arts
Website, email, (715) 747-2054

We all have innate preferences for certain colors, shapes and proportions, as well as natural attractions to certain symbols, images and icons. In this class we will study photographs and slides of a variety of historic and ethnic decorative objects to help uncover some of the motifs and symbols which may have powerful personal resonance. For example, you may be drawn to Buddhist mandalas or Mexican milagros. You may be attracted to the design of an Inuit mask or the pattern from an Art Nouveau vase. Each student will select historic motifs, shapes and images which they will manipulate and reinterpret into a unique statement in fabric and thread. The aim of the workshop is to nurture your intuitive skills.
 
Location: La Pointe, Wisconsin
Instructor: Jane Sassaman
Cost: $870
Sponsor: Madeline Island School of the Arts
Website, email, (715) 747-2054