Glorious Fun at our Taos Retreat

Good Morning All,

I've just returned from my Taos Retreat. It was the first retreat I've ever hosted on my own and it was a big success. I've never enjoyed teaching so much!

I had a great group of women join me at the Mabel Dodge Luhan House in Taos NM and we spent five days creating luscious fabrics and playing with them.

The retreat center was absolutely amazing. It has an easy going, reverent sort of feel to it. The rooms are very comfy and cozy with Kiva fireplaces in nearly every room. The weather was perfect, cool mornings and evenings, warm afternoons. The food was terrific and so was the staff.

We started the retreat Sunday evening with the ladies coloring the quilted name tags that I had made for each of them then we spent the next two days painting, stamping and discharging fabrics and batting. The following two days were spent learning new techniques with metal, Lutradur and other strange products and creating unique, individual pieces of art work. Several of the women completed or nearly finished their art quilt.

The first photo above is of Barbara K's quilt in progress. She used many of her hand painted fabrics and embellishments along with some commercial Batiks. The next photo is of some of the fabrics painted by Kathy A. and the final photo is of us all standing below the prayer flags at the entrance of the classroom compound.

All in all it was an amazing experience for me - and I think my students will agree. I can't wait till next years retreat! If you would like to see more photos of the gangs fabrics and quilts, visit my Facebook page; Heather Thomas

Till next time,
Heather

My new book

Good Morning All,

It's been a wild and crazy month since I've been here. I apologize for that, but life has become a whirlwind. The buzz surrounding the release of A Fiber Artist's Guide to Color & Design has created a wave that I've grabbed hold of and plan on riding out.

In business most of us don't get to pick and choose when we'll find success, so when it presents itself we/I just have to hold on for the ride. I feel that after close to 16 years of struggling in the quilting industry that I have finally "made it". Unfortunately that doesn't mean that I get to sit back on my laurels (whatever those are) and relax - it actually means that now I have to step up to the plate and hit more home runs!

With that in mind, I've been working really hard on my new line of rubber stamps, re-releasing my three Shiva painted quilt designs with manufactured stencils included, working on the next two books, shooting more DVD's, building up my supply of hand dyed and hand painted fabrics and doing more national shows.

I've finished my guest writing for Quilting Arts but I promise I will get back to adding more quilting designs here soon. I'll also finish up the last Quilt & Color designs that I showed you in the quilted stages - as soon as all of the coloring is complete, I'll get them up for you to see.

I'm off this week for a book signing and class in Santa Fe followed by 6 days in Taos for the retreat that I'm hosting then two days of teaching and a book signing in Colorado Springs, a day off then Judy and I are heading off to Houston for two weeks of market and festival! I'm already tired just thinking about it. But, once I'm back, I'll be setting up my new dye studio, shooting some more DVD's and video classes and relaxing my way through the holiday season.

I promise at least a couple of entries will I'm traveling.

Till next time,
Heather