EGA Seminar 2012 Santa Fe Enchantment Report 1

FINALLY!! I can post a bit about the GREAT Seminar I attended last week. This could be a long post, so get your cuppa and relax.

I arrived at Buffalo Thunder Resort on Saturday, October 27 and settled into our room and the Seminar Office. I was the editor for the Seminar Newsletter, DrumBeat, and had a few extras to tote along. We were able to drive since Santa Fe is approximately 7 hours south. The resort was actually north of Santa Fe on the Pajoaque Reservation, so we sort of back tracked a bit, but not much.

 The hotel was FANTASTIC, eye candy everywhere. Native art all over the place, decor from floor to ceiling. Our room had two queen beds, and a balcony. It was much bigger than most hotel rooms I've had at a Seminar, with plenty of room to hold a stitch-in, if we had been so inclined.

Here is some of the art in the lobby area -called "Evening Star", sorry I did not get the artist's name.

Now for the view out our hotel room.

I planned the Newsletter in advance and was well organized so I was able to take classes at Seminar - hallelujah! So I will be able to tell you a bit about those along with other fun Seminar tid-bits. There is just so much to tell and show you, I will start in chronological order.

Sunday, Oct. 28: I took the Colcha Embroidery Class by Annette Turk. Here is the class piece.

This is my doodle cloth to learn how to do the stitch - box was done first to get used to the stitch. Then we learned how to do different shapes and wedge (allow for large stitched areas above narrower areas - see "duck foot" at lower right in photo below). We used a silk/linen blend monk's cloth and regular sheeps wool. Not the traditional Churro wool fabric or threads.

This is my progress so far with the piece. I did most of it in class and a little bit Wednesday night.

Boutique: Stitchville USA was the boutique host - what a great job they did. It was like they brought their shop straight from Minnesota. They had stitched models, gobs of fabric, trunk shows you name it! They even had more stuff delivered mid-week! I hear they are the Boutique for the 2013 and 2014 EGA National Seminars - well worth the trip! Makes me almost want to move to Minnesota, and for this Southern California girl, that is saying a lot!!

Book Store: Ruth Kern Books did the bookstore and brought plenty of books on all the topics covered  in classes and more. Plus she was there in person and visited with Seminar attendees. Once again a wonderful bookstore for Seminar.

Exhibits: We had all the usual education exhibits, including a sneak peak at the new Group Correspondence Courses (GCC). Plus the Rocky Mountain Region (Seminar host) put on an exhibit of Prospectors, a retrospective of past Region Seminar displays. Prospectors is an exhibit of Region member's original work. Many years there is a theme, but following the theme is not necessary. The important thing is to step outside your comfort zone/box and create an original piece. It was so fun to see pieces from past years!

Opening Banquet: Seating was by Region. Tables were marked with signs with the Region initials and a Fetish Symbol. The Rocky Mountain Region (RMR) had the Buffalo Fetish Symbol. Region members took up quite a few tables too with 170 members registered! At our seat was a list of all the Fetish symbols and their meanings. The favor we received was a nice bronze pair of scissors and beaded scissor fob.

The Banquet started with the Buffalo Dancers! They were fantastic.

Monday, Oct. 29: I started a two day class called Yei-bi-chei by Victoria Nessel. It was a wonderful class except it was about as far away as you could get from the Seminar Office (aka Newsletter Central), unless it had been in the Golf Course Clubhouse or Homewood Suites - those classes required the shuttle to get there and back. I got plenty of exercise and ate well. I worked on the next days Newsletter and distributed the current days Newsletter during the lunch hour. I had FANTASTIC volunteers, and can't thank them enough. Class newsletters were counted out and filed within 5 minutes each time!!

Back to the mask. When I signed up I was not aware that it would be on two canvases (we actually had 4 if you count the pieces to practice the applique)! The mask is done on an ecru with various stitches and threads. It is then cut out and appliqued onto a terra cotta colored canvas that we have stitched a corn stalk design and painted on it a bit too. Feathers are stitched on the terra cotta at the top of the mask and real feathers added. The mask is padded before placement. Beads added at various places and cording around the edges. It was a lot of fun and and added benefit was one of my friends from Raleigh, NC was in class! I had not seen her in 5 years. Also two ladies from my local chapters were in class, so I have plenty of help if needed. I did have to leave class a tad early each day and returned late from lunch, so they may prove invaluable!

Here is the class piece.

Wednesday, October 31: I did not take class, so my roommate and I drove into Santa Fe to check out the Native artisans on the plaza and eat lunch. We ate at a little place in the La Fonda Hotel. I wish we could have stayed longer, but I had to get back to take care of the next days Newsletter. Santa Fe is defiantly a place to return too, and being so close I think my hubby and I will make a trip or two back!

Here is a picture of the Plaza with some of the artisans still lined up along the wall under the portico. Beautiful blue skies too.

The merchandise event for Seminar was called Trading Post. It was open from 3:00 pm to 8:00 pm. It was WONDERFUL. Tons of vendors with lots of variety. I purchased some Churro wool woven fabric and dyed Churro yarns for Colcha Embroidery from my Sunday class teacher, who was a vendor, along with some charts from some of the other vendors.

I think I will give you a bit of a break now, and time to digest all the wonderfulness that was Seminar and end this report. Look for Part 2 on Saturday, Nov. 10.