I stayed in The Pixie Room which is more fluffy than my current taste and yet somewhat reminiscent of the room I had as a girl. My walls were painted cotton candy pink and my white dresser was very similar to the one below. Instead of a dropped center, it had a knee hole. I'm sure it was designed for make-up. I used it to do my homework.
Barb and I headed our separate ways on Friday morning. I very confidently drove to the nearest ferry since that's the terminal I've left from before only to discover that there are two ferry terminals. "My" ferry was leaving from the other terminal fifteen minutes up the road. Luckily, I had plenty of time to get there. While waiting to board, I took some pictures. The sky was amazing. This is the image to the right of where I was parked and...
... this is the image to the left. The sky cleared as you shifted your field of vision from side to side. The crossing was cold and quite windy. I stayed in the car knitting. When I did go up on deck to use the washroom, there were only two people on the first floor. I'm not sure if it's the threat of swine flu or something else but most people remained in their cars. I've been doing that for a few years now. It's much easier to sit in the car with my book, knitting, and snacks than lug it all up a few flights and then back down again later especially if I'm traveling alone.
I got home late Friday afternoon. Normally, I don't come home until Sunday but I wanted to be here for the weekend because Saturday was Howard's birthday. We went out for breakfast together and then he had lunch with the boys and then we all had dinner together. The day was sunny but COLD. The weather has suddenly turned winter-ish although on Sunday, the interior of BC was the only place in Canada with sunshine. Our daughter - on the other hand - was experiencing snow. YUCKY. Obviously she should move back closer to "home".
Friday, when I pulled into the driveway, the garden was still standing and perky but by Saturday night, it all looked droopy like this plant on my porch that suddenly collapsed. The stems are still rounded but the leaves got too cold and couldn't take it anymore. Soon it'll be shrivelled and brown but right now, it's quite interesting to look at.
Saturday was the opening of the exhibit at the Penn Cove Gallery. It's called Elin Noble and Other Strong Women and features the work of several members of the retreat that I have previously attended each fall in Port Townsend. Since I didn't go this year, I didn't attend the opening either however, I heard there were over 200 people there and that it got great reviews. The Penn Cove Gallery is gorgeous. The exhibit is on until November 28th if you live on or near the peninsula in Washington. Apparently, my piece won an Award of Merit from the juror. That's quite nice however, the best award would be a sale. I'm hoping.
When I got home, I unpacked everything and set the studio back in order. Here are the fabrics that I mentioned earlier bought for twenty-two dollars. GOOD BUY! The boucle is a combination of red and purple. I'm not sure it's a "me" fabric however, I'm imagining it with a black collar, maybe velvet, perhaps in one of those gathered or pleated styles. And then again, it might go to my friend Caroline. It's definitely a Caroline fabric.
On the drive back, I thought a lot about teaching. It wouldn't be conceited of me to say that I am an excellent teacher. I have both the online and in person evaluations to support that claim and I absolutely LOVE teaching. Even so, being a good teacher is not enough to keep you busy. I found it intriguing that we cancelled a textile design workshop in Victoria that was scheduled on the same weekend that two bra making classes were run back to back in Nanaimo only an hour and a half away and that over half of my class came from another town.
When I tried to sign up for the Saturday and Sunday bra making class, it was full, which according to their information means twelve women. Twelve plus the nine in my Monday and Tuesday class means that twenty-one women wanted to learn how to make a bra at the same time that we couldn't find six women who wanted to take a textile design course. AND...
... it was not because the bra class was less expensive. It was more. The textile design course was $225.00 and used supplies that you already had on hand. The bra making course including the kit was $283.50. That's VERY interesting data. To me, it supports the shift away from quilt related subjects (including textile art) toward fashion related subjects as does the decrease of quilting fabrics in this host shop and the increase of fashion related fabrics, supplies, and tools.
Mostly, I thought about student satisfaction. Everyone comes to class with different expectations. Mine was to have fun, make a bra, and see if I enjoyed that type of sewing. I came away happy but even so - and even though I have no intention of teaching bra making - being a born teacher, I couldn't help thinking about how I would have taught the class differently.
One HUGE thing that is often overlooked when teaching is to determine in advance what the goal of each student is. Asking that simple question - what do you hope to get out of this workshop - has saved me endless amounts of frustration. I usually ask students to answer it when I ask them to introduce themselves and then, if possible, I make sure the student learns that exact information and when not possible, I let them know in advance and deal with the situation to the best of my ability so that no matter what, they go away happy. Happy students talk just as much as unhappy students and word of mouth is ALWAYS your best advertising.
In the bra making class, everyone had similar sewing skills but they had vastly different goals. Several of the women had different sized breasts which is common but some women's breasts are several sizes different or positioned one higher, one lower. I would have thought that it was safe to assume that the goal was to look "normal" in terms of breast position and yet, while the instructor fit the bras magnificently, she fit the existing breast whether it was bigger or higher or whatever. Sometimes that might be the goal but not always.
If she had asked the students what their goal was, a few of them would have said that it was to create a bra that made their breasts look equal and even. To some, that would have meant including a pocket for padding and the padding might have been a full shape or just the lower half. Since that was their goal, these students were not completely satisfied. Even though they did learn how to make a bra, they still need to learn how to make the bra they really wanted to make while thinking I paid $283.50 for "nothing" - although, of course, it wasn't for nothing. They learned how to make a bra and all learning is a starting point that is taken forward.
Everyone in my class seemed to have a really good time. We especially enjoyed being together. However, me being me, I still thought about what could have been done differently to increase everyone's satisfaction level and my conclusion was to ask that question about goals. As you know, I'm not teaching right now but when and if I ever return to it, I'll keep this in mind. As a student, I was thrilled. I had a great time, met some interesting people, learned how to make a bra, and have LOTS of ideas for making more. YES YES!
Today is a holiday - Canadian Thanksgiving. I'm working on finishing the child's coat that I've been knitting for what seems like FOREVER. I'm on the hood now which is my final piece along with sewing it together. I've been doing more sewing than knitting lately so I'm making this coat the focus of the weekend hoping to finish it for Knit Night tomorrow and start something new. We'll see.
Talk soon - Myrna
Grateful - that I've always had a job where I get holidays off work
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