Today I spent another day assisting with a Kaffe Fassett workshop. Last night I got to have dinner with he, Brandon and several of the people from Dragonfly Quilt Shop. It was a relaxing and enjoyable night!!! I found that Kaffe was much more relaxed and talkative during the evening, prompting me to believe that he “puts his game face on” when he enters a classroom.

Today’s workshop was the same design as yesterday, but he introduced it in a totally different manner. The results were just as magnificent as yesterday.

Once again, I enjoyed listening to his and Brandon’s choice of descriptive words, so here are a few more……

In describing what kinds of disasters you can come up with, he discussed quilts looking like “Minestrone soup” (too many colors), “Squashed Tomatoes” (too few fabrics or styles), and “Cat’s vomit” (not sure what causes this look).

In describing the color pallets used in the participant’s quilts, the follow terms were used…….instinctive and sensual, optimistic, elegant, jazzy cocktail dress, fresh and sparkly, smoldering, flittering with light, pure sunshine, playful, natural, strawberry shortcake, summer party, full of wonder and joy, and (his favorite) vintage trunk (meaning the fabrics look like they have come from old tablecloths, napkins, etc.

Some of the colors he described as Brown Sauce, Dark Rhubarb, Buttermilk Yellow, Moldy Wine, and Husky Red.

He encouraged them to “build their color scheme with passion” and to “get out of their brains”. He also suggested not using white for a design wall…. beiges and tans are a much better background for judging colors. He told them not to judge too early, but to let the quilt grow before they started editing and changing fabrics and placements. All of these were wonderful suggestions for the workshop, but also for our own quilts at home!!!

Here are a couple of photos of Brandon (on the left) and Kaffe (on the right) , hard at work ……

And…..here is one of the Dragonfly staff and helpers……

I am in the back right, in the Turquoise shirt.

Another fun day….now onto the Train quilt again tomorrow. My husband returns from Portugal on Saturday and my quilt retreat will be over, so I am highly motivated!!!!!

The name says it all!!!! Today I helped at a workshop presented by Kaffe Fassett and his partner, Brandon Mably. They are two extraordinary gentlemen and are amazing connoisseurs of color. The workshop was sponsored by Dragonfly Quilt Shop and today had 27 participants. The workshop began with Kaffe and Brandon talking about creativity and color. They worked hard to put people at their ease, but also told them that they would not hold back on their opinions when it came to design quandaries.

After some basic instructions, the ladies headed to their table and design wall and started working. Brandon scooted from wall to wall, helping the women make their first choices, while Kaffe watched from a distance. He even sat down and did a bit of knitting……gorgeous!!!!

After about 20 minutes, Kaffe got back up and started slowly walking around the room and looking at what people were doing. He spent a great deal of time just staring at the designs on the wall and then would go up and make suggestions.

They encouraged the participants to not “think too much”, but to simply throw up a fabric and make a quick decision about whether or not it would work and then move onto the next one.

Brandon and the Kaffe cookies modeled after one of his fabrics.

Brandon turned on his I-Pod and I asked about how he chose the songs to play. He said that the playlists were arranged based on the age of the participants. He also said that the music helped the women to not talk as much. At one point there was a spontaneous chorus of “Yellow Submarine”, as everyone started singing along and Brandon happily conducted!!

I found it interesting to listen to the phrases that they used to get their points across. Here are a few of my favorites….

“I like this fabric because it has more intrigue”.”

“I think that you need to hike up your skirt and go shopping.”

“You need to lift this fabric or it will look like a pile of ash”

“Having that streak of blue on the yellows looks like mascara on a Whore.”

“That fabric is duller than old mop water”

“Purple and yellow are ghastly together. If you want someone to notice a sign, paint it with those colors.”

“If you make her do it (use a particular piece of fabric), you are going to have to buy her a bottle of Prozac.”

I also loved their descriptions of various colors……

…..Moldy Toast

….Old Sawdust

….Desert heat

…….Leather brown

…..Old dull purple

….Old 30’s knicker’s pink

…..inky grey

…..mustard yellow

…..flaming turquoise

I felt like the best comment of the all day was that you need to pick your colors so that they glow rather than eclipsing them!!

Here is a photo of one side of the room. It will give you an idea of what the workshop was about…..

I am about to leave to have dinner with them and then will help with the workshop again tomorrow……..such fun!!!

The train is still progressing….last night I did the little girl’s clothes and hair and hopefully can get her face done after dinner…….

More tomorrow………