Embroidery Workshop with Debby Schnabel

Close up of Debbie Schnabel’s freeform embroidery.

The annual event, Quilting in the Garden, was held a few weeks back. Alden Lane Nursery in Livermore, CA. hosts this wonderful quilt show. If you have followed our blog for a while, you know that we have covered many of the past shows. It is a gorgeous venue of quilts hanging in majestic oak trees at a beautiful nursery, filled with fall festivities.

Quilting in The Garden, 2017.

Quilting in the Garden also hosts classes the week before the show, with some truly talented quilt teachers. This year, Laura and I (along with a few of our quilty friends), were fortunate enough to take a hand embroidery workshop with the very talented Debby Schnabel.

Let’s just digest that for a moment. An embroidery class, with a talented teacher, filled with classmates that were our quilty friends, doing handwork, at a quilt show venue, in a beautiful nursery, that just happens to be filled with massive old oak trees – on a gorgeous fall day.

Got that? Needless to say it was wonderful.

Debbie Schnabel’s creative threadwork.

Here is a peek at some of Debby’s intricate work. You can see more of her work on her website at https://debbyschnabel.com.

And here are a few peeks of the student works.

Terri Carpenter, longarm quilter of Hello Stitch,  played with some improvisational clamshells.

My table mate and good friend, Karen McArdle, took her project on a plane ride the next week, finished it up, and gave it as a gift! Lucky recipient!

Laura’s table mate, Linda Lambert worked on this whimsical little project. Here’s the cheery piece Alex Anderson was working on.

I decided to play with paisley’s and background texture. My 1st paisley was a bit lopsided, but I figured it out on the second one!

Laura made this sweet vine and berries piece. She was so inspired that she pulled out some of her favorite embroidery books. Any of these look familiar?

Some times you just need a bit of inspiration to look at an old favorite craft in a new light. Something you did 10 years ago may take on a whole new look with what you are inclined to do today. I know it really got the ideas flowing for me! I can’t wait to incorporate this in a new project!

Hope this inspires you to pick up a needle and thread and do a bit of play yourself!