Crow Timber Frame Barn Art Retreats

Nancy Crow

Nancy has been teaching quiltmaking as an art form for over 30 years; she finds teaching both a very creative experience and uplifting. One of her goals is to help students find a path through roadblocks to a more flexible way of approaching composition. Composition is the focus of all of her workshops in which she proceeds sequentially from beginning to very advanced composition while at the same time introducing many wonderful techniques which can be used in machine-piecing. Nancy promotes machine-piecing as one of the most important ways to work for a quiltmaker, paralleling it to oil painting. Nancy was selected for two national honors: Fellow of the American Craft Council and National Living Treasure by the Museum of World Cultures at the University of North Carolina. The National Living Treasure award honors Americans who work in traditional handicrafts. In addition, she has won many Individual Artist's Fellowships from The Ohio Arts Council. She leads art tours to Peru, Mexico, South Africa, France, and Guatemala, and is the author of seven books, including: Self-Portraits: Mono-Prints, Nancy Crow, Nancy Crow: Improvisational Quilts and Nancy Crow: Quilts and Influences.

Registration form

Nancy’s 2-week classes:

• October 5-10 & October 12-17, 2025 | Working-In-A-Series
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Working-In-A-Series
• Level: Advanced
• Prerequisite: Must have studied with Nancy Crow and taken nearly all of her workshops in advanced composition
• Sewing machine: Yes
• Materials fee: No

• SORRY, class is full To be placed on waiting list, please send in registration & deposit. If space does not become available, a full refund of the deposit will be issued.

Tuition & Meal plan for 2-week class with Nancy:
• $2810 | paid in full before April 1, 2025 | 10-day Tuition ($2150) & Meal plan ($660)
• $2860 | paid in full before June 1, 2025 | 10-day Tuition ($2200) & Meal plan ($660)
DESCRIPTION
• Working-In-A-Series is a commitment. It signifies serious focus. An artist who “works-in-a-series” is an artist who has found a theme, a motif, or content that engages them intensely enough to be explored in-depth over a long period of time.

This workshop has been developed to assist students in using the process of “working-in-a-series” in order to explore one or more ideas in depth using machine-piecing techniques. In addition, this class is predicated on the premise that though each participant may already have a voice or is beginning to have a voice, the participant is still searching for structured ways to develop ideas and themes.

Because this workshop is intended for advanced students who want to begin or who have begun to develop a group of works that significantly relate one to the other in concept, composition, figure/ground relationships, use of motifs, scale, color, use of surface design fabrics, etc., this workshop will accommodate any of the following 3 approaches:
- Approach #1: (Independent student) The independent student must come to class with a series already started at home and then focus on how to add to this series by exploring additional new territory during the 10-days. Help and critiquing will be offered as wanted but the student is expected to be totally self-directed.
- Approach #2: The student comes to class prepared only with initial ideas. Once in class the student will begin creating a group of fabric sketches (small pieced compositions) while experimenting with ideas that could become a series. Help and critiquing will be offered as wanted.
- Approach #3: The student comes to class intent on following a group of formal exercises that will be presented to loosen up creative energy. These exercises will be done using machine-piecing and will activate imagination and thought processes for developing a series. Help and critiquing will be offered as wanted.
Important note: All students are expected to be in charge of their fabric selection brought to class knowing that whatever they bring should support what they hope to achieve. If wanting to do APPROACH #3, then it will be imperative to read the fabric supply list and bring what is requested.

PRESENTATION
- Optional but important: Each student should come prepared with a digital presentation/laptop or 3-6 actual quilts and be prepared to make a short (3-5 minutes maximum) but articulate presentation about their work including future goals. The Crow Timber Frame Barn provides use of a digital projector connected to a laptop.
SUPPLIES
- Sewing Machine
- Size 10 & 12 Microtex Sewing Machine Needles/Bobbins
- Thread (Aurifil is best - size 40 or 50)
- Sharp Scissors/Rulers
- Swing Arm Lamp or Floor Lamp
- 24” x 36” OLFA Cutting Mat (2 of these if driving)
- Extra Large Rotary Cutter and Blades
- 8’ x 8’ Batting/Flannel (White) on which to pin work & several 40” x 60” Batts
- Iron/Iron Cleaner (optional as Barn has irons)
- Your own ironing board if driving (optional as Barn has ironing boards)
- Small Water Spray Bottle for Ironing
- Short 5 1/2’ Step Ladder or Step Stool if driving (optional as Barn has step ladders)
- CLOVER Ball-Head Pins - very fine (Clover #2507) and regular size (Clover #2501)… two boxes each
- Multiple Outlet Power Strip/Adaptors/Heavy Duty Extension Cords
- Sketchbook/Pens/Other Supplies You Want
- Digital Camera/Printer (Canon SELPHY printer recommended)/Paper
- Glue to Adhere Snapshots into Sketchbook
- Roll of BLUE Painters Tape - 1” or 2” wide
- Packing Tape if shipping boxes (plus return labels)
FABRICS:
(The barn shop has a wide range of colors and values, and lots of solid black and solid white.)

6 yards each of:
- SOLID BLACK and SOLID WHITE
2-3 yards each of:
- BRIGHT COLORS - bright red, orange, acid yellow, lime, turquoise, blue, apple green, pink, lavender, etc. (very saturated bright colors … the brightest color that are never darker than medium value.)
- GRAYS (wide range in light, medium light, medium, medium dark, dark)
1 yard or more each of:
- SOLID OPAQUE COLORS - (wide range in light, medium light, medium, medium dark, dark values so you can be free to work) - reds, pinks, blues, teals, greens, limes, violets, browns, yellows, golds, oranges, purples, maroons, turquoises, rusts, reds, pinks, blues, teals, greens, limes, violets, browns, yellows, golds, oranges, purples, maroons, turquoises, rusts, etc.
- TANS (wide range in light, medium light, medium, medium dark, dark)
- OFF-WHITES (warm white, cold white, cream)
- Bring BOTH the GLOWING and the FLAT versions of as many of these colors as possible.
- Please wash and shrink all fabrics! No need to iron though if you fold at end of drying cycle!
NOTES REGARDING FABRIC SUPPLY LIST
Yes, the rumor is true!!! Yes, I do ask that each student bring lots of fabrics. My personal theory embraces the belief that one will be freer to be creative if one has many fabric choices available in class. After 35+ years of teaching, I consider each class I teach to be on a graduate level and therefore I expect students to arrive prepared with all necessary supplies. In that regard, I have outlined those fabrics we will use in this class. For some students, my fabric supply list will seem overwhelming in quantity and variety, while for other students, the selection they bring will never be good enough.

About solid colors - the more shades you have to work with, the more you will learn about how to work with color. Color is Joyous!!! Color does not cause pain!!! Take DELIGHT in color!!!

Working in color does not mean only using BOLD colors or HOT colors; working in color means learning to be versatile in all types of colors.

I caution you to not bring mostly middle value solids, rather bring a wide variety, including these 5 steps in value:
- Light values
- Medium light values
- Medium values
- Medium dark values
- Dark values
Any color can be GLOWING or FLAT:
• GLOWING tones are any colors mixed with yellow and which have a glow coming off the surface.
• FLAT tones are those colors mixed with black and which emit a dullness, energy draining very subdued nature.

Many students arrive with their own hand-dyed solids or stacks they have purchased from other dyers. By all means, bring hand-dyed if you want but they need to be opaque and not have multiple values swimming across them ... meaning white or light splotches on dark colors.

However, solids (dyed commercially) are equally acceptable.

I usually work with solid colors or my own subtly dyed solid colors. My own palette includes approximately 500 shades.

I cannot specifically tell you to only bring 1 yard cuts of each color because I know we will be using at least a yard or more of some to many colors depending on each student’s color preferences.

Optional Books:
- NANCY CROW | DRAWINGS: MONOPRINTS & RIFFS, 2020, University of Nebraska Press (catalog from Nancy’s exhibition at the International Quilt Museum) - signed/dated editions available at the Crow Timber Frame Barn
- COLOR IMPROVISATIONS 2 & CIRCULAR ABSTRACTIONS: BULL’S EYES QUILTS, 2016, (books from two exhibitions curated by Nancy) - signed/dated editions available at the Crow Timber Frame Barn
- CROSSROADS, 2007, Breckling Press (catalog from one of Nancy’s exhibitions) - signed/dated editions available at the Crow Timber Frame Barn
- NANCY CROW, 2006, Breckling Press (book covering Nancy's work from 1989-2005) - signed/dated editions available at the Crow Timber Frame Barn
- NANCY CROW, MONO-PRINTS: SELF-PORTRAITS: FOCUS, 2012 - signed/dated editions available at the Crow Timber Frame Barn
Unfortunately, the following titles are out of print, but your local library may have them or order on Amazon.com.
- GRADATIONS: FROM THE STUDIO OF NANCY CROW, Quilt House Publishing
- NANCY CROW: WORK IN TRANSITION, American Quilters’ Society
- NANCY CROW: QUILTS AND INFLUENCES, American Quilters’ Society
- NANCY CROW: IMPROVISATIONAL QUILTS, C&T Publishing
• October 19-24 & October 26-31, 2025 | Improvisational Exercises: Parts III & IV
Open or Close
Improvisational Exercises: Parts III & IV
• Level: Advanced
• Prerequisite: Improvisational Exercises: Parts I & II workshops & free-hand cutting skills/good machine-sewing skills
• Sewing machine: Yes
• Materials fee: No

• SORRY, class is full To be placed on waiting list, please send in registration & deposit. If space does not become available, a full refund of the deposit will be issued.

Tuition & Meal plan for 2-week class with Nancy:
• $2810 | paid in full before April 1, 2025 | 10-day Tuition ($2150) & Meal plan ($660)
• $2860 | paid in full before June 1, 2025 | 10-day Tuition ($2200) & Meal plan ($660)
DESCRIPTION
• PLEASE NOTE These design exercises are not the same as those used in Part I or Part II of IMPROVISATIONAL EXERCISES.

This brand new 10-day class has been specifically developed to give students a more in-depth opportunity to experiment with IDEAS.

IDEAS for COMPOSITIONS will be derived from combining FIGURES, simple CONFIGURATIONS and complex CONFIGURATIONS.

The mandatory HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS will be emailed to each student registered for this workshop. Each student is absolutely expected to come to this 10-day class totally prepared with a group of sketches sewn in solid black and solid white fabric.

New and challenging design exercises will be given each week in which students will use their own previously created configurations and possibly combining those with new configurations while stretching to be far more experimental.

AGAIN: The HOMEWORK must be done before coming to this class. Students are expected to come to class totally prepared. No exceptions.

Colors, and the values of colors, from light to dark, will be emphasized in all exercises so a great selection of SOLID COLOR fabrics must be brought to this workshop.

PRESENTATION
- Optional but important: Each student should come prepared with 3-8 actual quilts and be prepared to make a short (5 minutes maximum) but articulate presentation about their work including future goals. If you would like to make a digital presentation, the Crow Timber Frame Barn provides use of a digital projector connected to a laptop (please bring a flash drive with your presentation/images or bring your own laptop/iPad). Please choose one option: actual quilts … OR … a digital presentation.
SUPPLIES
- Sewing Machine
- Needles/Bobbins
- Digital Camera/Printer (Canon SELPHY printer recommended)/Paper
- Scissors/Thread/Rulers
- Swing Arm Lamp
- 24” x 36” Cutting Mat
- 8’ x 8’ Batting/Flannel (White) on which to pin work (optional)
- Extra Large Rotary Cutter and Blades
- Iron/Iron Cleaner (optional as Barn has irons)
- Ball-Head Pins (very fine and regular size)
- Small Water Spray Bottle for Ironing
- Glue to Adhere Snapshots into Sketchbook
- Multiple Outlet Power Strip/Adaptors/Heavy Duty Extension Cords
- Sketchbook/Pens/Other Supplies You Want
- Blue painters tape (not masking tape)
- Packing Tape if shipping boxes (plus return labels)
FABRICS
(The barn shop has a wide range of colors and values, and lots of solid black and solid white.)

6 yards or more each of:
- SOLID BLACK and SOLID WHITE
1-2 yards or more of:
- SOLID COLORS (wide range in light, medium light, medium, medium dark, dark values) so you can be free to work – Reds, Pinks, Blues,Teals, Greens, Limes, Violets, Browns, Yellows, Golds, Oranges, Purples, Maroons, Turquoises, Rusts, etc.)
2 yards or more of:
- BRIGHT COLORS - bright red, red-orange, orange, acid yellow, lime, turquoise, blue, apple green, pink, etc. (very saturated bright colors … the brightest colors that are never darker than medium value. I have great selection in the barn shop.)
1-2 yards of:
- GRAYS (wide range in light, medium light, medium, medium dark, dark)
- TANS (wide range in light, medium light, medium, medium dark, dark)
- OFF-WHITES (warm white, cold white, cream)
- Bring BOTH the GLOWING and the FLAT versions of as many of these colors as possible.
- We will use everything listed above so do not decide to leave anything out.
- DO NOT BRING FAT QUARTERS.
- Bring enough variety so you are not hamstrung!
- Please wash and shrink all fabrics! No need to iron though if you fold at end of drying cycle!
NOTES REGARDING FABRIC SUPPLY LIST
Yes, the rumor is true!!! Yes, I do ask that each student bring lots of fabrics. My personal theory embraces the belief that one will be freer to be creative if one has many fabric choices available in class. After 35+ years of teaching, I consider each class I teach to be on a graduate level and therefore I expect students to arrive prepared with all necessary supplies. In that regard, I have outlined those fabrics we will use in this class. For some students, my fabric supply list will seem overwhelming in quantity and variety, while for other students, the selection they bring will never be good enough.

About solid colors - the more shades you have to work with, the more you will learn about how to work with color. Color is Joyous!!! Color does not cause pain!!! Take DELIGHT in color!!! Working in color does not mean only using BOLD colors or HOT colors; working in color means learning to be versatile in all types of colors.

I caution you to not bring mostly middle value solids, rather bring a wide variety, including these 5 steps in value:
- Light values
- Medium light values
- Medium values
- Medium dark values
- Dark values
Any color can be GLOWING or FLAT:
• GLOWING tones are any colors mixed with yellow and which have a glow coming off the surface.
• FLAT tones are those colors mixed with black and which emit a dullness, energy draining very subdued nature.

Many students arrive with their own hand-dyed solids or stacks they have purchased from other dyers. By all means, bring hand-dyed if you want but they need to be opaque and not have multiple values swimming across them ... meaning white or light splotches on dark colors.

However, flat solids (dyed commercially) are equally acceptable.

I usually work with flat colors or my own subtly dyed flat colors. My own palette includes approximately 500 shades.

I cannot specifically tell you to only bring 1 yard cuts of each color because I know we will be using at least a yard or more of some to many colors depending on each student’s color preferences. If you bring a yard of each – say 5 blues, 5 reds, 5 yellows, 5 greens, etc., but one each in light values, medium light values, medium values, medium dark values, & dark values, that would be better than not having enough. So bring 1 yard of as many colors as you can afford and shorter lengths for the rest.

Optional Books:
- NANCY CROW | DRAWINGS: MONOPRINTS & RIFFS, 2020, University of Nebraska Press (catalog from Nancy’s exhibition at the International Quilt Museum) - signed/dated editions available at the Crow Timber Frame Barn
- COLOR IMPROVISATIONS 2 & CIRCULAR ABSTRACTIONS: BULL’S EYES QUILTS, 2016, (books from two exhibitions curated by Nancy) - signed/dated editions available at the Crow Timber Frame Barn
- CROSSROADS, 2007, Breckling Press (catalog from one of Nancy’s exhibitions) - signed/dated editions available at the Crow Timber Frame Barn
- NANCY CROW, 2006, Breckling Press (book covering Nancy's work from 1989-2005) - signed/dated editions available at the Crow Timber Frame Barn
- NANCY CROW, MONO-PRINTS: SELF-PORTRAITS: FOCUS, 2012 - signed/dated editions available at the Crow Timber Frame Barn
Unfortunately, the following titles are out of print, but your local library may have them or order on Amazon.com.
- GRADATIONS: FROM THE STUDIO OF NANCY CROW, Quilt House Publishing
- NANCY CROW: WORK IN TRANSITION, American Quilters’ Society
- NANCY CROW: QUILTS AND INFLUENCES, American Quilters’ Society
- NANCY CROW: IMPROVISATIONAL QUILTS, C&T Publishing