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 17 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 classes:

• May 19-24 & May 26-31, 2019 | Compositional Exercises & Creative Stretches in Figure/Ground
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Compositional Exercises & Creative Stretches in Figure/Ground
• Level: Advanced
• Prerequisite: Must be a good machine-piecer and skilled at cutting improvisationally
• Zig zag sewing machine: Yes
• Materials fee: No

• SORRY, class is full To be placed on waiting list, please send in registration & deposit ($500). If space does not become available, a full refund will be issued.

Tuition & Meal plan:
• Both weeks (10-day class) of this special workshop with Nancy are to be taken back-to-back. No registrations accepted for only one week.
• $975 x 2 weeks | Tuition ($725) & Meal plan ($250) per week
DESCRIPTION for Compositional Exercises
Students will begin by developing CONFIGURATIONS. A CONFIGURATION is defined as an arrangement of connected lines and shapes that create a figure on a ground. Students will develop their configurations by first cutting the parts out, using only solid black & solid white fabric, and then pinning these parts to their work wall. Next they will learn the mechanics of engineering the sewing together of this type of pieced construction. These CONFIGURATIONS will be used in assigned compositional exercises.

The FOCUS of this class will be on creating strong compositions, intuitively and improvisationally, and to push one’s imagination into being more playful and flexible. Students will learn to work effectively from instincts as they make use of LINE, SHAPE, FIGURES,CONFIGURATIONS. Figure/ground composition, value and color usage will be emphasized at all times. It will be valuable and important that students come to class prepared with a sophisticated range of shades and values in solids (commercial or hand-dyed) in as many color families as possible. It is important that the range of values includes very light colors, medium lights, mediums, medium darks, and darks.
***Bring BOTH the GLOWING and the FLAT versions of as many of these colors as possible. All parts of each composition will be pinned to wall as it progresses so students must bring at least 2 boxes of good quality short, fine Clover ball-head pins.

This class requires very individual thinking and total concentration, and is meant to be challenging! The method of working will be a journey about discovery and will require an attitude of risk-taking! The design exercises will stimulate thinking and hopefully help to develop more individual work.

Note: All design exercises will be done in solid colored fabric using machine-piecing techniques. Each exercise will result in a composition. Keeping a sketchbook with excellent notations will be vitally important throughout the workshop; therefore, it is required that students bring a digital camera and a small digital printer (such as the Canon Selphy printer) to use as a tool for keeping track of works-in-progress..

DESCRIPTION for Creative Stretches in Figure/Ground
Be prepared to jog your thinking! Push away mental roadblocks! Step-out! STRETCH! Embrace possibilities! Embrace NEW possibilities! Gather ideas for creating fresher, more viable compositions! This brand new 5-day class has been specifically developed for students desirous of being far more experimental on an advanced level using machine-piecing techniques. Students will be encouraged to work spontaneously and intuitively with the outcome of their homework preparation which is outlined next.

• HOMEWORK PREPARATION before coming to class: Participants must collect together ideas as starting points. Look for photos, postcards, magazine pages, art book pages, copies of works by ethnic artists, outsider artists, any artists or painters. Start by creating a notebook or notebooks by category. File ideas into categories such as: VERTICALS, HORIZONTALS, PATTERNS, REPEAT PATTERNS, GEOMETRIC SHAPES, COLORS, DOORWAYS, ARCHITECTURE, TEXTURES, CIRCLES, CURVES, LINES, ETC.

• HOMEWORK PREPARATION next before coming to class: Participants must go to Kinko’s or a similar venue or use their own copier to make “blow-ups” of these collected images or parts of images. Make copies in various sizes - only in BLACK AND WHITE - double the size or even much larger. Next, participants need to create their own new compositions ( collages ) by cutting up and putting back together parts to reconfigure and create new structures, new ideas, new configurations. Glue these onto a heavier card stock and bring them to class ready to use. The more that can be created the better as these will be very important “IDEA” generating collages. Please do not come to class unprepared! Not acceptable!

• HOMEWORK will not be done in class but must be ready to go. Students must come prepared as we will move immediately into fabric as soon as the first Design Exercise is assigned. Design Exercises will be introduced that will rely on the “STRUCTURES” found in the collected ideas/collages. No matter the results, new compositional experiences will build confidence, better technical skills, and expand ability to handle color and values. If students want to learn to work more effectively, more efficiently from “instincts” and “intuition” they must come with an open mind and no agendas, ready for growth and for risk-taking! Please examine your agendas!

All exercises will be done by direct machine-piecing. Come with an open mind and no agendas, ready for growth and for risk-taking!

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
- Needles/Bobbins
- Digital Camera/Printer (Canon SELPHY printer recommended)/Paper
- Scissors/Thread/Rulers
- Swing Arm Lamp
- 24” x 36” Cutting Mat
- 7’ x 7’ 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
- Packing Tape if shipping boxes (plus return labels)
Optional Books:
- 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
FABRICS for 1st week:
5 yards or more each of:
- SOLID BLACK and SOLID WHITE
- 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.)
- 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.
- Please wash and shrink all fabrics! No need to iron though if you fold at end of drying cycle!
FABRICS for 2nd week:
6 yards or more 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)
2-3 yards each of: (bring 5 steps in value)
- GRAYS (wide range in light, medium light, medium, medium dark, dark)
1 yard or more of each color:
- 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, 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!
- 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!
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.
• June 2-7 & 9-14, 2019 | Improvisational Exercises: Part III & Part IV
Open or Close
Improvisational Exercises: Part III & Part IV
• Level: Advanced
• Prerequisite: Improvisational Exercises: Part I & Part II, Free-hand cutting skills/good machine-sewing skills
• Zig zag sewing machine: Yes
• Materials fee: No

• SORRY, class is full To be placed on waiting list, please send in registration & deposit ($500). If space does not become available, a full refund will be issued.

Tuition & Meal plan:
• Both weeks (10-day class) of this special workshop with Nancy are to be taken back-to-back. No registrations accepted for only one week.
• $975 x 2 weeks | Tuition ($725) & Meal plan ($250) per week
• PLEASE NOTE: These design exercises are not the same as those used in Part I or Part II of IMPROVISATIONAL EXERCISES.

DESCRIPTION
This brand new 10-day class has been specifically developed to give students a more in-depth opportunity to experiment with IDEAS=CONFIGURATIONS THEY MAY HAVE CREATED in IMPROVISATIONAL EXERCISES: Parts I & II. In this new class, students will be working independently with their own previously created configurations or with new configurations while stretching to be far more experimental. On the first day of class, students will be given a number of OPTIONS, most of which will be self-defining. Students can choose to work with a selected OPTION or OPTIONS each week or throughout both weeks.

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

If students want to learn to work more effectively, more efficiently from “instincts” and “intuition” they must come with an open mind and no agendas, ready for growth and for risk-taking!

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
- Needles/Bobbins
- Digital Camera/Printer (Canon SELPHY printer recommended)/Paper
- Scissors/Thread/Rulers
- Swing Arm Lamp
- 24” x 36” Cutting Mat
- 7’ x 7’ 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
- Packing Tape if shipping boxes (plus return labels)
Optional Books:
- 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
- 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
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
FABRICS
6 yards or more 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)
3 yards each of: (bring 5 steps in value)
- GRAYS (wide range in light, medium light, medium, medium dark, dark)
1 yard or more of each color:
- 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, 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!
- 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!
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.