Women Who Inspire Me ~ Sue Spargo

Pin Wheel Pin Keeper

I really can't remember if I first spoke with Sue in 2005 or 2006 after we opened Yellow Bird Art.  I owned a couple of her patterns prior to opening our shop, and found them utterly charming.  I loved the reference to traditional quilts, but there was something new going on with the pieced backgrounds and whimsical compositions, as well as the fabrics she selected.  Her work was a perfect fit for the style of our shop.  One of our goals with opening Yellow Bird Art was to provide inspirational teaching for our patrons, and Amy and I both thought Sue's work was the best way we could think of to begin the mission.  I was so surprised when Sue answered her phone (being sort of a star in our eyes).  She has a very soft, calm voice, and after a bit of discussion we decided on Crimson Clove for the class project.

Crimson Clove

 I was incredibly nervous when I drove to the airport to pick Sue up for that first workshop.  She had graciously agreed to stay at our home (after I assured her that we weren't weird people who'd put her on a cot in a damp basement) to save some money since we were a new shop.  The woman I picked up at the airport was quiet and unassuming.  I thought she was probably shy, but I discovered that she isn't. She's a quiet person and always seemed so calm to me.  I can hardly tell you how delightful it was to get to know Sue - she's very interested in things going on around her and in the world.  She has a keen sense of observation - she notices the small stuff and it shows up in her work.   She's one of those people who really listens when you have a conversation.
          

Urban Sac

Flower Bed

Our first class was small, but the second year the group was larger.  Those who came the first year came the second year and brought others along and that continued each year until we had to set limits on how many could take the workshops.  Sue and I would always spend time discussing the project she'd share with our quilters.  We wanted to provide a platform to allow Sue to expand her ideas with our very enthusiastic quilters and provide challenging but not overwhelming learning opportunities. Quilters admired Sue's teaching style - laid back, attentive, informative - time spent with her just feels comfortable.  Sue is one of those teachers who really connects with her students.  She'd always bring along a selection of her quilts, including whatever new project she had going to inspire students.  Although some of her techniques could look daunting at first view, she would thoroughly explain and demonstrate so that even our least confident quilter felt like she could master the work by the end of the workshop.  That takes a lot of teaching talent.  Although some quilters are most comfortable duplicating work (and there is nothing wrong with that - you're still going to make it your own) Sue always encourages those who want to follow their own muse.  Sue's belief in the students' inherent creativity gave them a new view of their own creativity, and we witnessed amazingly original designs unfold as quilters learned new techniques.

The Last Sue Spargo Class at Yellow Bird Art

Altered Textures

When you take a class with Sue it always looks like these photos with  Sue bent over a project with a group of students clustering around her.  We found Sue to be incredibly kind, generous and patient.  As her own style and method of working developed she encouraged others to expand their own creative "vocabulary".


We were always so thrilled to see Sue's work starting to appear in magazines like American Patchwork & Quilting, Australian Homespun Magazine, and Quiltmania.  Electric quilt produced a stand alone CD of Sue's quilt designs.  She appeared on The Quilt Show with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims.

Pat Sloan interviewed her on Creative Talk Show.  She traveled to Vietnam with DellaQ to teach Vietnam quilters at Vietnam Quilts http://youtu.be/fr0Oavmxa6Y embellishment techniques.  She leads travel/quilt groups to Italy, she's working on a book that will be published by Quiltmania.  Renaissance Ribbons is producing delicious ribbons Sue and her sister have designed.  These are just highlights!

Sue is experiencing great success with her art!  Now, here's the thing.....some people are changed (negatively) by this sort of attention and success.  Yet Sue remains the same grounded, kind, sincere person she was when we first met her.

But, wait there's more.....  and it's the most important part.

Sue was married - a stay at home mom with four children who had a hobby she loved - quilting.  One day, out of the blue, Sue became a single parent - divorced.  She suddenly became THE financial support of her family.  She had been trained as a nurse in South Africa, but not licensed in the US, so that wasn't an option.

Silk Road

Crimson Tweed

I can't image the emotional upheaval and sorrow that must have enveloped this family.  What do you do to provide for your children?  How do you take care of your own needs?  This situation could create a bitter heart in the most resolute of us.  Yet, Sue and her four children have risen above all of it and what a fantastic story it is.  Sue's family - her parents, her sister, Wendy , and her four children all bonded together to tap into Sue's natural artistic talents and began a business called Sue Spargo Folk Art Quilts. Sue designed quilt patterns, self published books with her father's assistance, Wendy dyes the wool, velvet and silk fabrics and designs jewelry, together Sue and Wendy designed a line of fabric for P & B and they collaborate designing color lines, and all her children have worked in the business whether helping design items with Sue, or assisting with the packing and mailing of purchases to customers.  Together they overcame what could have been a huge catastrophe and created success on many levels.

Hand Dyed Wools & Velvets

Unique Embellishments

Sue has inspired me in so many ways ~

• She trusted her own talent (passion) to bring success - with loads of hard work!
• She didn't give up when it would have been easy to do so.
• She remained a kind-hearted, generous person.
• I've never heard her say an unkind thing about anyone.
• She remains positive about all the good things this life can hold for us.
• She stayed steady as a mom.  Her children's success in life is a testimony to a loving family.
• She is receptive to new experiences in life - she's a woman who rises to the challenge.
• She's not afraid to take risks.
• She perseveres.
• Her faith is steady.
• She continually pushes her artistic boundaries and is always exploring new avenues of creativity.

Amelia Pillow

Circle of Friends Pillow

Yellow Bird Pincushion & Needle Keep Sue designed for our shop!

I'd bet that most of us can easily identify with that fear that accompanies change in our lives.  What should you do?  Is what you want to do good enough?  Will people like your work and respond favorably?  Then there's the really big question - do I really have any original talent or creativity?  Amy and I often referred to our "talentless boob" moments of doubt.  Finding admirable qualities in someone else can - at least I believe this - help us to find our own bearings.  They become a sort of reality touchstone.  When you witness someone face a dramatic challenge and not only overcome it, but use it as a springboard to something more meaningful in life it gives hope.  Of course we have to find our own authentic voice and that takes dedication, a willingness to take chances (some of which may fail), the determination to persevere when things don't come out right and plain old roll up your sleeves hard work.

Thanks Sue, for the inspiration!  You've touched my life (and I bet many others') with your gentle and optimistic approach to life.

Oh, she has a sense of humor too!

You're the best!


Blessings!   
Angela 

Textile Capers

Welcome to Summer Kitchen Quilts!

We're going to have a grand time, yes we are.

I am so incredibly excited about this new adventure in life, and I hope to include you in some of the wonderful things I've got planned.  I have a rich background in sewing, quilting and any sort of textile related art.  Well, except maybe for tatting.  My paternal Grandmother Jenny did her best to teach me - and I did want to learn - but that flying tatting shuttle just couldn't register in my brain.

My mother, Marilyn, taught sewing at a Singer Sewing Center, back in the 1950's, and made just about every piece of clothing my two sisters, Martha and Sylvia, and I wore as kids.  I don't ever recall not sewing, and by the time I was in high school, I was sewing most of my own clothes.  Of course embroidery was something almost all the other girls I knew did to pass time during the long summers.  We took it as our duty to keep pillow cases and dish towels adorned with the latest new embroidery patterns.  Not one to miss out on a good time, I acquired a knitting spool and spent endless hours cranking out miles of knit tubes.  Unfortunately, there was never clear instruction for what you were supposed to do with the knit tubes and my enthusiasm quickly evaporated.

My, AHA! moment, when I clearly realized that art - particularily of the textile variety - was going to figure largely in my life, occurred in a knitting shop in Santa Fe in 1970.  It was before the truly fabulously wealthy had taken Santa Fe over, and Old Canyon Road did indeed have many counter-culture artistic businesses scattered up and down its length, as well as some great galleries.  I recall the cool of the adobe building as I walked into the knitting shop and I was absolutely mesmerized by the 4 walls of color of every shade and tint.  I wanted to fall into all that color and become part of it.  That was the start. 

And like every start - it began small.  Crochet.  Baby blankets, baby booties, winter caps, little capes, and of course afghan blanket and afghan blanket.  A great friend of mine at the time was accused by her boyfriend of wanting to crochet a cover for her VW bug.  Wouldn't that have been something?

From there I learned to knit.  I still have the first two sweaters I knit for my children.  And one of them was a Fair Isle pattern!  Just goes to show you that ignorant bliss can work out just dandy sometimes.  Then I took a class in weaving, and found yet another use for all the wool I was stocking up in giant bags tucked into the dark recesses of unused closets.

I still have a lovely four harness loom that has been sitting unused for at least 10 years now.  I'm not to sure I agree with those organizational wizards who tell us that if we haven't used something by a certain period of time that we need to get rid of it...  Exactly who do they think they are?  Anyway. 

Then along came....

1976

Our Bicentennial

Quilting

My first inclination was that you had to just plain be crazy to buy yards of very fine fabrics, chop that fabric up into little geometric shapes and then sew it all back together again.  And then I made my first quilt.  I didn't know about 1/4" seams, or keeping points pointed, and there were any quilt shops anywhere, no rotary cutting tools, just scissors and cardboard and a good sharp pencil, and you were just darned lucky to find 100% cotton fabric to make your quilt with.  But I fell in love with the process and the absolute geometric magic that happened when two different block patterns came together to make a brand new pattern you never could have imagined.  The other thing I learned to love about quilting was the wonderful companionship of other quilters.  You could be on different planets when it came to politics or religion, but if you spent time with another quilter, the hours vanished quickly with the sounds of merry laughter.

This is the primary reason I'm going to start holding classes here at my farm outside New Albin, IA.  I think it does us (women) a great deal of good to get away from our everyday busy, busy life, to refresh ourselves a bit, learn a new thing or two, meet some other gals who have that same creative itch, and get a little pampering as well!

We are surrounded by nature here.  There's an artesian spring fed pond in my front yard that hosts Bald Eagles, a Canadian goose family (7 goslings this spring) and countless other water fowl.  The cabin is nestled at the base of a wooded hill which resounds with  bird songs all day long.  Your class here at the farm will include home made baked goods for the morning coffee break, a delicious and healthy lunch, and a kit containing the necessary items and pattern to complete your project.  You'll find a special little gift waiting at your table too.  Classes will run from 9:30 until 4pm, although I'd urge you to arrive as early as 9am so you can get set up and find the "necessary" rooms.  I am limiting classes to 6 so that you have plenty of room and access to my help. 

The first class at Summer Kitchen Quilts will be my original design, the Precious Little Bag (app. 8" h x 7"w), on Saturday, June 5, 2010, 9:30 - 4pm.  This is the first time the public will have access to my handbag designs.  I drafted all the patterns, and made one of a kind handbags for a wide range of uses, selling my work at  numerous art galleries and during local studio tours.  Your class fee includes the pattern and all fabrics, linings, interlinings, trims, button and handle.   I will take you step-by-step through my construction process.  This bag features silk & rayon brocade fabrics, a variety of trims and vintage buttons, a stamped metallic paint design and is further embellished with free motion embroidery patterns, which I will demonstrate during class.  With the purchase of the class I grant permission for you to make as many of the Precious Little Bags as you wish for personal use, or to give as gifts, and you can make up to 15 of the bags to sell at craft or fund raising shows.  If you wish to make more than that, please contact me. 

The class fee is $125.00 and due at registration.  Your fee will cover:

• Coffee, tea, bottled water
• Home baked rolls, scones, coffee cake, etc for morning break
• Home made lunch featuring soups, salads and/or sandwiches, dessert and beverage.  We eat healthy, tasty food at our house, and you'll find the selections delicious.
• Afternoon snacks
• Complete Project Kit which includes the pattern, all fabrics, trims, buttons, lining, interlinings, handle, similar to the picture above.
• A "Welcome to the Farm" gift

Registration is by phone, 563-544-4480, or e-mail me at mailto:alblair@sgwb.coop
If you want to sit next to friends, please let me know.  Four people will be at one large table, and two people seated at another table.  Upon payment in full, you'll be mailed a packet containing "sewing homework" to be completed prior to the day of the class.  This is usually just cutting the pattern out of muslin and ironing on fusible batting or interfacing.  Complete directions will be included in this packet for driving to the farm.  If you have a GPS in your car, our address is: 2861 Blair Road, New Albin, Ia. 52160

I hope to hear from you soon, and look forward to a delightful day of stitching!

Check Back Often for Other New Classes at the Farm!

P.S.  For those who are allergic, we do have two outdoor cats, and three dogs who run the house - or at least they have trained their humans very well..

 

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