Barbara Schutzgruber – Storyteller & Weaver

I love taking workshops!  When I  step into the World of Workshop I get to leave behind the demands of everyday life with deadlines and just focus on creating exciting things. Within the World of Workshop I am not worrying about designing a finished product because in the World of Workshop the focus is on learning new techniques or working with a new materials. When the instructor says, “Anyone want to try……” my response is, “Sure — why not!” When choosing color combinations I find myself thinking, “I wonder what will happen if I combine A with F?” Sometimes the end results are pretty darn neat and other times the end results can be pretty darn ugly. I’m OK with that because in the World of Workshop it is the journey that is important.

But the World of Workshop has a dark side for it is also the World of UFOs— those items I did not have time to finish before we moved on to another exercise or that one last project I started because I wanted to keep playing.  And so it is, when I leave the World of Workshop, stepping back into the world of everyday life with deadlines, often times I am not alone– I have company. Those UnFinished Objects have hitched a ride.

Coming home from the AGWSD Summer School [See my posts for August 2017] I had 3 baskets that I had not finished – the shifu paper lace basket, the miniature knotted/cord basket, and the dyed cane pouch.

I always have good intentions to finish the UFOs but I have to admit… I rarely do. UFOs lurk in the corners of the sewing room, in the back of the closet, and in canvas bags hanging on hooks.  They are the Ghosts of Workshops Past that haunt and needle me because more pressing projects and deadlines have push them out of the way. This time however, I had volunteered to be part of the What I did over Summer Vacation Show & Tell at the September meeting of the Ann Arbor Fiberarts Guild, so I am proud to say….. I finished all three baskets!

I know that I will never lay to rest all my Ghosts of Workshops Past….
but then, I’ve always had a soft spot for ghost stories!