Coming up in 2017- all about education!

Well, will you look at that?  2016 is nearly over, and I haven't told all my stories yet!  I confess that for the past week and a half, I have been focusing on life, family, and rest.

I found this photo.  I guess you can tell which of these ladies is me:

I come from a lineage of makers on both sides of my family; here I am at 6 months with the maternal side:  my mother, her mother, and HER mother, in Fort Worth, Texas.
Cronin-Dalton-Foster-Leatherwood-Lowe.

When I look at this photo, I realize why I have this blog, and why I have become involved in education in this Soft Furnishings industry.  These women who went before me were all self-taught at everything at which they excelled, and they all passed down their hard-won knowledge. 

Now that I've finished resting up, taking down our Christmas tree this afternoon, I'll catch up on the blog stories that didn't make it in this year.
I'll also be focusing on upcoming educational ventures.

I'm on the  D & D Pro Network calendar for February with a webinar on Sheer shades.

 I'll finish up my presentation on Streamlining Top Treatments for the Custom Workroom Conference 2017 in May.

 For CWC17 I'm also updating my class on Relaxed Roman shades.

I'll be recording a podcast with Ceil Weiss DiGugliemo.
Check out her podcasts at Sew Much More Custom Sewing- they are wonderful and inspiring!

I'll be adapting my Efficient Shade Making presentation to become a hands-on class for WCAA chapters- or anyone else too!

Rosemarie Garner and I are collaborating to create an interactive presentation on challenges and solutions in shade design and fabrication.

Future classes are coalescing- for instance, techniques for working with blackout lining for shades and drapery to achieve no pinholes of light..

Last but not least, I'm playing with brand new ideas for crossing techniques from creative textile arts with professional soft furnishings fabrication standards, inspired by this applique-on-sheer shade we made a few years ago.

Stay tuned!  It's going to be a great year!