I flew out of hot and dry North Alabama on Saturday afternoon and woke up in room #2 surrounded by the cool mountain airs of Penland, North Carolina.
I am here for the next two weeks to talk (and teach) about the Alabama Chanin style of sewing, design, and textiles.
As I wrote earlier in the year, I spent a magical time here during my days in design school in the mid-1980s.
Last summer, Maggie and I were here for a few days. But, yesterday morning I made my coffee (thank you Olivia for the delivery of my cappuccino machine), and unpacked my bags for two full weeks.
I am looking forward to exploring design and textiles… and the mountains.
The next two weeks our posts will be dedicated to explorations at Penland. On the 23rd of July, we will return to our regularly scheduled programming.
In the meantime, sit back, enjoy these updates, photos, and stories from Penland (and plan your trip for next year).
xoNatalie
Enjoy Penland!!!! I wanted to take this course and take my much needed two week sabbitcal. I even registered and paid the fees. But, I was #6 of 11 people on a waiting list. MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT!!! However, despite my disappointment this tells me that the love of Alabama Chanin and the wonderful lessons about sustainable living is catching on.
Yea for you Natalie…enjoy you time in my NC mountains and maybe I will try to make silent auction.
I look forward to your posts. I am a new fan of your work and the creative ideas you share. I have all three of your books and keep looking through them everyday. Now to get cracking and try out your great recipes and your creative sewing ideas. Cheers
I excited to read these posts! Experimentation is the mother of some great stuff.
Looking forward to reading all about it!
Have a wonderful time at Penland. It is truly an inspiring and magical place to be. The cool mountain air will be refreshing as is the beautiful light of the place. Penland’s origins are in textiles, so you are continuing a long history of using your hands to create beautiful, useful things that connect us back to the land where the elements of our art and craft come from in a totally new way. Have fun! I look forward to your posts from Penland! Say hey! to Sarah, please!
I visited the Smokies last year at this time and your photo brought back a flood of wonderful memories. I so wanted to go to Penland and am there with you in spirit. Have a joyful time everyone.
Hi Natalie-I am enrolled in a class at Penland next month…Sculpting with Fabric. Very excited about it and also interested in knowing how your process is going there.