Birthday craftcation: Weavers' School and SAM ikat exhibit

Each year, I celebrate my birthday by taking a destination craft class and learning something new. This year, I travelled to Whidbey Island to attend Madelyn van der Hoogt's Weavers' School. And – incredibly! – the timing of the class coincided with the Seattle Art Museum's ikat exhibit, which I visited on my way home.

Weavers' School was absolutely incredible. Madelyn is so knowledgable and so so so funny. The class alternated between lectures/demos and weaving on 20 pre-warped looms with different structures and patterns. I literally hopped from loom to loom, whichever one was free, and ended up weaving 14 (!) samples. I didn't think I could love weaving more – but this class unlocked a whole new layer of weaving I didn't know existed (profile drafts!).

The SAM ikat exhibit was amazing, too. There were ikat samples from each part of the world – such a great variety – and it was wonderful looking at the design choices and technique up close. I came away with so many ideas for future projects! Here are a few of my favorites (but my pictures don't do them justice).