Abstract geometric artwork with red and white shapes and lines

Ana Buzzalino

Concertina

Online Workshop

November 7 - 8, 2026

$350

Release your inhibitions and tap into your creativity in this two-day online workshop.

Irene Roderick will guide you through improvisational quilting, where you will learn how to let go of your expectations and allow your sub-conscience to move your work forward. This freeing process reveals your unique aesthetic. You relax, play, let it happen, and see what comes.

You may love it. You may hate it. (At first, but put your work away for a week or two and then revisit it. You will like it much more.) But have fun and enjoy the process. The methods you learn in this online workshop will work for any medium--painting, collage, printmaking, etc.

Improv is difficult. The process requires letting go of control but at the same time, remaining constantly thoughtful. You have to keep reminding yourself to get out of your own way and let it happen. Even if you are very accustomed to improv creating, the process is very rewarding. It is a process of discovery and invention. Improv is not sloppy. It’s a deliberate kind of spontaneity. It’s a state where you stay relaxed, connected, and alert.

A woman with glasses and a dark jacket is giving a presentation in front of large abstract black and white artwork and talking to an audience of women seated at tables in a conference room.
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Learning Objectives

The Layered Compositions Mixed-Media Retreat offers a comprehensive learning experience focused on textile art. The key learning objectives for participants include:

  • Learn how to combine printed fabrics and papers

    Practice designing and assembling mixed media textiles

    Focus on effective color, design, and compositional elements

  • Utilize hand appliqué, embroidery, and innovative stitching to create texture, pattern, and dimension

    Discover the meditative aspects of hand stitching

  • Learn professional finishing and display options

    Share and receive supportive feedback

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Skill Level

This workshop is suitable for all skill levels.

Abstract geometric artwork with red, white, and varying shades, featuring squares, rectangles, lines, and curves.
Abstract geometric artwork with yellow and brown shapes, lines, and patterns.

Participants Will Learn To

Look & Respond

  • Look at your work and respond thoughtfully to each next step.

Create Balance

  • Design a balanced and interesting quilt.

Use a Design Wall

  • Use a design wall for placement of fabric pieces.

Limit Colors

  • How to make a design with two colors of fabric.

Make & Combine Shapes

  • How to make shapes and combine them to make new, exciting designs.

Skill Level

This virtual workshop is appropriate for all skill levels

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A textile artwork featuring large embroidered blue and beige leaves, with additional embroidered elements in red, white, and dark blue, including geometric patterns and floral motifs.
Embroidery of a hummingbird on a circular fabric piece with a background of various patterned textiles.
Pattern of black and white stylized leaf shapes and geometric designs arranged symmetrically.
Collage of four black and white patterned designs, including geometric squares, spiral circles, abstract shapes resembling seeds, and stylized ginkgo leaves.

Online Workshop Schedule

  • We’ll review the tools, materials, and the general workflow of the printing process.

    • Familiarize yourself with the components of successful printing.

    • Explore block design options for single motifs.

    • Begin creating your first blocks exploring your personal preferences.

  • Learn the basics of printing single motifs, and then move on to more complex designs.

    • Be bold and expressive, or delicate and detailed, find the “you.”

    • Express your individuality as a creative being.

  • Discover finishing and display options for your hand-stitched piece.

    • Learn professional finishing techniques.

    • Discover display options.

    • Share your progress and participate in a supportive group critique.

  • Gain a deeper understanding of how to create texture, pattern, and dimension in your work with innovative stitching techniques all done without a hoop!

    • Experience the icing on the cake.

    • Discover the meditative, soul-soothing aspects of hand stitching.

  • Discover finishing and display options for your hand-stitched piece.

    • Learn professional finishing techniques.

    • Discover display options.

    • Share your progress and participate in a supportive group critique.

Register for Waitlist
A woman giving a presentation in front of a large black and white abstract artwork, with two women seated at a table, listening attentively.

About Irene Roderick

Irene Roderick has been a painter and crafted for over 50 years, while working and raising four sons. Irene returned to school at 46, earning a BFA from the University of Texas at Austin and an MFA from the California Institute of the Arts in 2001.

In 2016, when searching online for a bed quilt, she discovered the works of Nancy Crow and Gwen Marston. No one in Irene’s family sewed or quilted, so she was unfamiliar with quilting, but she suddenly wanted to make what they were making. She took a beginner piecework class at a local quilt store and was hooked. She found quilting to be the same as painting, but with fabric as the medium.

Irene has two quilting books: Dancing With The Wall, which is about improvisational quilting, and her newest book, Design Then Quilt, is about the elements and principles of design.

Irene Roderick’s work has been exhibited throughout the United States and is included in private and museum collections. Her quilts have received numerous awards in juried and invitational exhibitions. She has served as a juror for several juried shows.

Currently, Irene is working in her studio, lecturing, and teaching workshops online.

Irene's website is: IreneRoderick.com

Her Instagram is: @hixsonir

Her Facebook is: hixsonir

Colorful abstract painting of a flower with multiple petals on a dark background.
Close-up of a sewing machine needle and presser foot sewing blue fabric.
Multiple colorful spools of thread on a wooden surface against an orange background.

Supply List for Carolina Oneto Retreat

General Tools

  • Sewing machine in good working condition

  • You may rent a sewing machine. Click here for information.

  • Regular sewing foot, 1⁄4” piecing foot, zipper foot

  • Rotary cutter (new blade), mat, and ruler

  • Fabric scissors and thread snips

  • Pins

  • Fabric scissor with a fine point for cutting snips

  • Notebook, color pencils, and pencil for sketches and notes

  • Basic sewing kit (needles, seam ripper, etc.)

  • For your design wall bring a 50”x50” piece of batting or flannel.

Fabrics for the Flowers

  • Bring a variety of fabrics in different hues, values, and saturations, with each piece measuring at least 12” long and 2.5” wide.

  • You may include scraps, fat eighths, or jelly rolls.

  • Carolina will bring additional scraps to share, and students are encouraged to exchange pieces to create beautiful, collaborative color transitions for their flowers.

Fabrics for the Background

  • Choose one color family in a dark value (Carolina recommends blue, green, or blue-green) but feel free to choose the color that you want.

  • Bring at least 10 fat quarters of that color family in similar dark values to add depth and variety. (Two FQs can be replaced with 1⁄2-yard cuts in the same dark value.)

  • For the stems bring 1 yard of fabric of your desired color in a medium value (commonly I use colors between blue-green and yellow-green)

Adhesive and Marking Supplies

  • Washable glue with a fine-point applicator (Helmer’s Glue or Roxanne Glue-Baste-It)

  • ⚠ Do not bring glue sticks — they don’t work for inset shapes.

  • Fabric marker (erasable chalk or water erasable type)

  • Double tracer wheel – e.g., Prym Double Tracing Wheel

  • 1⁄4” masking tape

Note

If you have an iPad and you can download the PROCREATE app, bring it to the seminar. It is a fantastic tool to draw and design your quilts. If you have any question don’t hesitate to send Carolina an email. She will be happy to help you. Her email address is in the supply list. You can download the list by clicking the green button below.

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Download Supply List

Important Information Read Before Registering for Your Online Workshop

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Cancellation Policy

If the Estelle Center must cancel a retreat, you will receive a full refund.

Your $200 fee is non-refundable. However, if you cancel your reservation and the Estelle Center is able to fill your space, your payment of $350 will be refunded less a $100 cancellation fee.

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Payments

The entire workshop fee of $200 is required to register. This is an online workshop. You will receive the meeting URL one week before the workshop.

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What To Expect Next

Please add office@estellecreativearts.com to your safe senders list to make sure you receive our emails.

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