Totem of Life Five-Day Quilting Retreat
August 18 - 22, 2025 |$1,250
In this workshop, we will stylize some of your favorite characters in nature and arrange them into an interlacing appliquéd fabric collage, a colorful and graphic “Totem of Life.” Come to the retreat with your theme pre-chosen to help organize your creative ideas. For, example, if you choose “autumn” as your theme, your characters could be fall leaves, moths, chrysanthemums, and a harvest moon. Your theme could be butterflies and flowers, ocean life or even planets. Choose a theme that delights you and resonates with your life.
You will collect photos and prints of the characters that are candidates for your composition. From these you will stylize (simplify and exaggerate) each object so it can be transformed into a graphic fabric shape for appliqué. Your composition will evolve as your shapes play off one another.
Your fabric totem will be a uniquely personal project.
Learning Objectives
Choose your own subject to create a personalized totem quilt
Learn a machine appliqué technique using interfacing for stability, body and easy assembly
Design your own quilt top in your choice of colors and fabrics for a unique composition
Learn how to stylize your elements into shapes for appliqué
Learn how to work with shapes and color for a dramatic composition
With Jane’s expert help, learn machine stitching, constructions and quilting tips
Skill Level
The class is targeted to all levels of sewers.
What's Included In Retreat
● Meet and greet with hors d'oeuvres on Sunday, the 17th at 5:30 pm● Five days of instruction--Monday through Friday● Three lunches● Two dinners
Rent a Sewing Machine
If you need to rent a machine, we rent the The Bernina 350 Ricky Tims' Special Edition which is a great machine for quilters. Click here for more information.
Retreat Schedule
Day 1: Stylize Elements
You'll begin making your totem by stylizing your elements into simple shapes.
Day 1: Design Patterns
The next step is designing your appliqué patterns.
Day 2: Compose
At this point, you are ready to compose your quilt top.
Day 2: Pre-Assembly
Now that your quilt top is done, you will pre-assemble your shapes and units.
Day 3 & 4: Construction
Time to construct your quilt top.
Day 5 Quilting
Lastly, you will learn quilting Sassaman style.
Supply List for Jane Sassaman Retreat
Photos & Prints
Large photos and prints of the subjects in your theme. Since these designs are organized symmetrically, Jane recommends looking for vintage scientific prints that often display the objects as flat and symmetrical.
Pinterest and Google Images are a great resource. You can often drag a picture to your desktop or email the images to yourself for printing at home. There are also sites which offer libraries of free images. If possible, please print the subject so it fills an entire 8.5” X 11” page or bigger. Bigger is better.
Suggested Website Sources for Free Photos and Prints
Archive.orgLibrary of CongressPublic Domain PicturesScrapper Circus
Rent a Sewing Machine
Weekly Sewing Machine Rental
We rent the The Bernina 350 Ricky Tims' Special Edition which is a great machine for quilters. Standard accessories for the sewing machine includes the slide-on extension table, the practical Free Hand System (FHS), the BERNINA walking foot as well as two additional feet for quilting and patchwork.
There are a limited number of machines available for rent, so reserve yours when you book your retreat. If you don't see a machine rental option, it means all the machines have already been rented.
$100 per class
Books by Jane Sassaman
About Jane Sassaman
Jane A. Sassaman worked in many design mediums before discovering quilting. After graduating as an art major at Iowa State University, she worked as a window dresser, a sign maker, an illustrator and as a designer of decorative accessories.
All of these talents came into play when Jane began to quilt in 1980. Since then her exuberant quilts and fabric designs have attracted worldwide recognition. Under the influence of 19th century Arts and Crafts designers, her work is abstracted from nature, but her signature graphic style is totally contemporary.
As an art quilter, Jane’s designs are always recognizable for their bold color and graphic style. In fact, her quilt ,“Willow”, was named as one of the hundred best American quilts of the 20th century.
Today she is translating her unique vision into exciting fabrics for FreeSpirit. Like her quilts, Jane’s fabrics are nature inspired, large scaled and colorfully enthusiastic. They have been lovingly referred to as “William Morris on antidepressants!” "I try to express the energy and mystery of our amazing universe - from the miraculous beauty of a single blossom to the complicated powers of the soul." When she isn’t fondling and designing fabric in the studio, she is on the road teaching quilt classes, sketching in the garden or browsing through her wonderful library of design books. She is also the author of “The Quilted Garden”, which includes twenty years of her work and exercises for making nature inspired quilts. Her book “Patchwork Sassaman Style” is a primer for using personality prints for quilt making.
Important InformationRead Before Registering
Cancellation Policy
If the Estelle Center must cancel a retreat, you will receive a full refund.
Your $450 deposit is non-refundable. However, if you cancel your reservation and the Estelle Center is able to fill your space, your deposit of $450 will be refunded less a $100 cancellation fee.
If you book a guest room with your retreat and cancel, you will be charged a flat $150 fee for the room cancellation.
Payments
A deposit of $450 is required to register. The balance of $725 is due by June 25, 2026, 60 days before the start of the retreat.
After June 25, 2026, the full retreat cost of $1,175 is required to register.
Meals & Lodging
Color Camp includes meet and greet with appetizers, four light breakfasts, two lunches, two dinners, and four days of instruction. Other meals and lodging are not included in the registration fee.
Estelle's Upstairs guest rooms are available for retreat participants. There are single, double, and triple occupancy rooms that share a large bathroom down the hall. There is a separate button below where you can see which rooms are available and book a room.
Click here to learn more about our accommodations.
What To Expect Next
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Payment
Register for Retreat Here
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