BERNINA Corporate Blog -Some friendships are born in an instant. So was mine with Jutta Hellbach. But let me rewind a bit.
When Ajayji, my Bernina distributor from Mumbai proposed the idea of having a workshop at my studio, The Square Inch, Chennai, by Bernina friend, Jutta Hellbach, I was excited and scared in equal measure. Excited because I have been watching Jutta’s FB page (Nadel und Farben) and work with much awe and intrigue and what could be better than seeing her work firsthand and learning directly from her. Also, because hosting a workshop of this calibre really really appealed to me in my journey of making my studio a center for extraordinary learning. Scared because it was a big project and I was not sure if I had bitten off more than I could chew, which happens to be a particular trait of mine :-).
Turns out, I needn’t have worried at all. The workshop seats filled up almost immediately. We were a bunch of 12 ladies between 25 and 65 years of age and sewing experience ranging from ‘nil’ to ‘experienced’. Any fears that I might have had about an ‘International instructor’ and ‘experienced artist’ coming down to my humble studio were immediately put to rest within minutes of my meeting Jutta. She is a warm, easygoing and friendly person. And funny. Very funny. One roar of her throaty laughter over a self cracked joke and I knew I was going to love her ! Just like that !
Well, we got on like a house on fire and the workshop went on very well. It was lovely watching such an assorted mix of characters eagerly soaking up the buckets of knowledge that Jutta generously shared. All the ladies were mighty thrilled with the little art quilt they made and some had plans of incorporating it into bags for themselves. It was amazing to see what people are capable of creating when left free to play. So without further ado, here’s the promised peep at the recently held paper lamination workshop at Chennai. And don’t miss Jutta’s sari pic in the end :-).
The introduction
The teaching
The playing
The learning
The awe-inspiring
The wringing
And the hand holding
The eye candy
And its discussion thereof
The gyan (knowledge)
And the doing
The BERNINAs purring
The tips and tricks
The seriousness at play
And the joy on completion
More smiles. And pride.
The certificate ceremony
The awesome participants. Did I mention proud?
The hug. Of love and gratitude.
The swap happening on the sidelines
And a show and tell after class
A happy Jutta in a sari shop
And a happy me on being gifted an original Jutta Hellbach 🙂
Thank you Bernina AG, Bernina India, Ajayji and dear Jutta, for the awesome opportunity and wonderful experience !
Thank you for sharing what looks to have been a wonderful experience. Hilary
Thank you Hilary. Yes, it was really really wonderful !
My dearest Tina,
what a wonderful surprise and present you gave me with your report about the Chennai workshop!
I enjoyed the work in your beloved Square Inch so much, your warm welcome and every minute we spent together. You gave me wonderful warm hearted ladies to teach, that eagerly made their first steps in my special creative kind of work. It was an equal sharing of experience and knowledge and absorbing and transporting in their little artquilts. Very happy I can say again and again, that I am still overwhelmed by the terrific results.
Just to let you know, my laughty is normaly less throaty 😉 but my humor stays the same.
Thank you so much and Ajay again for your hospitality in Chennai, we will keep in contact, miss you already, my dear friend. Sometimes chemistry is right, here it happened.
Love,
Jutta
Lol Jutta..missing your roar, throaty or not 🙂