Class in Verona Italy

Hello Everyone

Hope you are all well and enjoying your summer holidays.

This week I would like to share with you part 3 of the Italy trip, the class in Verona.  As you probably know Verona is the home of the Shakespeare play Romeo & Juliet, and a visit to the lovely town of Verona would not be complete without a visit to the famous Juliet’s balcony.

A few years ago I received an email from Manuela Scarpin, a teacher of embroidery, from the Friuli region of Italy, asking if I would come over and do a class. I agreed that since we were travelling to Italy on holiday this year I would include a one day class in Verona. Manuela collaborated with  Elisabetta Ricami, a teacher and designer of beautiful embroidery and together they arranged the class and venue. The workshop was held at the stunning La Borina Agriturismo, an eco friendly farm about an hour from Verona nestled amidst the vineyards and countryside.

The class of 20 was made up by Manuela and her ladies who travelled by bus to Verona, 2 hours away,  and Elisabetta and her ladies who came from various parts of Italy.

Valentina, the owner of La Borina, kindly made all the preparations, arranged the classroom layout, set up the projector and organized all the teas and lunches.  With the help of Manuela translating we managed to achieve a morning of stitching up until lunch.

I was warned by Manuela not to give the students more than an hour for lunch as the Italians tend to linger over their meals, enjoying every mouthful and savouring every sip of the compulsory wine that graces every Italian’s table:), and would spend 3 hours if allowed!  This proved to be true…….. After a leisurely lunch, there was an hour of photographs and then more photographs (because someone was left out the first time (:) and before we knew it was tea time.  I loved how relaxed they all were!  Needless to say they are very proficient embroiderers and did not need a lot of teaching as they are experts in their own right, so it was more about the experience and the sharing of our love of embroidery.

I should mention the lunch which was mind-blowingly, delicious and so beautifully displayed.  La Borina grows all their own vegetables and have their own livestock so all the dishes were prepared from fresh ingredients on the farm.  There seemed to be platter after platter of food, each one more delightful then the next. Thank you again for the amazing lunch and hospitality, Valentina.

I was delighted to be shown some of their work which included several projects from my books.

Two lovely ladies from the gorgeous, glossy Italian magazine Giuliana Ricama joined us for the day, took photos and observed  the proceedings so as to write an article on the event.  I believe the article will be published in the next edition – if interested   You can subcsribe here.  The students were all treated to a wonderful gift hamper full of stitching goodies compliments of the magazine.

I was also delighted to meet the renowned Italian, master embroiderer, author and designer, Giuliana Buonpadre who attended the class.  She has written several books and runs classes in Italy – for more on her work see her website here.

I was overwhelmed by the hospitality of these charming Italian ladies, the interest in my work and the red carpet treatment I received.  A big thank you to Manuela for arranging the event and for patiently translating every word,  and to Elisabetta for organizing the venue.  It was a wonderful, happy,  day and each one of you which will always hold a special place in my heart.

Till next time, keep smiling, happy stitching and Arrivederci!

Trish