A couple of weeks ago I had a phone call from a lovely lady in New Zealand. “So, because you’re not going to London, would you come to teach us instead?”
Apparently they were all sitting around in their embroidery group discussing things and they decided there was nothing to be lost from asking me to come to them instead. What a wonderfully opportunistic mindset!
I said that I would be very happy to consider doing this for them. So far they’ve managed to *fill* three classes for me in Waikato. They have offered me to other nearby guilds, and there is the possibility of three more taking them up on the offer.
We don’t have final dates yet, because we’re still not sure who I’ll be teaching for, but all going well, I’ll be heading off to the north island of New Zealand in November to teach some enthusiastic students.
For anyone else who is interested in me teaching for them, I cannot fit any more classes this year. I have enough bookings for next year, and I’m now looking at 2025 for bookings.
For those who are patiently waiting for me to teach some more classes in Walcha, I will schedule some for 2024 (to fill up my 2024 teaching calendar). Keep an eye out for announcements on FB and Instagram, on my blog, and on my website.
As for teaching in the US, I’m still working on that. I submitted for the 2024 EGA Seminar but was knocked back. I know there are many who want to take a class with me, but due to really strict visa regulations, I have to be sponsored to come. To get a visa to teach in the US, I basically have to offer classes that no-one in the US could. I’ll keep trying, and I do have some ongoing discussions with a US venue.
The photo is of a group I taught in Napier on my NZ teaching tour in 2017. I do not think Napier is on my list for the upcoming trip, though I could be wrong. I’m just going where they send me!
I find the whole thing absolutely hilarious, that there were not enough students for my London classes, yet in NZ they’ve filled three classes without hardly trying! Go where you’re wanted… 🙂
White Threads is the blog of Yvette Stanton, the author, designer, publisher behind Vetty Creations' quality needlework books and embroidery products.
I’m so glad a different door opened for you Yvette, when the London one was apparently shut. It’s a shame for needleworkers in the UK, as I imagine there would be many people like myself who would love to participate in one of your classes but the format and price structure of this particular convention was the prohibitive factor. However, our loss is clearly New Zealand’s gain and I’m thrilled to bits you’ve been fully booked as you deserve. It surprises me about the US issues, I can’t imagine anyone else being able to teach exactly what you do in terms of technique variety and depth but I guess getting the nuances of regional whitework technique through a bureaucratic process is quite a challenge!
Thanks Kathryn. Visas are often a problem – if you want to do things properly, as I do. I was asked to teach in Japan some time back, but neither I nor the person inviting me could find an appropriate class of visa that would allow me to. It was disappointing. I imagine that if we’d engaged an immigration lawyer to do it for us, it may have been possible, but I don’t think either of us wanted to foot the bill for that!
I’d still be keen, if it was indeed possible!
I love the enterprise of your NZ students!