As they sat around a kitchen table sorting thousands of strips of cloth, the volunteers for the Creative Women’s Workshop at Crook Farm made light of their task by making exaggerated groans along with smiles.
The strips of cloth will be used for Judy Yorks’ Fall Fabric Wreath class Saturday when the workshop is conducted from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the historic Seaward Avenue farm. Sponsored by Bradford Landmark Society, the annual workshop, previously held in July, is the first to be held since 2019 as last year’s was canceled due to the pandemic.
The program is open to women ages 16 and up and will include a choice of four sessions along with all supplies provided. Also included with the fee is a delicious lunch and a souvenir tote bag.
Harrijane Hannon Moore, a member of the Bradford Landmark board, said the program has 62 women signed up for Saturday’s sessions. She and other board members are pleased the historic farm is making something of a comeback this summer with the Kids’ Day activities last week and the Old Time Music Festival Thursday through Sunday.
“We talk over and over about what’s going to happen when the (volunteers) sitting here can no longer do this because young people are not stepping up to the plate to help,” Moore lamented.
Meanwhile, volunteers such as Yorks’ group of helpers have been doing behind-the-scenes prep work to ensure all supplies are ready for the weekend workshop. Their work included cutting, sorting and compiling piles of cloth strips for the women signed up for Yorks’ class. Seated at Yorks’ kitchen table, the women sipped on coffee and other drinks while stacking 9,000 cloth strips into little piles. Yorks explained that each cloth wreath consists of 350 strips, and she has 32 women signed up for the class.
“We’re going to strangle (Yorks) if she does this to us again,” joked Yvonne Cattoni while bringing a huge laugh from the other women.
Yorks said the cloth scraps were cut from yardage Bradford Landmark purchased as well as from a donation from the Little Fabric Garden in Bradford.
Sally Costik, curator of Bradford Landmark, said that in addition to Bradford, women from a variety of other communities have attended the class in the past including Warren and Coudersport, and communities in New York state.
The classes offered include Tai Chi by Denise Piechnik; Klickety Klick Boxes by Costik; Learn to Crochet by Lynn Hobbs; Sew a Poke bag by Ann Ryan and Becca Hilsinger; Fall Fabric wreaths by Yorks; Blacksmithing for Women by Bruce Osgood; Kitchen Garden Herbs by McKean County Master Gardener Pat Drummond-Colley; Arranging Wild Flowers by Rebecca Ryan; Needle Tatting by Anne Bouquin; Paper Roses by Janelle Nolan; Cyanotype Photography by Sally Costik; Wallpaper Origami boxes by Betty Hach; and Crayon and Wax Resist Watercolor Painting by Lynn Hobbs.
