MOROCCO TEXTILES TOUR
with Sue Spargo
22 March – 5 April 2025 – SOLD OUT!
7 – 21 March 2026 – now selling
Marrakech, Atlas Mountains, Sahara, Fes, Chefchaouen, Rabat
Travel with artist Sue Spargo and explore the traditional Amazigh (Berber) crafts of Morocco at a grassroots level where women’s cooperative ventures present a range of textile creations melding age-old skills with new innovations.
In Marrakech we visit the exquisite new Yves Saint Laurent Museum featuring his fashion design as well as the Berber Museum that houses the Moroccan textiles and jewellery that inspired his work.
We then venture into the High Atlas Mountains and follow the ancient trade routes across the Tizi’n’Tichka Pass from Marrakech to the Sahara. Weavers of carpets and cloth, embroiderers and basket weavers are found in remote locations where they still employ their skills and maintain their traditional life style.
Next we make our way north to Fes and the blue city of Chefchaouen for a feast of colour and Islamic culture, finishing in the capital city of Rabat.
The tour includes hands-on experiences and demonstrations with local artisans. On the road in the mountains and Sahara we learn some exquisite embroidery techniques, tie knots to make rugs, explore some eco-dyeing using Rose Madder.
Guest artist Sue Spargo will share her skills and experience to allow participants to develop their ideas for textile design. The tour is not an intensive workshop as there is too much to see and experience in Morocco, but time will be devoted to sharing ideas, discussing colour, pattern, materials and trialling techniques for future development. You will be encouraged to develop a visual diary and to create studies and samplers incorporating your ideas.
WORKSHOP with Sue Spargo
“Travel with me through Morocco, absorbing the country’s rich history, flora, fauna, and kaleidoscope of culture. From woven rugs to bright spices, mosaics to architecture, donkeys to goats, we’ll be inspired by the sights, scents and sounds to create a one-of-a-kind travel cloth. Beginning with a wool background, we will combine wool and cotton appliqué to design our scene, which will then be enhanced with textural stitching. Your favorite memories of Morocco will be captured on cloth and serve as a beautiful memento of your trip.” – Sue Spargo
About SUE SPARGO
Born in Zambia and educated in South Africa, Sue trained as a nurse before moving to England and eventually the United States which she has made her home. These diverse places and cultures – from the the African bushveld to the lush greens of the rolling hills of Southern England, followed by Connecticut, Tennessee, Utah and Ohio – have all influenced Sue’s work. The energy and color of traditional African designs, together with contemporary folk-art continue to inspire her.
Sue enjoys challenging her students to choose their own medium and to adapt and develop given designs that result in quilts that are truly their own. Working with her son Jason to create a range of hand-dyed wool, wool-plaids, velvets and silks, these fabrics are designed specifically for quilters and offer new and different choices to be worked together with her own select wool and cotton appliqué threads.
Sue has lead workshops across the length and breadth of the USA and in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, France, Ireland, Italy and Switzerland. Her retreats and workshops teach a specific design or a workshop called Travel Journals including a ‘whole quilt concept’. Teaching principles of color and design her workshops have a strong focus on embellishment as a means of creating texture.
This focus on embellishment led Sue to work with her father to produce the book Creative Stitching with 50 favorite stitches and examples of her work. The recently released Creative Stitching Second Edition, includes updated illustrations and a number of new stitches. All Sue’s current designs are made available as books or patterns taking great lengths to ensure that all instructions are clearly stated and easy to follow. The newest patterns are also available as digital downloads from Sue’s website.
Sue’s other absorbing passions include engaging with the four, unique, strong and fulfilling personalities that are her young-adult children, as well as tending her flowers and traveling to new and exciting destinations.
MORE ABOUT THE TOUR
Accommodation is provided in the most comfortable traditional guesthouses, where we enjoy the extraordinary delights of Amazigh food and hospitality. You will discover the highlights of Morocco and the indigenous Amazigh culture that evolves and continues largely through the extraordinary textile traditions. We also enjoy music and a complete range of traditional cultural experiences and crafts.
Traveling with a small group of like-minded people and an experienced team of co-hosts the program offers an innovative and creative way to explore a new place that is stimulating, supportive and safe.