To begin at the beginning: as I entered Vermont, what else would I see but COWS, the kind on the Ben and Jerry’s label! Of course I had to pull over and snap a picture!
It always amazes me how rapidly time evaporates. I got home on Monday, it is now Saturday, and I feel like the week simply disappeared in errands, exercising, painting (of the baseboards and trim variety), preparing to paint (the basement floor variety), and a thousand other things. I’ve JUST this past hour tossed the laundry from the trip into the washer! So while it is stewing and getting clean, I thought I’d start at the beginning and attempt to catch up!
From the last post, you know I was able to meet Dana B. from an online class with Jane LaFazio (at Joggles.com) and friend Susan Brubaker Knapp and have dinner the first night. Susan and I were snapping pictures from the get-go…. she spotted this light fixture (and got a much more artistic shot through the entryway):
Lighting at Leunig’s Bistro on the Church Street pedestrian mall in downtown Burlington, VT. Dinner was so good I returned several nights later with other teachers after the show ended!
I was rushing a bit so didn’t get the photo quite centered, but with cropping in Photoshop, like this view of the same fixture:
Holding the camera directly under the fixture….
As I told my quilting design students on Saturday/Sunday in class, design ideas are EVERYwhere!
My first class (Thursday) was Tame Fussy, Fiddly Threads. We were lucky to be in the room with Janome provided machines, all 7700s, and I know at least two of my students went HOME with ones they got at an amazing show special from Bittersweet Fabrics (that owner, Dave Lavallee, and his company gave some AWESOME prizes including machines to at least six lucky youth quilters!). I always encourage students to cut loose and make their own designs and color combinations with the paints for stencilling their black cloth….
Lovely and delicate coloring on this piece, which she had just begun quilting.
The class teaches how to use the threads so many fear: metallics, holographic, heavy poly, multicolored. The trick is getting the correct needle and tension. I begin class by having students prepare their freezer paper stencil and painting. (PS–the paints used are Jacquard Lumiere textile paints, available at various art quilty places and at online retailers such as art supplier dickblick.com.) While the paint sets up, we review the things you need to know, then by late morning (ish) sewing begins! This time one student decided to make a tree, and her friend and tablemate followed suit:
Trees…with freezer paper stencil still affixed while the paint dries
And in the back, Cricket (LOVE that name, and how totally cool that her parents named her that–it’s not a nickname!) did some spectacular color-work…just love the look and color of these leaves:
Crickets colorful leaves
One interesting thing–she was having some issues with the machine/quilting despite having experience with free-motion quilting. We changed her seating to something with the seat higher up–closer to correct position (you know how in classes the machines are ALWAYS too high up on the table for the usual classroom chairs?) and presto, problem solved! So if you are having difficulties controlling your Free-motion quilting, try adjusting the height of your chair (pillows, whatever!).
This student wanted a more airy look to her stencils, not filled in heavily the way I made mine. Love the soft look, and the fun she is having quilting!
I had encouraged students to bring a scrap–that way you can test drive threads and tension and don’t have to pick it out if things are off. This student used her cut-out leaves as a mask and painted the background…this turned out fabulous. Here it is in progress:
The sweep of metallic colors on black was FABULOUS!
The 30-wt So Fine (formerly Brytes) from Superior Threads makes an awesome color statement…here she is using the blue.
And remember those trees…here is one later in the day:
Love the way this turned out!
- At Show and Tell Saturday night. The gentleman at left is Richard Cleveland, the founder of VQF. Part of show and tell is each teacher gets to go up, and if there are any students there they come up and share their projects. I’m holding my version, and you can see my students to the right, including that wonderful “sweep” of color over the leaves, the “test” piece held by the lady at the far right. GREAT students, fun class!
There was a VERY special moment for me at the Sharing, but I’m going to be evil and make you wait to hear about it! I had two more classes: Fine Finishes and Quilting Design. I was so busy with a full 20 students in a BUSY class that I didn’t take a single (SOB) photo for the Fine Finishes bindings and edge finishes class, but got some great pics of the design class (small but superlative), and some photos of some of my favorite quilts from the show. More soon!
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