One of the lessons learned is to  get your class a good title AND a good class description.  I clearly failed on the Chunk and Jigsaw Fusible applique!  The class had only 7 students, but I opted not to cancel (I was given the choice), figuring getting paid for seven students is better than none, and they had already planned and prepped, and I had spent more money and time on kits and materials for this class than any other, so I might as well.  In reality, the class is using fusing and other art techniques to make fabric postcards (or slightly larger) pieces in the class.

Well, it turned out we had a ball!   I decided the best way to organize things was to demo the fusing first, have students fuse up a stash of fabrics (thanks to IQA for providing extra ironing stations in the hallways….due to electricity charges and wiring you can only have two irons in a classroom, clearly not enough for full classes!), then move to art techniques in the late morning and afternoon.  I set up an “Art Smorgasbord” in the back of the room, with materials and supplies for various techniques at three tables / workstations.

At the end of the day everyone put their stuff up on one of the foam core sheets and we all took pictures (photo above).  Among the techniques we tried were angelina (a hairy fiber that is sparkly which you can emboss with a stamp), making your own stamps from rope, glue, “stuff” (such as metal washers), foam sheets (I used Darice Foamies from Wal-mart…an adhesive backed foam that you can cut with scissors), painting on fabric, freezer paper stencils to stencil, couched yarns and other stuff, making your own cording from yarn, strips of fabric and whatnot, scrunching/texturing fabric…. and finally, my favorite finish for postcards:  the couched-yarn edge.  I made sure everyone tried every technique or had some of the materials to take home and try.

Here Auian made the most adorable reindeer…she had brought many Christmas fabrics, and I am totally in love with this guy!:

and her friend Tanyel made some wonderful postcards with her to-die-for selection of African fabrics:

Marie used both African and regular quilting fabrics and my Little Brown Bird pattern to make her own, slightly larger quiltlet… wish I could see this one when it is done! I was SO excited… early in the day I did a small exercise that helps folks understand that drawing really can be easy if you just break it down into basic steps and concepts…and Marie said she actually thought that now she might really be able to draw, and she never had before…WOOOOHOOO!!!!!  I think what I love best about teaching is when I can help a student realize that the really CAN do it!

and

Our fantabuloso Janome rep (who helped with the machines, and tips and all sorts of fun stuff) got to join in the fun on Thursday since we were so few– it was truly a pleasure to have her in the classroom helping, she was everything you  hope a classroom company rep will be!

Renee worked quietly over on the side of the room and boy did she cut loose!  Her mom and dad are both artists, and you can tell she is comfortable in a creative, free-form environment.  Plus, her taste in colors and fabrics and mine overlap a lot… I loved what she has done in these cards:

Mary’s frog and lily make me think of spring.  I also shared in the class how to use some funky tape-yarn to “bind” or edge-finish a postcard.. that’s what Mary has done on the top edges here:

Stacia had fun with abstract design and Angelina:

I’m not positive, but think this one may be Stacia’s also:

Kitty said she likes to work in series, and this is part of her seasons series:

She also used the paintsticks and a stamp I had made of cardboard and glued twine (done in the shape of a tree)  with the Shivas to color this cloth for future use:

Last but not least,one more beauty from Renee:

It was a great class to end my first teaching stint in Houston.  Because the class was so small, it was very informal and we got to sit close and work together to do some truly fun stuff!

I’ve just sent in my application to teach again next year in Houston…here’s to hoping!   Thanks to ALL my students, it was truly a privelege to be able to come teach and to have you in my classes.

Despite being a relatively unknown teacher, I was thrilled that my Wednesday class was FULL!  It is called Tame Fussy Fiddly Threads for Machine Quilting, which is really my “More Machine Quilting” class but with a better name.  It is for folks who are comfortable with free-motion quilting.  You don’t have to think you are good at it, just willing to try it!

The photo above shows the four 15″ square samples I made for the class.  (Click on the photo for a larger view.) The one on the top left is on the cover of my book.  Since I kit up the threads, and the ones I used in that sample didn’t match the kits, I decided I needed to make up three new samples to match what was in the kits because many students want to “make it just like that.”  I always encourage students to make it their way, but many will follow the class sample for practice.

When I teach this class locally and for guilds where students have their own machines, we work on a thread tension sampler (the pattern/instructions are in my book) so folks can learn how to achieve a balanced tension no matter which combination of thread, needles, fabric and batting (well, there may be impossible combinations, but we talk about that, too).  However, I learned the hard way in Paducah in Spring 2008, that doing a tension sampler on a borrowed classroom machine isn’t the best idea.  SO, I developed the leaf sampler so students can actually make a small item in class while testing different threads and tension settings.  I also hand out the instructions for the tension sampler so they can start on it when they get home to have their own personalized ready-reference quilting tension guide.

Anyway, the morning was spent making the freezer paper stencil template and painting:

The colors the students combined were GREAT!  I loved the pink and green tinges to the copper and gold:

Here are three happy students….the lady (my classroom helper…thank you!) on the left used a gray/black print that looked great in the real… it didn’t photograph as well, but is really cool:

The one in the middle used the Brytes thread, a heavy poly from Superior Threads, for the stems very effectively:

Lynn was one of the few who totally wanted to go her own way…yippee!  Instead of using my leaf, she drew and stencilled an oak leaf:

And here is Lynn  in the middle of quilting—thanks to Janome America for sponsoring several classrooms of machines!

And of course, a whole bunch more of fun quilting and stencilling and quilting.  Some students preferred to mark guidelines for their stems and vines:

and even more pictures:

I really like Barbara’s composition, colors and that swirly vine:

and here’s a detail:

Next post about classes, I’ll share the Fun Fabric Postcards class!

Well, I’m a bit of a dolt… here I get to teach in Houston at Quilt Festival, which frankly is a GINORMOUS career leap, and I forget to take the camera to take pictures of my classes not just Monday, but Tuesday as well!  So, I only have a couple pictures from Fine Finishes (the bindings class) and Machine Applique 3 Ways.  Sigh….   This picture is of the front of the room.  I was lucky to be in the Janome classroom, the same one, all four days, so I could just lock up my stuff at night and didn’t have to pack and move.  The IQA staff are the ONLY ones with the keys–not even the convention center has them for the duration–so your stuff is safe!

Of course, I took home the laptop, videocam (for live demos projected up on the foam-core in lieu of screen) and digital projector.  Have I mentioned that a prime requirement to being a quilt teacher is a strong back and wheeled everything?  I think the worst thing about traveling to teach quilting is airports and air travel; the second worst thing is schlepping stuff everywhere…being a human pack mule!  Anyway, I did something fun (inspired by Jan Krentz‘s classroom intro), and did up a pre-class slide show set on autoplay of Where I Live… how many miles from Camden, ME to Houston, TX, what our neighborhood looks like, and our lovely town and, since everyone is always curious, my studio/workspace (with the requisite  pics of the adorable pug).  I’m happy to say it went over well.  As soon as class began at 8, that show went off and class began.  FUN!

This is the “store” area with my book, patterns and assorted stuff folks might need (but forgot to bring) in class. I ONLY sell things I will use, so if they don’t sell, I have a goodly supply of stuff I like!

The ironing station, as you can see, is just to the left.

Here’s a view of the classroom from behind my table, at the front:

Since I have a TON of pictures from the Wednesday class, Tame Fussy Fiddly Threads, I think I’ll do a separate post tomorrow with those, then later in the weekend the Thursday postcards class.  The latter was small but boy did those ladies have fun! So did I!

Hi all!   In just one week (GASP, Shriek!) I leave for Houston to help launch my book AND teach AND have a ball at Festival.  My Wednesday class on thread is (hoooray and thanks to those who signed up) FULL!  But I still have spaces in my other classes.  I’ll blog about each of them separately in hopes that a more extensive description might encourage a few more folks to join the fun.
Chunk and Jigsaw Fusible Applique is really a fabric postcards class that sneaks in a few art quilting techniques such as stencilling with textile paint, rubbings with Shiva Painsticks, stamping, using Angelina, and creative edge finishes.  Also I’m debuting what will become my next pattern:  Little Brown Bird.  Students can use the bird on a postcard OR make a larger piece.  My LBB quilts (the wholecloth and the in-progress fused applique seen here) are about 16 x 20 inches:

LBB Fused 16x20, in progress

I’ll start the day with my technique that I call chunk and Jigsaw which uses up all those leftover bits to create a “stash” of pre-fused fabric.  Then when you want to dash off a quick thank you postcard to someone, it’s easy peasy…just pull out the pre-fused stash and start collaging!

LBB Postcard w/poptart edges

Here are some other samples of postcards I’ve done that may get you inspired to give it a try:

Hannah's Flower

Trees on Point

Kathy Daniels' birches card framed and Sarah's Mt. Fuji in a shadow box

Umbrella Abstracted, mounted onto batik on stretcher bars

Loons in Maine notebook cover

Hope you can make it to the class!  Just head to the second floor of the convention center to the education desk to sign up.  Cheers, Sarah

I promised that I’d share the top I began in the Jan Krentz Hunter’s Star workshop, so here you go!  Since my goal for the class was to get hints on improving my teaching, and since I haven’t made a pieced top in YEARS, I was fairly laid back about what I would do.  I selected “Caribbean” colors from my stash (yes, I have a goodly sized stash, and did serious reduction of the aquas!).  To make matters worse, since of COURSE I couldn’t do the quilt top just like the teacher said but instead had to do my own thing, I had an arithmetic hiccup while calculating, and now have enough blocks cut to make TWO 68×68 tops.

My blocks finish at 8 inches, so the total quilt is about 66 1/2 inches before quilting (which usually shrinks it up a couple of inches).

Before the class, Jan had sent me a jpeg of a student’s piece using two different sized diamonds.  I LOVED the motion, so decided to make FOUR different sized stars.  In the end, that proved to be too much, so I selected two of the sizes for the first top, and two for the one that will be made at some point.  Ahem.  The photo above is the blocks I made in the class up on the wall for testing at home.

And here is the completed top:

I’ll have to take a break now and do things I ought to be doing like writing my next article for Machine Quilting Unlimited, finishing up my Birch Pond pattern, and working on a commission quilt.  Ahem.  Nothing like taking a detour, eh?