Our faculty offers exciting, entertaining, educational and inspirational five-day workshops. Join us as we continue to offer the ultimate quilting retreat experience at the renowned “Refuge by the Sea” – Asilomar! Back to Homepage
Sunday to Friday, February 25–March 1, 2024 Closed classes indicated in red
Sue Benner
Composition Quartet: four techniques for fused quilts
A quartet of quilts! Challenge yourself compositionally and learn four different ways to construct fused quilts: squares/rectangles, curvilinear/organic design, cut-and-collage, and landscape. Using step-by-step directions with many creative options, you’ll make 4 quilts (about 16” x 20” or larger) using Sue’s fusible techniques. She will also cover fusible basics, working with non-traditional fabrics, quilting, blocking, and binding. By the end of this workshop experience, construction ideas will abound! Level: All Download Supply Sheet PDF.
The class will include the use of non-woven materials, ways to produce images with them, and methods to incorporate them to extend the range of expression that can be achieved with traditional fabrics. We will also explore the use of an electric cutting machine (Cameo) to cut the non-woven into finely tuned shapes. Students will learn how to draw a pattern from scratch, put in into the cutter software, and adjust the settings on the machine to produce results that are useable in many applications. In addition, I have developed new ways of painting fabrics. We will make samples using my methods and materials, and combine them with the non-wovens as desired. The non-woven material and one yard of silk habotai are provided in the class. Level: All Download Supply Sheet PDF.
Build your own 8-pointed star starting with any pattern from Jan’s collection or design your own with her assistance. Use Jan’s star quilts as inspiration to complete a contemporary or vintage star quilt! Start any 8-pointed star pattern from Jan’s pattern collection or design a star of your own with Jan’s help. Learn a variety of techniques, design options and construction methods to create an 8-pointed star that will become a treasured family heirloom. Level: Intermediate to Advanced Download Supply Sheet PDF.
Turn a favorite nature photo into your own original quilt! You’ll start with Ellen’s photos and supplies, giving you a stress-free opportunity to do multiple exercises. You’ll gain the skills and confidence you’ll need to tackle your own photos. Your goal will be to interpret your photo, rather than to reproduce it exactly. This is an exciting way to work which will show YOUR hand in your piece. A raw edge collage technique will ensure speedy results so you’ll be able to create TWO quilts. Level: Artistic courage, no art skills necessary Download Supply Sheet PDF.
The focus of this workshop is to create a landscape where the play of light and colour across the surface adds movement and perspective. We will start by drawing out our design then selecting our colour scheme and fabrics. We will extend our range by over painting and sponging some commercial fabrics that have interesting prints or textures. The collage process will then be demonstrated and participants will work on the backgrounds. The tiles are quilted in place before the foreground details are added. Lots of tips along the way and information about doing faced edge is included. Participants can use one of my patterns or work on their own designs. Level: Confident Beginner Download Supply Sheet PDF.
Have you always wanted to free motion your own quilts with joy and confidence? Have you taken classes but are still unsuccessfully free motion quilting? Jenny will meet you where you are, no matter your style or experience level. She will start with a solid foundation of the essentials of unmarked free motion. Each morning and afternoon will begin with a short lesson covering a variety of topics. Bring your own project and Jenny will provide advice, support, direction, and suggestions for students without a project. Her style is encouraging and light-hearted. Chocolate will be involved. Level: Confident Beginner to Advanced Download Supply Sheet PDF.
Join award-winning quilter Linda Neal for a week of applique, embellishments, and inspiration! Bring an appliqué block in progress or start a new project as you learn how to make perfect circles, curves, sharp points, deep V’s, stems, skinny stems and very, very skinny stems (Linda’s own technique). This class teaches the prepared edge technique using freezer paper, starch, and a small iron. Each piece is glue basted to the background in preparation for hand stitching. The class will also include hands-on embellishment demonstrations: organza ribbon candy wrapper, silk ribbon and embroidery stitches, ric-rac, buttons, beads, ultrasuede, and English paper pieced flowers. All demonstrations are optional – it’s YOUR week! Level: All Download Supply Sheet PDF.
Laura Nownes
Independent Study
This class is an opportunity for self-guided quilting. You can choose to use this time to work on a long anticipated project or finally complete one or more ufos (unfinished projects). Work at your own pace, without distracting responsibilities. During your time in class you will have access to 35+ years of quilting expertise; both technical and inspirational from Laura. The bonus is spending this time at the beautiful Asilomar Conference Grounds with other like-minded quilters. Level: All Download Supply Sheet PDF.
This class will take your creativity to a new level. You print the fabric, then create a design as the spirit moves you. Your hidden artist goes for an amazing ride! A truly one-of-a-kind quilt is your reward. Start by creating your own fabric. Learn to use paints, stencils, stamps and tools to create one of a kind painted designs using a mono print gel plate. These fabrics are a fabulous addition to any quilter's stash—ready to be used the day you paint them and totally permanent on fabric. Then take these fabrics and make a quilt. Work without a pattern. Work without a scant quarter-inch seam allowance. Work without straight lines. Create and cut as you go. In the class you will learn to piece curves without pins and create blocks like no one else has ever made before – these will be your original artwork. Level: Intermediate Download Supply Sheet PDF.
Immerse yourself in the warm colors of Autumn with this elegant quilt featuring a beautiful wreath surrounded by both pieced and appliquéd leaf blocks and vine borders. This quilt was included in the book 500 Traditional Quilts for machine and handwork, as well as her color-flow principles. Choose to create your own large Autumn Memories quilt or any of the smaller design variations. Level: Confident Beginner to Advanced Download Supply Sheet PDF.
Friday to Wednesday, March 1–6, 2024 Closed classes indicated in red
Mel Beach
Mark Making and Mandala Magic
Treat yourself to a week of mark-making magic and mandala Zen. We'll start by learning how to transform solid fabrics into exciting colors, patterns, and textures using a variety of mark-making mediums and techniques. Once the mark-making play is complete, use your personal fabric palette to construct one or more original mandala art quilts that will bloom with layers of petal shapes, patterns, texture, and color—all made by YOU! Daily demos will cover easy and versatile mark-making techniques, designing intricate-looking mandalas that are surprisingly simple to construct using raw-edge fusible applique, along with options for quilting, finishing, and embellishing. Level: Confident Beginner to Advanced Download Supply Sheet PDF.
Driven to Abstraction: developing abstract imagery
The exploration of abstraction in the art quilt medium is the theme of this workshop, both objective (abstracted from an actual subject) and non-objective. Through exercises, slide shows, individual discussions and a review of the history of abstraction, Sue will lead you through methods for developing abstract imagery. Each student will create a series of works based on source materials brought to class for inspiration. Instruction on using fusible collage as the construction technique will be presented, but these concepts can later be applied to other techniques as well. This is a great class for pushing your personal work. Level: All Download Supply Sheet PDF.
Make this dynamic Sampler Quilt, learning a variety of new techniques, including accurate Machine piecing, Freezer Paper piecing, Reverse applique, simple Handwork, and other sewing skills. When you learn the tricks to curved piecing, it all fits together. Barbara will guide you as you create the first quadrant. Barbara, an award-winning quiltmaker, will inspire you to make fabulous pieced quilts. Use your favorite fabrics, bright or subdued, modern or traditional, for this treasure. Sure to be a “Skillbuilder” project that will improve all your skills. The pattern, designed by Wendy Williams, is included in the required lab fee of $55.00. Level: All Download Supply Sheet PDF.
Be inspired by nature for your next art piece. Learn to look at your fabric stash as your paint palette. Use a favorite flower photo to build a one-of-a kind fusible art quilt. Learn to analyze and break your photo down into simple shapes to make a pattern. Melinda will show you tricks for seeing colors, values and choosing the right fabrics while training your eye to look closely at details. There will be a lecture/demo on how to finish your quilt with thread painting, but no sewing machine is needed. Just lots of fabrics. Level: All Download Supply Sheet PDF.
Discover a variety of ways to create the illusion of depth in a two-dimensional plane (in our case, a quilt.) Along with fabric, students will work in a collage style, using mixed media such as paints, papers and found objects to create a series of small studies. We will paint, sew, fuse and glue, concentrating on design principles such as overlapping, placement, size, value, and focus. In the end, you will leave with a better sense of command over how to create a feeling of three dimensions, depth and foreground within your two-dimensional art. Level: All Download Supply Sheet PDF.
The focus of this workshop will be to create a beautiful landscape full of movement and direction. Diagonal lines bring energy and movement to a design, and when the light is just right, commonplace subjects are transformed and become noticed. The first step will be to paint two different sky fabrics that harmonize together. Then you will be shown a technique to combine sections of hand painted sky with areas of strips placed at an angle. Once you have created your studding sky, the foreground and other details will be added. You will have the choice of adding a dark outline round the edges of some areas to add more contrast. Level: All Download Supply Sheet PDF.
Want to learn to do free-motion quilting but don’t know where to start? Can you do a few simple patterns but you want to expand your creativity? Have you taken other classes and failed? This is the class for you! Learning Free-Motion quilting does not have to take weeks or months of "practice, practice, practice." RaNae's unique teaching system will have you quilting successfully from your first day. You'll learn to quilt the fundamental shapes that build all designs, then combine them to quilt any design. You'll quilt individual practice blocks, then join them up to finish a quilt by the end of the week. You'll make a giant leap in your FMQ skills during the class and go home knowing exactly what and how to practice to continue improving. You'll finish this class saying "I can DO this!" The class is taught on domestic sewing machines, but the principles and exercises work equally well on sit down or frame-mounted long-arms. Learn more at FreeMotionMasteryinaMonth.com Level: Beginner to Intermediate Download Supply Sheet PDF.
Improvisational Quilting Irene-Style: "Dancing with the Wall"
Let go of your inhibitions! Tap into your creativity! Improvisational quilting means letting go of all expectations and preconceptions of what you are going to make. Come spend five days with Irene and learn how to let your sub-conscience and creativity drive you to make a unique expression of your individual aesthetic and process. Relax, play, let it happen and see what comes out. Irene will direct you through her method of creating a quilt that she considers the act of “Dancing With The Wall.” She will give tools, tips, instructions and a lot of hands-on individual attention to assist you along the way. Expect to have a fun, challenging and rewarding experience. Level: All Download Supply Sheet PDF.
A complete discussion of all the ways you can improvisation-ally PIECE circles and cures. From braided curves to log cabin circles, students will be led through a series of demos about non-linear improvisational piecing techniques and ideas for taking these techniques and creating original quilts. During the class, students create a collection of circles and curve quilt blocks-great for a sampler. Level: Confident Beginner Download Supply Sheet PDF.
A mountain of fabric, an array of art supplies, and 5 glorious days of mixed-media art making. Let’s tell an amazing story. There is something magical about gathering together to make art. There is a unique energy in the shared classroom experience and the enthusiasm is contagious. We treat ourselves to the time and space to focus intently on our work and become inspired by one another. Our week will include technique demos, lively discussions, plenty of independent work time, and a joyful community of like-minded art friends. Level: All Download Supply Sheet PDF.
Sunday to Friday, March 17–22, 2024 Closed classes indicated in red
Patricia Belyea
Creativity and Complex Curves
Learning to add complex curves to your quilt designs is like being given the keys to the universe. You’ll start by making a curvy-pieced quadrant quilt design. Translate simple doodles into block designs and transfer your linework to freezer paper patterns. Then proceed to make a fabric version of your drawing. We’ll move to a larger-sized composition with more complex curves. By the end of the workshop, you’ll be confident adding curves to your future projects. Level: Competent Download Supply Sheet PDF.
I am inspired by the natural world. Won’t you join me in my paint box to learn my technique for painting realistic floral imagery onto silk? You will have a choice between three different flowers for your project - #1 Into the Haze of the Mystic (Yellow Dahlia),#2 Desert Rose, or #3 Dinnerplate Hibiscus. Email Andrea with your choice no later than January 15, 2024. To make it easy, most materials you will need for your project will be provided except for the few listed in the supply list. In addition to painting your beautiful flower, I will also demonstrate how I create my highly textural confetti backgrounds and my technique for turning the edges of the finished applique for a clean finish. So, let’s have some fun and create with paint and fiber. Lab fee: $125.00 due on first day of class. Level: Confident Beginner Download Supply Sheet PDF.
Becky Goldsmith
Independent Study
Give yourself the gift of time to sew. Tap into Becky’s extensive background in all areas of quilt-making as you design, color, and/or construct the project you want to make. Your project can be pieced or appliqued, traditional or improvisational, traditional or pictorial, sewn by machine or by hand. This is your time to work in a beautiful setting without interruption from the outside world. Whether your quilt is new or in progress, this class is for you! Level: All Download Supply Sheet (PDF).
Working from photos of architectural elements, David will guide you through the steps to design a minimal, modern fabric quilt… inspired by architecture! You will learn the quilt-as-you-go method, sewing the top pieces, batting and backing simultaneously. You’ll then add texture and complexity with David’s unique approach to walking foot machine quilting where the quilting lines become a major design element. Learn to connect multiple quilted units with a great gusset join technique, then add a simple face binding for a modern finish. Level: All Download Supply Sheet (PDF).
Learn an easy and fun technique of raw-edge landscape collage and my unique and simple way to add people to your quilts. Bring your favorite photograph or idea for inspiration, lots of straight or safety pins, fine tulle, batting and the fabric you’ll need to make your artistic vision come true. In addition, I’ll show you how to add borders – or even more sections to create a quilt of any size. Be sure to check out The Quilt Show.com, episode #2908, if you’d like to see me demo my quilt-making process and you can also visit my website to see my finished award-winning quilts. Level: All Download Supply Sheet (PDF).
Students select a photograph they wish to work from, get it enlarged and trace a pattern from which to work. Another option is to use any pattern by Sandra, which may be appropriate for beginning students who do not have an image they want to use. Students will select appropriate fabrics to use, which are then fused into place, enhanced with media, and quilted to create an art quilt. Level: Confident Beginner Download Supply Sheet (PDF).
The log cabin block is so very versatile, we will use that as the basis for creating linear abstract art quilts. Start with a painting or photograph, crop that to a strong personal composition, overlay a grid, this can be an even grid, an uneven grid, curved or random grid, this linear drawing is laid over the inspiration photo or painting to become the map. Then log cabins made up of the colors found in each unit of the grid will be constructed and then put together to make the quilt. Emphasis on composition, variety, color, value and visual pathways. Level: All Download Supply Sheet (PDF).
How do you create quilts that glow? This topic is explored by choosing a simple block (log cabin, courthouse steps, nine patch, etc.) with the focus of color and value in a pure approach. Learn construction tips and working with a selected palette, explore the interaction of color harmonies without the distraction of difficult piecing or complicated pattern making. Jennifer’s techniques are relaxed yet in-depth, highlighting the nuances of why some combinations work and others don’t and how to amend them so your quilts have that luminous glow. Using a combination of ombre fabrics and your stash, multi-media lessons on hue, value, quantities and placement will be explored by sewing blocks with ease. Begin with a private one on one meeting with Jennifer and wrap up last day with group discussion and analysis. The sky, ocean and dune setting of Asilomar enhances our focus on glow, therefore nature walks will be offered. Level: Confident beginner to Advanced Download Supply Sheet PDF.
Nature is an endless source of inspiration. In this class we will examine a wide variety of artists interpretations of nature before beginning to manipulate natural forms ourselves. On the first day of class, you will choose a plant subject to work through a set of design exercises. This subject needs to have a variety of elements to work with… like a blossom, stem, leaves, buds, etc. to make the exercises successful. You don’t have to be in love with the subject, because at the end of the day you can jump ships and work on any subject you’d like, but many folks keep working on their original plant. If you have a couple plants in mind, bring as many views and detailed (leaves, blossoms, overall, etc.) pictures as you can for each one. Our goal is to discover as much about the plant as we can before simplifying and exaggerating it for our own interpretation. Level: All Download Supply Sheet PDF.
Jeanette Walton is a Judy Niemeyer Certified Instructor. Whether you are a devoted Judy Groupie or want to try your hand at paper piecing, here is your chance to create a visually stunning quilt while you learn and master Judy’s organizational and piecing techniques. Get help with choosing your colors, reading the pattern, and start to finish assembly. You have the option to work on any Quiltworx pattern during this immersive, hands-on class. Prior paper piecing experience not required. Yes, you can do that! Jeanette Walton, a Judy Niemeyer Certified Instructor, will guide you through, step-by-step, to making your gorgeous quilt. Level: Confident Beginner to Advanced Download Supply Sheet PDF.
Sunday to Friday, April 14–19, 2024 Closed classes indicated in red
Priscilla Bianchi
Ethnic Waves Improv: Art Quilting and Design Workshop
Over time my artistic work has evolved and so has this workshop. More freedom, more abstraction, more improv, and much more play! This workshop introduces students to elements and principles of design, and explores a variety of ways to create curves, waves, and circles. All these art quilting techniques will enrich the students’ repertoire, and provide the flexibility an artist needs to create original, innovative work. Students will be encouraged to experiment and stretch out of their comfort zones in order to express themselves in their own way. The kit of assorted hand-woven Guatemalan textiles (provided in class), is the basis to create a strikingly attractive design with color, movement, texture, rhythm and ethnic flare! Level: Confident Beginner to Advanced Download Supply Sheet PDF.
Material Matrix is a technique that uses piecing (no fusing here!) to interpret a gridded image made up of 2-inch squares. Students will create “Alight” to learn a new way of “seeing” and also sharpen their piecing skills. Topics covered in this workshop include curved piecing, how to grid your own photo, what makes a good image for this technique, color/value/composition, and how to make a matching binding. If you are looking for a new challenge and love piecing you will enjoy this workshop. Kit fee: $5. Level: Intermediate to Advanced Download Supply Sheet PDF. Download Pattern Grid PDF.
You will learn how to simplify and combine photos into a graphic design both the old fashioned way with tracing paper and with apps on the IPad. You will learn my turned edge machine piecing technique using Floriani Stitch n Wash stabilizer. Cutting apart the stabilizer to use as templates you will see how easy it is to turn the edges with glue stick. It is left in the finished piece giving nice body to the art quilt. You will also learn my fussy piecing technique using a gradation fabric. You can construct either a landscape or an animal. Bring plenty of photos. $7.00 kit fee for stabilizer. Level: All Download Supply Sheet PDF.
Josephine de la Cruz Keasler is a Judy Niemeyer and Fiberworks Certified Instructor and an Authorized Jacqueline de Jonge Instructor. Did you begin a Judy Niemeyer or Jacqueline de Jonge quilt, put it away, and now don’t know where to start to keep going and complete the project? This is the perfect class for you. Josephine can help you get back on track. She is also a certified Fiberworks instructor if you have a Laura Heine design that you purchased and haven’t started or finished. Josephine is an experienced teacher and will help you problem solve your project. Level: All Download Supply Sheet PDF.
Spider Webs quilts are a traditional format that transforms modern when made with interesting contrasting fabric combinations. The outcome captures and holds our attention in a web of colorful delight. In this workshop we will made the blocks by foundation piecing with freezer paper which is super fun. Variations on the layout will be presented so be prepared to experiment! You will love this workshop if you enjoy working with color and design Level: Intermediate Download Supply Sheet PDF.
Making a portrait in any medium can seem difficult. I will guide you through a step-by-step process to create your realistic portrait in fabric. It’s easier than you think, and we’ll have lots of fun along the way! First, we evaluate our photos, render a line drawing (don’t worry, you don’t have to draw them free hand!), and do a value study to prepare for color and fabric selection. I will share with you my view on color and the emotions color can evoke so that you feel confident choosing fabrics to construct your piece. Next you will have your line drawing enlarged, select a background fabric, and transfer your line drawing to the fabric back. (No Worries! All will be explained and demonstrated!) You will learn how to make the pattern pieces and start to build the portrait a piece at a time and the portraits begin to come to life. It’s so fun to see them start to look like real people! I hope you can join me on this adventure! Level: All Download Supply Sheet PDF.
MJ’s class is perfect for any quiltmaker who wants to create a design in which every piece is a different shape and size. This is NOT foundation paper piecing. Instead, MJ calls this powerful technique “traditional Piecing using freezer paper as templates”. Using images of gemstones – or your own inspirational image – MJ will show you how to transform it into a quilt. Create sparkle and glow using value and saturation contrast; evaluate fabrics’ impact on design: learn MJ’s fabric-painting techniques; create a coded pattern; and discover new finishing techniques. At week’s end, you’ll have created a gorgeous, faceted quilt. Level: Confident Beginner Download Supply Sheet PDF.
Do you love those radiating points of the Mariner’s Compass block, but are too intimidated to try them? Not a fan of paper piecing or using tedious templates? You’ll love this strip piecing method (that’s right, no paper piecing!) for making 16- and 32-point compass blocks and variations available in 16 different sizes using the Robin Ruth Design mariner’s compass rulers! Join Robin in this technique-based class to learn how to use her rulers and method, and benefit from her fabulous knowledge of block construction. Her gorgeous examples combined with her terrific tips will be the perfect inspiration for your own modern or traditional Mariner’s Compass project. Let’s bring the mariner’s compass into the 21st century and see where will your compass take you! Level: Intermediate to Advanced Download Supply Sheet PDF.
Ole Time Santa is the center block from Baltimore Christmas Quilt 13 block album style quilt and the Ole Time Santa Wall Hanging with it’s Snowman & Ginger bread border. The center Santa block is perfect place to start either project for a beginner or experienced applique student. Join Pearl as she guides you through careful prep work for perfect applique results; and let her introduce you to her uniquely successful techniques she has developed. Learn Pearl’s Off the block” prepared edge freezer paper appliqué techniques. Perfect your appliqué skills as we learn the basic step to make: “any size Perfect Bias Stems,” reverse appliqué, sharp points, perfect circles, plus smooth concave & convex shapes. Pearl’s workshop is open for independent study; please feel free to work on any appliqué project of your choice. Level: All Download Supply Sheet PDF.
Join award-winning quilter Julia Graves and make this gorgeous quilt that gives the effect of water rippling in a stream. It is a perfect pattern to showcase beautiful fabric, especially large scale prints. You will achieve the shimmer by applying easy to understand color and value concepts that you can also use to enhance all your future quilts! This quilt looks complicated, but is actually quite easy to construct. You will learn a quick piecing method for half-square triangles with perfect points. You will use Jenny Bowker’s pattern with an instructor taught by Jenny herself (pattern fee $18). By the end of class, you will have a design layout for your fabrics, completed many if not most of the blocks, and understand how to complete your quilt on your own. See lots of examples on Facebook. Level: Confident Beginner with enough color and value interaction to keep experienced quilters interested. Download Supply Sheet PDF.
Friday to Wednesday, April 19–24, 2024 Closed classes indicated in red
Priscilla Bianchi
“The Stripe Revolution!”
Priscilla uses Guatemalan striped fabric in her work. When she learned that quilters don’t particularly like or use stripes, it was too much of a challenge to pass by! She presents a fun approach to the subject, demonstrating different, simple and surprising ways in which stripes can be used effectively in quilts. Discover how to interpret and use directional prints and how to mix and match precious fabrics for a unique, ethnic flair. Broaden your knowledge of color, value, texture, and principles of design like balance and contrast. Level: Confident Beginner to Advanced Download Supply Sheet PDF.
Venture Into the Wild with me! Explore color and design using my easy Organic Applique (think Improv!) techniques. We will consider color, design and composition ideas that encourage creative options for individual results. Beginners will love the easy techniques and experienced quilters will love the freedom! Level: All Download Supply Sheet PDF.
We all have moments and places that we hold dear in our memories. Sometimes it is hard to communicate the impact they have in our lives. The emotions they evoke simply cannot be put into words, or captured in a photo. In the early 20th Century, artists were exploring new ways to express their ideas. This developed into the art movement known as "Expressionism," in which artists were more interested in expressing an emotional experience than a realistic image. Let's honor an important moment in your life with Expressionism. We will explore simple, small studies, playing with texture, unusual fabric choices, and mixed media, along with the use of “no rules or rulers'' machine stitching and slow stitching. These explorations will help you to find your own unique voice and style, which will then be applied to your Moment in Time project. By breaking down your final project into a process of layers, you will have many choices and paths to draw from your small explorations, to create a meaningful art quilt that captures the very essence of your moment in time. Level: All Download Supply Sheet PDF.
We will be using the Apliquick method (tools, glue and stabilizer) to create our flowers, but before we shape them, we will be coloring them using Derwent Inktense Pencils. We will also do some embellishment with very basic embroidery stitches. Level: All Download Supply Sheet PDF.
Use freezer paper piecing and raw edge applique in an artful way to create a base. Add texture and depth with Inktense pencils, thread sketching, confetti quilting, chenille quilting, couching and bias tape work. Relax and embrace new techniques as you work from the full scale pattern “Summer Kitchen”, an original pattern designed explore a variety of surface design techniques. Probe the use of Sari silk ribbon, novelty yarns and threads to create a focal point. Daily demos will cover additional media and techniques to incorporate in future works. Level: All Download Supply Sheet PDF.
Designing with Storm at Sea and Snail’s Trail Blocks
Storm at Sea. Snail’s Trail. Are these quilts on your bucket list? For over a century, quilters have been intrigued with how these blocks create the optical illusion of movement and curves with straight line piecing. Class design exercises will guide you to create your own variations. Wendy teaches a simplified piecing process using her innovative TRIMplate® trimming tools. Students can work on a supplied pattern, or create their own design. Level: Confident Beginner to Advanced Download Supply Sheet PDF.
In this workshop we will stylize some of Your favorite characters in nature and arrange them int an interlacing appliqued fabric collage, a colorful and graphic “Totem of Life”. Come to class with a chosen “theme” to help organize your ideas. For, example, you could pick “Autumn” as your theme. Your characters could be fall leaves, moths, chrysanthemums and a harvest moon. Or your theme could be Butterflies and Flowers, Ocean Life or The Planets. Then collect photos and prints of the characters that are candidates for your composition. From these we will stylize (simplify and exaggerate) each object so they can be made as graphic fabric shapes for applique. Your composition will evolve as your shapes begin to “play off” one another. This is a perfect way to learn my applique and contraction techniques, but also a chance to make a uniquely personal project. Level: All Download Supply Sheet PDF.
How can you make a crazy quilt crazier? Add a few baskets full of scraps on top of it! In this workshop, early on the focus will be on fabric selection and design development. You will go through the exercise of finding balance while working with textures and colors of small to large scale prints. If you decide to work with solids, the emphasis will be on value and contrast. You will learn how to make the crazy quilt background with freeform blocks. Once some of the background is made, the focus will be on string pieced baskets and their handles. Not interested in baskets? Try bowls, vases or something else. This workshop is a place to learn about scale, contrast, value, and selecting just the right fabric to brighten up the space. Level: Experienced beginner Download Supply Sheet PDF.
Make a maple leaf quilt, but make it your own! By playing with color, value, and layout, we will use a traditional block to make a contemporary art quilt that is unique to you. Participants will use piecing and paper-piecing techniques to create the leaves, while learning Timna’s techniques for creating color washes across her quilts. Design principles and choosing fabric combinations will also be covered during our days together. Bring a variety of your favorite scraps and some to share. Level: Confident Beginner Download Supply Sheet PDF.
David Taylor’s quilts are often mistaken as paintings, and that makes him very happy. His works are adapted from photographs, and his technique evolved from his love of jigsaw puzzles. In this workshop, students will learn the secrets to his craft. Topics include his unique pattern drawing method and freezer paper appliqué technique. A strong emphasis is placed on fabric selection (bring as much as you can to the class) and using those fabrics wisely. Students are required to submit image options in advance of the workshop. Level: Intermediate Download Supply Sheet PDF.
