Monday, 23 March 2015

QuiltCon Recap 3: The Classes

In this post I want to share a little about the classes I took at QuiltCon.  I was extremely fortunate and managed to get into every class I wanted to take.  I took a reasonable number of classes - I figured since I was at QuiltCon, I might as well do and learn as much as possible.

QuiltCon classes 

My first class was on Thursday, and was a long-arm quilting class with Krista Withers.  This is the set-up of the room - I guess there were about a dozen long-arm quilting machines in there with two students to each machine.  Krista taught her compositional quilting technique and I learned heaps! 

QuiltCon classes
Me with Krista Withers

I don't want to share too much about the content of the classes here.  As a teacher myself, I know how much hard work goes into preparing for a class and I think it's respectful to allow the teacher to chose how and when to share their work.  However, Krista's ideas about how to divide up the space in your quilt top, and make it look like different motifs were sitting in front of or behind each other were brilliant.  I also feel like this class gave me permission to free motion quilt straight lines, and not worry about whether they are perfectly straight. 

QuiltCon classes 

Above is the sample I worked on in class.  I brought it home and I think I'll throw some binding on it to keep as a reminder.  I have a quilt coming up later this week which I quilted using some of the ideas from Krista's class, and I find myself excited about the quilting part of creating a quilt again.  Krista was a really awesome teacher - she had clearly planned the class well, and we moved between receiving instruction, planning, working and receiving more instruction in a really nice way.  

QuiltCon classes 

My next class was Anna Maria Horner's Mod Corsage class.  This class included elements of fussy cutting, piecing, appliqué and broderie perse to create a modern corsage block or quilt.  I am a huge fan of Anna Maria Horner's fabrics so I was super excited to take a class with her.  

The class was great, and it was awesome to see the broderie perse quilt above which is from Denyse Schmidt's book Modern Quilts, Traditional Inspiration.  Anna Maria had just bought it from Denyse which was pretty awesome.  Also awesome was the fact that Denyse Schmidt herself was a student in the class (clearly she and Anna Maria are good friends and she got a bit of a ribbing from Anna Maria about how it was good she was finally learning patchwork).

QuiltCon classes
Anna Maria Horner and me.
It's a bit hard to see, but Anna Maria's quilt is hanging behind us.

QuiltCon classes 

I was lucky enough to sit next to Ashley from Wasn't Quilt in Day.  She is so lovely and the piece she was working on was amazing.  I thought about stealing it during the break but resisted temptation!

QuiltCon classes 

This is what I worked on.  I was feeling a bit more is more in the class!  This will mostly be needled turned appliqué, so don't hold your breath for a finish any time soon!

QuiltCon classes
Yoshiko Jinzenji and me.
My second to last class was with Yoshiko Jinzenji.  I've been a fan of Yoshiko's work since before I was quilting myself (my mum has a couple of her books), so I definitely had to do a class with her.  I enjoyed this class, which involved quilting a layered panel consisting of a shiny fabric, a few shapes and then a sheer fabric over the top.  Working with the sheer fabric wasn't as hard or scary as I thought it might be, and it's definitely something I would like to experiment with more.

QuiltCon classes

My last class for the trip was with the quilters of Gee's Bend.  Anne and I decided to do a collaborative piece, which you can see above.  One of our local guild members who often works with shirts curated a bundle of old shirt fabrics for Anne, and we both added a few fabrics from stash (and a few bits and pieces from the scrap bin in the classroom).  This was a really enjoyable class and a chance to just sew.

QuiltCon classes

The Gee's Bend quilters mostly wandered round disbursing little bits of advice, but they also shared a few songs with us - very beautiful.

So there we go, my QuiltCon learning experience.  The classes were uniformly inspiring and had me excited to get back to my sewing machine.

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9 comments:

Wendy @ Wendysquiltsandmore said...

Thanks Adrienne - I've read lots of QuiltCon posts that were all about the people, the people, the people. It's nice to read one about the classes and see the types of things you learnt. I can see Anne's influence coming through in that last piece - the spots of pink, although it may have been you after seeing your AMH pink piece.
These made me think of your Symposium building piece. How's it coming along? or isn't it? Maybe you could put it on your Q2 Finish Along list because I'm really interested to see how it will turn out.

Lisa in Port Hope said...

I love your quilting piece, the juxtaposition of the feathered sunflower (?) and straight lines is fabulous. So glad to hear you had a wonderful time.

Dawn said...

Hi Adrienne,
Love your blog!
Love your caturday wisdom.
Love that now you are sharing the practicalities and nitty gritty stuff of THE QuiltCon.
Thank You!
As a newbie to P & Q this perspective is soooo helpful.
Dawn

Beausoleil Quilts said...

Really interesting post Adrianne. Great to hear, in more detail than other bloggers have given, about their classes. What a thrill to have a class with Anna Maria, and a bonus to also meet Denyse.

Beausoleil Quilts said...

Really interesting post Adrianne. Great to hear, in more detail than other bloggers have given, about their classes. What a thrill to have a class with Anna Maria, and a bonus to also meet Denyse.

Leeanne said...

Looks like fabulous classes, so much to take in and learn, I guess you met some interesting people!

NickiJ said...

What a wonderful selection of classes you got the chance to enjoy and learn from. From experience comes beauty.

Karen@littlebirdiequilting said...

Your QuiltCon trip sounds fantastic- what a great selection of classes. The Gees Bend Quilters class is one I'm very envious of!

Kinga Izabella said...

Beautiful quilting and quilts! You are a lucky Girl!:)