Quilters Academy sampler

Just want to show that I started working on class samples for my class that I'll be teaching in July. The color is a little off. I really have to learn how to edit photo with adobe photoshop element. There are two more parts that I want to work on this weekend. The sampler is from the book Quilter's Academy by Harriet and Carrie Hargrave. It really is a great book for beginners and quilt veterans alike. It teaches the basics and tells you the reasoning behind why you use a specific thread and needle. And why thing come out one way and they are suppose to come out a different way in the piecing process. In doing the series, a quilter can learn and also enjoy the process of piecing with very little frustrations.

Classes at LQS

Just want to pop in and say that I made arrangements with one of the LQS to teach two classes this summer. One is the Quilters Academy series book #1 by Harriet Hargrave. It will consist of four classes that hopefully will be just enough to make things clear but not to fast for a beginner quilter to understand the basic concepts. I plan on teaching from the book doing a couple of projects. Mostly giving the students the guidelines and hold anybodies hands that are not sure of things. I 'm really looking forward to teaching this class. I have always felt that something in the quilting community has been missing. After scanning the book I realized what they were.
The basics, in making quilts to clothing or even craft items, you can not make a good fit with poor or wrong size pieces. Understanding the reason why fabrics lay a certain way and the proper size thread and needle mix together is what results in a good to excellent items. The type of items that everyone wants to win a blue ribbon with. I see several quilts shops that I have visited through out the United States give a quilting class on one project. Telling the quilter to cut this many pieces and seam together this piece to that piece to make one quilt. This logic is OK if the quilter knows the correct way to lay the fabric and cut to achieving the correct seam. Or better yet how to change something to get the correct answer to have the perfect block. I hope to write in the blog the process of me sewing the samples for the classes to some pics and ideas that results in the classes.
The other class is Free motion quilting that will hopefully result in making quilters to believe that doing free motion quilting on a home sewing machine is not any harder than drawing on paper, but you need PRATICE to achieve the results that are so worth the effort.
With luck this weekend I will be cutting and sewing the first project together. Maybe I can have something to show on the blog soon.

Eye opening experience

Why is it that when things spin out of control for a day or two, it takes two weeks to recover. The out of control started in thinking that I could clean my sewing room up in a couple of hours and after 2 weeks it is more of a disaster than when I started. With things all over the place I seem to not be able to sew. Then I came down with a sinus infection and strep throat, that laid me out for about 4 days. One thing after another seems to be getting in my way with finishing my charity quilt. I have 4 braids done and the dark purple bought. So if I have a couple of hours to sew I might be able to sew the top together before Thursday, which is when it needs to be done.
The one thing that I have been looking forward to for a long time is taking a classes at the guild retreat from Harriet Hargrave this last weekend. Oh my gosh it was a eye opening experience that will stay with me for a long time. In the quilting area of sewing I have felt that people where missing something in the quality or lack of knowing the correct things when it came to small things in the quilting area overall. Like the proper thread, and needles, how to lay out the fabric to get a straight grain cut. Since my background comes from the garment construction and heirloom sewing, quilting people always did it differently just because someone that quilted said so. That the two worlds of garment and quilting where not to be intermixed. Ms Hargrave has the idea that you have to have a good understanding of the correct basic, not the idea of what is new and neat gizmo that will do the magic trick and everyone is quilting. She was saying things that I learned from my mother and aunt 40 years ago, I just take it for granted that others learned it also, but the case is not so. Several people that I have meet have only quilted and pieced for only about 5 or 10 years, when it started to become popular to quilt.
The things that you need to do is get back to basics, have a good sewing machine, turn off the automatic buttons, and practice. Find the speed and hand rhythm that is comfortable for you, may it be slow or medium, not fast and quilt away.
She has a new book series out that is called quilters academy, you work through the book step by step and understand the ideas and basic to know the correct way to do things. I am hopeing that my daughter Angel will work through it with my help. That maybe I can start teaching classed on this series in the local area. My hopes are looking up in that there is a place in the quilting area that will satisfy my need for my last career.