Spark Class Wrap-Up

Yesterday we had our day-long class at Spark Creative Artspace in Greenfield. I expected 7 participants, and prepared for 7 participants. In the end, I had 2 participants. Initially, I was really disappointed, because I had put so much effort into preparing a good, fun class. But my little group was so eager and energetic, that I couldn't wear my disappointment for long.

You know, I'm a 'glass-half-full' kinda' gal, too. That helped. *wink*

So let's get on with this wrap-up. The Spark room is really spacious. The picture below shows my tables set up at the far end of the room where the light is brightest. I brought both of my Ott Lites from home, to enhance lighting.

Interspersed with the artwork on the walls, I have tacked up two design walls (aka the backside of  plastic, flannel-lined tablecloths).  Also, I hung three examples of the quilt we would be making - two with the borders, one without.

 Eleven-year-old Aly worked on her first-ever quilt alongside her grandmother, Pam. Shawnda was also making her first quilt and she selected flannel fabric. We pressed seams open to keep things simple. I mentioned that pressing to the dark is also an option, but open seams work best when you know you might be moving units around later in the process.

Seamstresses remained focused all day, and made significant progress with their skills, becoming more confident and comfortable with their machines and with tools such as rotary cutters and mats. We stressed to Aly the inherent dangers of that cutter, and she did just fine with her grandmother's supervision.

You can see in these two pictures that we ended up on the floor even though I had those design walls. Trouble was, as the quilts got heavier, the pieces just wouldn't stay up. Aly is deciding how to place the pieces for her piano-key outer border in the photo above left. Shawnda is "shuffling" her outer border parts to mix up colors and patterns. We agreed that it's really hard to shuffle flannel fabric. *grin*

 Our fabulous finishes! Shawnda did the 50-inch version which is how I billed the class. Aly went with a smaller version; hers finishes at 40 inches.

Ta-da! Two first-time quilters with their finished quilt tops. It was a long day, but the results were worth it. They both have suggestions for finishing, and know that they are free to call me for moral support or suggestions anytime.

I learned a few things throughout the day, and will adapt my instructions accordingly. We started at 9am and finished around 5. That's a long, long day. I need to figure ways to cut that down. Can you imagine an 11-year-old maintaining her focus that long? It's hard for adults. I wonder how long we would have been if we'd had our full class of 7? Perhaps this is the silver lining of that earlier disappointment.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Halloween!

There will be no ghosts or goblins in my activities today. Nope. I have other plans.

Today, I will be teaching an all-day class at Spark Creative Artspace in Greefield. Participants will make a 50"-square quilt top using 3 Charm Packs. Hopefully there will be 7 students--that's how many have indicated they are coming. We shall see.

I've made 4 of these quilts finished to various stages of completion, so that I can have examples to show. The one that is least complete (shown at the bottom) is the one I will sew on if time permits throughout the day.

This is my first effort, a baby quilt for a wee one recently born. I will get this finished for her after this class.

This was my second effort made with some Barbara Brackman fabrics. I tried to write my instructions as I made this quilt.

I taught the class in September to a beginning quilter; this is her quilt top in some vivid primary colors.

While Claudia sewed hers, I worked on a third one. I have just the center portion done, and have left it that way so I can talk about adding the inner border. These fabrics are by French General and 3 Sisters, if I remember correctly.

And yesterday, I  took 3 well-aged Charm Packs of Aviary and sewed just part of the quilt top together. That will give me a different demonstration point to use, if necessary.

It will be an exciting day of quilting today.

Don't forget to stop over at the Bloggers' Quilt Festival sponsored by Amy's Creative Side. I've entered my Long Road Home quilt in the Hand Quilting category. If you have not voted yet, I invite you to head on over there to show me a little love. You could also get friends and relatives to vote, too, as I have some stiff competition, according to the numbers I saw yesterday.

Hope you have an awesome Saturday!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

A New Quilter Makes Progress

Claudia, one of the students in the SPARK! class on beginning quilting that I taught earlier this month, has sent me an update on her fantastic finish. I just had to share it here.

This is Claudia, a newbie to quilting. She has been pursuing the hobby lately, and has invested some time and money in studying books and buying supplies.When she signed up for the class, I was impressed from the start by the questions she had - I could tell they came from someone who'd really been delving into the intricacies of the craft. Her questions ran the gamut - from wanting advice on needles to rotary cutters to understanding the difference between quilting and piecing.

This is her finished project top. We were marking our quilting lines and building our quilt sandwiches. Claudia's quilt top was quite well done; her intersections were spot on, everything was pressed, and it laid quite flat. Impressive!

After that last class meeting, the students were tasked with finishing their quilting, trimming the batting flush with the top, trimming the backing 1.5 inches larger than the top so that it could be folded over to become the binding. I demonstrated this in class, and offered to meet with anyone who felt they needed me to reassure them. *wink*

Claudia is the first I've heard from who has finished. And what a spectacular finish it is! Her quilting stitches look great, the binding is even, and the project looks simply wonderful. I hope she is pleased with her efforts. I certainly am proud of her.

Here are a couple of observations she made in her email to me.
"I didn't realize, when I attached the front to the back, the importance of making sure it was squared up with the lines in the design. I have measured and measured and everything "measures" correctly BUT the edges still look "wonky" because the lines of the design aren't straight. Live and learn.." 

She tells me she has read all of my blog and "the blog fills me in on the 'quilting culture' that exists of which I was totally unaware."

I'm just beyond thrilled that Claudia has come so far so quickly. She is continuing to practice, as she has been working on making some quilted pot holders, and when she finishes those, she plans to make a Mondo Bag. Hooray, Claudia! Call if you need help!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 

Class #2 In the Books

Last night we met for our 2nd SPARK! beginning quilting class. Everyone indicated that they are feeling more confident with their stitching - hurray! Here are a few shots of some of the activity. Hand piecing is quite riveting, so beware. *wink*

The projects are coming together. I couldn't be more proud of them! The results encourage them to keep plugging away at it, I hope. They are doing great.

I'm off to a half-day of sewing at Terry's house before having to go to my job at OUC. I will be assembling my Snowbird Stars and setting blocks!! Pictures to follow, of course.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

SPARK! Tonight

This evening I will be teaching the second of my 3-class series for beginning quilters. We are making a 16"x16" table topper - all by hand. The objective is to get comfortable with using the needle and thread, as well as to get to a point where our quarter-inch seams are relatively accurate and our stitches are as tiny as possible. This is the sample of what everyone will have when they finish.

Last week at the first class, we made 9-patch blocks. Most of us finished 2 together, and the remaining 2 were to be done as homework and brought back to class this evening. Tonight's class will involve attaching cornerstones to setting strips and then attaching them to the blocks. The goal before next class is to have the top completely assembled.

I've spent some evenings this week stitching a few sets of blocks to show for demonstration purposes. The top is what I labeled as a shabby chic combination; the bottom, of course, is Christmas (even though the red looks sorta' pink in the picture).

The goal of the last class - there are 3 classes - is to layer the top, batting and back, stretch onto a hoop, and quilt. I am thinking that we might need a 4th class to actually finish pulling the binding around to the front and tacking down. If so, then that is fine. I billed it as a 3-meeting class, but we all live here in the area, so if folks want to meet for a 4th and final session, that will be a-okay with me. I love that people want to quilt. It's a great hobby, and getting others to enjoy it is a treat for me.

Happy Quilting, Friends!