Very Special People

There are many stereotypes associated with quilters: they tend to share better than most people, they think of others before themselves, they're honest, they like to wear denim, they make great potluck dishes and they're generally very fun! 

Quilters come in all shapes, sizes and ages and I find that the people I call 'friends' who are quilters span a far greater age range than people I know in other parts of my life. I keep in touch with a handful of people from high school who are exactly my age, I belong to a couple of organizations where there are mostly just-ready-to-retire to fairly-newly-retired in age, like me. But since I teach quilting, I'm around people in their 30s to people in their 80s. 

I learned many years ago that if you expand your circle of friends to include people 20 years younger as well as 20 (or 30!) years older than yourself, your life will be much more interesting and educational. I teach a Block of the Month class at Beehive Quilts in Woodland and have become good friends with a woman who's 30-something and one woman pushing 70. They are both delightful, creative, smart and fun to be around. I find they think about things just a little differently than I do and are attracted to colors and patterns I've not noticed and it often opens my eyes. 

The younger one talks about the crafts fairs where she vends her handmade bags and purses, fairly brimming with enthusiasm and energy. She's into these new retro fabrics that really didn't do anything for me until I saw some of her wonderful projects. The older woman's calmer pace and careful thought process suggest she has experienced a lot of this before and wants to be sure each project is exactly right and not slap-dashed just to say it's finished. When she lingers over her choices for a particular project, I want to say, "just pick a fabric!" Yet, after careful scrutiny (and maybe a stop at one or two other quilt shops) she finds exactly what she's looking for and executes such a work of art, I have to agree that slowing down and being patient IS the way to complete fulfillment.

I may teach quilting but I will always be a student of the craft. Quite often, I'm absolutely certain, I learn more from the people IN my class than they learn from me.

Beginning Quilting

Once a person starts to teach--anything, really, not just quilting--the word gets around. So and so takes a class, shows her friends what she's learned and all of a sudden, everyone wants to have something pretty to be proud of too!

I was recently contacted through email by a potential quilter who also had friends who were potential quilters who, with kids and carpools and life, never seemed to connect with the quilt shops on the rare occasions a BEGINNING QUILTING class was offered. "Would you", she asked, "be willing to give private quilting lessons to my friends and I?"

Hmmmmm. . . . the classes would be held at the hostess's large home, less than 2 miles from where I live, on a weekday morning that suited me perfectly. Hard to resist!

I've taught many quilts and techniques in the past 5 years or so but have always shied away from the dreaded 'beginner' for fear of untrained fingers getting maimed by rotary cutters, old sewing habits which would be tough to break and the worst, there's so much to learn about quilting, where do I start!!? 

"OK", I said to myself, "I can DO this"! I drew up a 6-week course starting with the ever-important, accurate quarter inch seam and thinking I would have them make 4 different blocks; 9-patch, Churn Dash, Ohio Star and Sawtooth Star covering the basic square, half-square and quarter-square triangle and flying geese segments. With these basics, probably 90% of all traditional blocks could be made. Then we'd make a table runner out of these blocks and I could have them add borders that would be shorter than quilt-sized, and finally, bindings. Sounded like a plan!

On the first meeting, these 5 delightful women had as much enthusiasm as a 6-year old who hears the ice cream truck coming! We went over many important points before we ever got the mats and rotary cutters out and what was supposed to be 1 1/2 hours, turned into 2 1/2 with ease.

Today, we had our third of 6 lessons. These ladies have not only turned out 3 different wonderful blocks with nice points and precise pressing, (I taught them to press their seams open as I do, rather than to one side) they have practiced when not in 'class' by making duplicates in various colorways. The hostess' young daughter has caught the bug and has put together some wonderful squares and triangles herself--SO cool!!

When I arrive next week, they may even have their 4th block finished and we'll start on the placemat (rather than the more ambitious tablerunner) we've decided will be our first project. I have no doubt each of them will succeed in not only turning out a lovely piece but will have a fully rampant case of the ever-contagious 'quilting fever'.

I've encouraged this new group to continue meeting on Friday mornings after the lessons are over for, as most quilters (dieters, athletes, etc.) know, the peer pressure and mild competitiveness of a friendly group encourages the loyalty and creativity that's only one of the many reasons this hobby is so enjoyable.  

Inspiration

January has been one of the busiest months I can ever remember. The good news is, it's all been about quilting! Lectures, classes, quilt shows, you name it! And all along the way, I've been inspired.

It started with the Road 2 California quilt show in Ontario, CA. I LOVE this quilt show (partly because my lovely daughter lives in the vicinity) but mostly because it is a larger show than most (with over 100 vendors) and the quilts entered for prizes are simply incredible. I found wonderful new patterns to buy and try and took photos of some of the more outstanding entries that peaked my interest. I was inspired everywhere I turned, sometimes by a small element of a particular quilt, or by an unusual combination of colors used in a quilt or even just by the subject matter of an entry. I even drooled over the clothing and soft-sculpture dolls that were entered and dream about maybe trying one of those some day.

I took two all-day classes at the show: one was Sharyn Craig's very last class. After teaching quilting for 30 years, this amazingly prolific and proficient quilter is retiring (yes, there were tears.) Without a doubt, Sharyn's books, classes and lectures have inspired me more than any other quilter. The class I took was a simple but wonderful quilt, (one I will teach when her book comes out in May--it's pictured here) but I just wanted to be in her presence once more--and I was not disappointed. Her philosophy about quilting is refreshingly simple but time and again, she turns out the most wonderful quilts, ones that really, most of us could actually make!

The other class was taught by Mary Kerr and was about dating quilts. I was in a room with 22 other antique quilt enthusiasts whose knowledge of history and the womanly art of quilting blew me away! As we scanned each of the quilts we'd brought to gauge, the constant tidbits of information tossed out by everyone at random about color fads, design, historical data, dye processes, etc., boggled my mind. I attended this class to better my understanding of fabric dating and came out after 6-hours knowing one thing more than any other: that there is so much to learn about the history of quilts and quilting as an American art form that I'm inspired to seek out every class I can on the subject to learn more.

Then I came back and gave both my lectures to two Bay Area quilt guilds. Every quilt guild I visit has similarities to others and yet, each is so different. The similarities begin with friendly, creative, cheerful women who love to share and they differ in the way they organize their blocks of the month, drawings and other creative entertainment. One guild I visited had recently lost a guild member who left instructions to donate her collection of quilt books to her guild upon her passing. The membership was collecting a dollar for each of her wonderful books which not only made money for her cherished guild but gave the members something of hers to inspire them. How very nice!

Yesterday, the last day of my busy January, I started the Block of the Month class for Beehive Quilts in Woodland which will go for 10 months. Peggy, the owner, put the bug in my ear to create this BOM several months ago and although I'd never designed a BOM myself, I was inspired to do so with her encouragement. As it turns out, I'm very happy with what I've come up with and the 72 (!) quilters who signed up for this BOM seemed quite happy when they saw my first block offerings. That will inspire me to look forward every month to these gatherings.

There is inspiration everywhere you look. Not only for quilt patterns and color palates but also for little attitude changes that allow you to see not only your potential as a quilter but also the potential in every corner of your life. You only have to open your eyes--and your heart--and let it in!

Those Clever Cubes!

For those of you who have made the One Block Wonder (or "Kaleidoscope" if you've taken my class) and are itching to make another (as most of us inevitable do!) you might want to try incorporating some of those 3-D cubes you see in the quilts in Maxine Rosenthal's newest book. I've developed a new 3-hour class that teaches you 6 different cubes so you can get really fancy with your next quilt. You can even make a whole quilt just out of the cubes themselves which looks really cool! (Sarah Nephew originated this design WAY back and her quilt is a classic). Watch my schedule for a class coming up or book one for your guild.

View my classes at www.beehivequilts.com

Sign Up For A Class!

I really have gotten to a point where I LOVE to teach classes! I meet the nicest bunch of quilters everywhere I go! It always inspires me to take on a new project myself.

I recently taught my "Kaleidoscope" class at the great new "Beehive Quilts" shop in Woodland, Ca and met the loveliest bunch of ladies! I've taught this class at least a dozen times but never tire of seeing what all those bright, large-scale prints everyone comes up with turn out to look like! I say this is a quilt that starts out "traditional" and leaps to "art-quilt" by the time you're done. Best of both worlds! Look below to the "Kaleidoscope" blog entry to see 2 examples of this quilt.

If you haven't taken a class in a while, why not shine yourself up a bit with a new technique or design? Here is a current list of classes I'm teaching:

Wednesday, February 11, "Fusible Images" Beehive Quilts, Woodland, Ca (that's the one I'm holding, above). This is a 2-part, evening class, 5 hours total. The second part of the class will be held Wednesday, February 18.

Saturday, March 7, "Kaleidoscope" at Beehive Quilts, Woodland, CA

Kaleidoscope

From the moment I saw Maxine Rosen-thal's book "One-Block Wonder" back in February of 2006, I was hooked on these mezmerizing quilts! I've taught this class so many times I thought everyone who wanted to had taken it but, after making 7 of these quilts myself (with 4 or 5, 4-yard pieces of fabric waiting in my stash for more!) I know how adicting they can be. And since her new "Encore" book came out a couple of months ago with instructions to make those great cubes, well, here goes another round of teaching this great quilt.

Here are a couple of my "Kaliedoscopes".

Anyone For A Class?

I know, I know, it's been a bloomin' YEAR since I've posted on my blog for heaven sakes. What's with that?! I've been busy. . .yea, yea, I know, we're ALL busy. See, Back in January, I was lucky enough to get a spot on NCQC's (Northern California Quilt Council) "Meet The Teachers" meeting where quilt teachers and lecturers get 3 minutes to show the quilts they teach and say a few words about the lectures they give in front of a room full of quilt guild representatives. Well, I seemed to say the right things and ended up being booked by several guilds for my lectures and classes. Really, I couldn't be happier! So, my calendar's been a little more full than usual and I've been trying to develop some new classes. One of them is pictured here. I call it "Woven Silhouettes" and it's inspired by Anne Faustino's new book, "Simply Stunning Woven Quilts", a fabulous book!

I've had people ask when and where I'm going to be teaching so here's a list that I'll try to keep current as I book more classes:

Saturday, October 11 "Kaleidoscope" Piecemakers Quilt Guild, Fremont, Ca

Thursday, October 16, "Kaleidoscope" Roseville Quilt Guild, Roseville, Ca

Wednesday, October 22nd "3-D Blocks" Beehive Quilts Woodland, Ca. (These are the cubes you see in Maxine Rosenthal's "Encore" version of her popular book) .

Saturday, November 1 "Kaleidoscope" at Beehive Quilts, Woodland, Ca (http://www.beehivequilts.com/)

Wednesday, November 5, "Woven Silhouettes" Cloth Carousel, Winters, Ca

"Fusible Images" February 11 & 18, 2009 Beehive Quilts, Woodland, Ca

If you are interested in any of these classes, please call the shops or better yet, give them a visit and check them out!