My Favorite Classes

 Today's prompt in the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge is "Most Impactful Class."

I can't narrow it down to just one; sorry! 

A few years ago, I was lucky enough to take classes with Jacquie Gering and Gwen Marston, and my experiences with both of these talented quilters only served to guide me further down the path to improv and modern quilting. From them, I learned to embrace no-rules quilting, to follow my instincts, and to most importantly, have fun!

Here's a look at what I worked on during those classes:

Super wonky corners in the Stitch & Flip Improvisation class!

Me and Jacquie

I think it's time to quilt this one...I'll add it to the list!

Improv plus sign blocks that I made in the Slice & Improvisation class:

I added the blues ones in this summer. I need to get back to this project!

Small Studies with Gwen Marston - all my "parts"

Me and Gwen. See that little belly bulge under my shirt? He's now 6 years old!

My finished small study

Liberated medallion in the works!

And complete:

I'm so grateful to have taken classes from both of these ladies, and I like to think that their work influences the quilting I do today. 

What quilters inspire you? 

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September ALYOF Goal: A whole lotta quilting!

I finished my September goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes, hosted by Sew BitterSweet Designs and Fiber of All Sorts--quilting my liberated medallion quilt started at Gwen Marston's workshop last year--with 3 hours to spare. 

So pretty much right on schedule for me! 

I had almost as much fun quilting this as piecing it. I did a different motif in each border/section of the quilt, and because I was working in borders, it all seemed manageable (well, that and the quilt's smallish size--48" square!). Much of my motif inspiration came from  my go-to free motion quilting resource: Free-Motion Quilting with Angela Walters. Love that book! 

Here's the center:

And a few of the borders:

And the outer border:

And a look at the texture of the quilt:

This quilt (and three others) are hanging in the Quilts Kalamazoo show in nine days. Which means I'll be carving out some time the next few days to bind this quilt and add hanging sleeves to all four quilts. It's totally acceptable to attach hanging sleeves with safety pins, rather than stitching, right?! 

My Small Study: Blogger's Quilt Festival Miniature Quilt Entry

Here's my second entry for the Blogger's Quilt Festival at Amy's Creative Side, this one for the miniature category. (You can read about my first entry, in the scrap quilt category, here.)

I made this mini (measuring approximately 45" in perimeter) at a "Small Studies" workshop with Gwen Marston back in April--what a great day!

I chose to use several of sea-colored solids for my small study, along with olive green, two creams, and a tiny check. Since I don't actually live by the sea, photographing this piece outside with some plant life seemed like a good second choice!

The workshop was fantastic, as was Gwen herself. She demonstrated how to make different types of "parts" and then figure out which ones would go together to create a small study.

A close-up of some of my favorite parts:

Me with Gwen at the end of the workshop:

I used a single fold binding to finish it off--I love how quickly binding goes on such a small piece!

Thanks for stopping by!

Small Studies with Gwen Marston

The second workshop I took with Gwen Marston was on Small Studies. 

This was our "textbook": 

 (I plan to do lots of studying of its beautiful pages...!)

And these were our study guides--more than a dozen of Gwen's own Small Studies, laid out on a table for us to admire, touch and find inspiration. Ahhh....

I was very excited for this class and had no idea how hard it would be. Good hard, but still. The previous day, during the Liberated Medallions workshop, I had a plan and a vision from the start. On this day, I sewed steadily, but didn't feel that I really had a plan in mind, or a vision, until probably the last two hours from the day. It's not how I'm used to working, but it was a good way to stretch myself and my creative process. 

Gwen shared a few tutorials for different "parts" to make and then set us loose. I had chosen an ocean-inspired color palette of solids and one tiny checkerboard print. I made probably 10 different parts and then started fitting them together. 

I started here:

And I'll also say that it's a good thing that straight lines were not a requirement for this project. Nothing like teeny tiny piecing to make you realize that your 1/4" seam is not as perfect as it could be! But this project was all about embracing wonky!

I didn't take nearly enough process shots, but here you can see some of my "parts." (Some of these didn't make it into the final piece--they're ready for my next small study!)

Here's my final piece, finished as the class ended. Whew!

And a few close-ups off my favorite parts:

And of course, the teacher-pupil-project photo!

As I mentioned in my previous post, Gwen is just wonderful. I enjoyed every second of both of these workshops!

Not a great photo, but here's a sampling of the Small Studies created by the quilters in our class. They're all so different, but equally neat! Can't wait to make more!

In Love with Liberated Medallions!

I had a fantastic week! Gwen Marston came to Kalamazoo to the Log Cabin Quilt Guild for two full-day workshops and a lecture. Guess what? I took both workshops. Two full days of sewing--no work, no kids...just fabric play and hanging with quilting friends and learning from the talented, funny, and inspiring Gwen Marston. Lots of fun! 

Want to see what I made? 

The first workshop was Liberated Medallions. We were asked to bring in a center medallion of some type to build around. Because I don't have enough fabric in my stash (ha!) I went shopping the previous Friday and bought the fabrics below:

I struggled with what to for my medallion--I considered just fussy cutting a piece of fabric, but ultimately decided to piece something instead. The timing worked out perfectly, as I'd been watching the Spring Challenge over on 15 Minutes Play and realized I could combine ideas, participating in the Spring Challenge and making it the center of my liberated medallion.

Here's what the Spring Challenge started with, plus the assignment to use made fabric and "think spring."

With a tight timeframe (I began piecing the night before the workshop!), I played around a bit in Illustrator first to figure out what I wanted to do. While I like the star concept, the third design spoke to me so quickly that I didn't even bother to spend time coloring it in.

I dug through my scraps to find fabrics in the colors that matched what I'd bought and started piecing. Because of those extra lines I added, I paper pieced the blocks instead. And skipped the center line in the biggest (teal) triangle. Here are my four made fabric Spring Challenge blocks:

They say spring, don't they?!?!

I quickly got caught up in creating at the workshop itself, and I don't have many in-progress photos. (oops! Truly the sign of having a good time!)

Here's the center medallion with the sashing and first border added:

First pieced border added:

My liberated medallion after the workshop (not complete, but just as far as I got that day):

And a close-up of the borders I added:

I LOVED this workshop--I felt in the groove from the start and enjoyed making pretty steady progress. The "liberated" technique meant very little measuring, a very relaxed attitude, and lots of wonky piecing. I can't wait to see where this piece goes from here! 

And if you ever have a chance to hear Gwen speak or take a workshop from her, jump on the chance! She's delightful and witty, and I loved being able to jump right in and start sewing while she walked around and offered advice, chatted, and shared her enthusiasm.