“Thank you for a wonderful workshop! It was total fun to use all those silks I had been saving for so long! I appreciated your clear instructions and enjoyable teaching style” Jayne T, Mississauga QG, Canada
Mid Atlantic Quilt Festival, Hampton VA 2023
Check out my ‘Where and When’ page for upcoming workshops and engagements. You may be able to join a nearby quilt guild for a workshop.
I am available for in person bookings and for Zoom presentations and classes. I welcome opportunities to teach at retreats and seminars. In person engagements more than 2 hrs from San Francisco should total 7 or more hours of teaching/lecturing.
My workshops are informative and entertaining. If teaching virtually, 6 hour workshops can be scheduled across two 3-hour sessions.
For quilt guilds, my workshop fees are as follows:
Many of us have silk treasures from trips abroad, neckties or prom dresses that are too special to cut up so we leave them tucked away in a drawer or box. It’s time to get them out and make something beautiful!
This workshop has three elements: You’ll begin by determining the fiber content of your fabrics by using the burn test. We will then cover two very different ways to work with silk: First, a very free, improvisational crazy piecing technique and second, a foundation piecing method that gives stability and ultra-precise results, even with the lightest weight silks.
Working with your stash, you’ll construct elements in these two techniques that can be combined into a small, pillow-sized finished piece.
This 3 minute video describes Starting with Silk in more detail.
Class sample and student work by Jennifer, Brenda, Elizabeth and Pam
Piecing the Pineapple
6 Hours
Piece the traditional Pineapple block using a uniquely lightweight, printed foundation made by EZ Piecing exclusively for my classes. This light-as-a-feather product adds no extra weight or bulk to your blocks.
We’ll discuss color choices and careful color placement through fussy cutting. Ideal for working with silk and any fine, unstable fabrics, you can also take this class using quilters cottons.
In person workshop participants buy their $15 kit in class. Online students can purchase here
Fabric Foundation Piecing
6 Hours
This workshop takes a deeper dive into two fabric foundation designs; Flying Geese and Grandmother’s Fan.
Piecing on to a fabric foundation brings strength, stability and accuracy to your quilt blocks. This technique is ideal for quilters cottons, silks and up cycled fabrics of all kinds.
A comprehensive supply list will help you get set up with everything you need. In person workshop participants buy their $15 kit in class. Online students can purchase here.
Pieces, pairs and panels come together improvisationally to form a charming ‘Crazy Quilt’ that we then set in a heart shape or circular frame. The piece you take away from this workshop could be the start of a new quilt or wall hanging, or it could be made into a beautiful pillow. Use silks, quilters cottons or a crazy variety of fabrics!
Create a small quilt or a seasonal wall hanging by layering sheer chiffons and organza over more robust cottons. Whether you are interested in learning a unique technique to create your own textiles or want to make beautiful hand-made holiday gifts or decorations, this is the class for you!
After exploring the basic technique, we’ll experiment with trapping other textile objects between layers, quilting, embroidering and cutting away to create new effects. Click here for the Sheer Delight Supply List.
Seasonal Wall hangings using layered textiles
Short Cuts to Tradition
6 hours
A full day workshop focused on precision piecing and swift ways to build traditional blocks using quilters cotton fabrics. Learn accurate ways to make the classic elements of traditional quilt blocks: Four or Nine Patch, Half Square Triangle, Flying Geese, Diamond in a Square.
This class is perfect for beginners, as well as intermediate or experienced sewists seeking to improve accuracy. Mastering these components will allow you to piece hundreds of different quilt block designs! Click here for the Short Cuts to Tradition Supply List.
Traditional blocks using just four components
Earn Your Stripes
4 Hours
Make stripey blocks two ways: On the straight and narrow, or by exploiting the bias. Use up stash scraps, deconstructed neckties or up cycled clothing to create striped blocks; neat and precise or curiously curved. click here for the Earn Your Stripes Supply List.
Crazy Piecing
4 hrs
Learn a quick and versatile piecing technique that doesn’t drive you crazy with lots of tiny scraps! Build a complex fabric incorporating varied textiles from your stash: Quilters cotton, upcycled clothing of all types, silk neckties, kimonos, saris and more.
Use your crazy pieced panels in traditional, modern- or art quilts. Create interesting backgrounds for appliqué projects, adorn the back of a jacket, or make bags and pouches. Click here for Crazy Piecing Supply List
3D EPP – Three Dimensional English Paper Piecing
4 or 6 hours
Yes! Three Dimensional English Paper Piecing! In this hand sewing class we will create three dimensional patchwork objects. Make holiday decorations, baby toys, or just pleasingly intriguing things! Explore fussy cutting opportunities to create beautiful kaleidoscopic effects. Embellish with buttons and beads. Click here for 3D EPP Supply List
Silk Button Earrings
1 hour
Spend an hour making darling little silk button earrings. This is a nice add-on class if I’m visiting your guild and you’ve picked a shorter workshop. It’s also a popular, quick and easy option for quilt shows and festivals.
All materials provided – tools, findings, fabrics etc – for you to make two pairs of earrings using precious fragments of silk from neckties, kimonos and more.
In person only. Maximum group size: 20
Silk Skills for Art Quilters
4 Hours
Learn to identify silk textiles and add them to your art quilts. Silk textiles are lustrous, easy to manipulate and ready to fray. Control or exploit silk’s qualities to suit your project. This silk primer for art quilters gives you the low down on how to incorporate silk textiles into your quilts. Click here for the Silk Skills for Art Quilters Supply List
Week Long Program: Reclamation!
I love to teach at retreats and art centers.
My five day course focuses on using reclaimed textiles that may demand different preparation and piecing techniques than typical quilters cottons.
This week-long offering teaches ways to:
Identify different fibers and fabric structures
Dismantle garments and ‘harvest’ useable fabric
Tame fabrics that stretch, slip and fray
Bring together textiles of differing weights in one quilt
Select the right sewing techniques for a particular project
Combine and supplement unique, limited fabrics
Participants bring their stash of rescued textiles – neckties, kimonos, saris, prom dresses, jeans , table linens and more. Yardage of coordinating solids in silk, cotton etc can augment this selection.
Our quilts will grow organically over the course of the week, using the techniques taught. All creative styles are welcome – traditional, modern and art quilters will all gain new skills and discover the joy of reclaiming and sewing with unusual textiles.
