“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
Check out my ‘Where and When’ page for upcoming workshops and engagements.
Take my on demand class for just $19.99 at Creative Spark Online Learning
I teach virtual workshops via Zoom for groups who are not meeting in person and/or who are booking non-local teachers virtually to reduce both expenses and carbon emissions. I am available for in person bookings. Engagements more than 2 hrs from San Francisco should total 7 or more hours of teaching/lecturing.
My workshops are informative and entertaining. Attendees will learn specific techniques and will complete the class with finished pieces. Workshops can be taken in one day or across two three-hour sessions up to a week apart. I am also available to teach at retreats.
For quilt guilds, my workshop fee is $650 for a full day 6-hour workshop; $500 for a 4 hour workshop; $400 for a 3-hour workshop.
Starting with Silk
6 hours
To prepare for this class, watch these short videos on How to Deconstruct a Necktie and Applying Fusible Interfacing. Click here for the Starting with Silk Supply List
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.
Kit fee $15. Bring your own neckties and more!
To prepare for this class, watch this short videos on How to Deconstruct a Necktie. Click here for the Piecing the Pineapple Supply List.
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.
To prepare for this class if you are using neckties, watch this short videos on How to Deconstruct a Necktie. Click here for the Fabric Foundation Piecing Supply List.
Class sample using textiles from a blouse, a necktie and a kimono lining.
Crazy Pieced Pillow
6 hours
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!
To prepare for this class, watch these short videos on How to Deconstruct a Necktie and Applying Fusible Interfacing. Click here for the Crazy Pieced Pillow Supply List.
Two options for this class – a heart or a circle
Sheer Delight
6 hours
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: Nine Patch, Half Square Triangle, Quarter Square Triangle, Flying Geese, Square 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.
Smithereens
4 hours
This dynamic block comes together quickly and easily to great effect. Make it in cottons or use other fabrics; Create a small project using eight neckties and a long sleeve shirt, or expand the idea into a bigger quilt. Click here for the Smithereens Supply List.
Class sample and student work by SFQG members
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.
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.
‘Cocktail’ by Julia McLeod