Below are a list of Workshops and Lectures I am currently offering.  Call or e-mail me if you are interested in prices or have any questions.  Not all samples are posted just yet - let me know if you need to see something now and I can send you a picture.

Lectures

“Quilt as desired…”  Ideas for Machine Quilting your Quilt
Quilt as desired…” - don’t you just hate those words??  Using LOTS of quilts and a Power Point Presentation, I’ll show you the many ways you can machine quilt your completed tops.  Feel free to bring tops along for a group or private consultation! 

Designing Quilters
Many quilters have ideas floating around in our head - quilts we would like to make.  This lecture will help you to take your ideas from your head and put them on paper.  Whether it's a new block design, small wallhanging, or full bed quilt, I will give you tips and tricks to creating your own designs - the do's and don'ts of designing and how to incorporate a certain fabric into your quilts.  We will also discuss where to find color inspiration as well as how to break down the color and value process.  I will introduce the concept of line and form in quilts.  Lecture includes a show of my original designs, published and non-published - more than 50 quilts in all!

Getting Published
If you have the desire to have your original design published, either as a self-published pattern to sell or in a magazine - this is the lecture for you.  This one-hour lecture will touch on the various avenues in which you can publish your work - and exactly what they are looking for.  Copyrights, photos, writing patterns, marketing, and whole lot more will be covered in this information-packed lecture.  Included with this lecture is a packet of information, names and addresses of important contacts, that can get you started on the right foot.  Five years of information is condensed and presented to you the easy way! 

Classes/Workshops
All classes are 6-hour (all-day) unless otherwise noted.

NEW CLASS! 
Bobbinpalooza
Level:  Beginner through Advanced
Why agonize over those breaking needles and shredded threads that you’ve bought for machine quilting put them in the bobbin when you can simply flip over the quilt and quilt it up-side-down?  In this class, we will problem solve your way through a multitude of decorative threads and yarns (yes, we do LOTS of couching!)  We’ll first try different tips and tricks I’ve acquired over the years to put the threads through the top; if that doesn’t work, we’ll bobbin-quilt it!  Get familiar with your machine and adjusting both top and bottom tension while learning all those cool quilting patterns that don’t need marking.  Other things we explore – free motion zigzag and a bit of fusible appliqué!  This is information packed class!  We’ll also create a great wall hanging of threads and yarns to practice our new surface embellishment skills! 

 
Usin’ Fusin’ (and other cool stuff) to Express Yourself!
Level:  Beginner through Advanced!
Using fusing, seamless piecing and decorator threads and yarns, you will create a small art quilt designed by you.   Raw edge appliqué with fusible web, machine quilting and embellishment will express something important to you:  a feeling, a person, a garden, the beach.  The doors of creativity will open in this fast and fun class as we investigate free form cutting to build collage-type artworks that express YOU!  Additional focus will be placed on color and line that can translate your feeling.

Click here for a bunch of great samples from students who have taken the class!  What an inspiration!! 

Machine Quilting  1.5 – A Little of This, A Little of That
Machine Quilting 1.5 is the perfect fusion of a basic and advanced machine quilting class!  If you have a little experience with free motion quilting, but would like to enhance their skills with some decorative threads such as rayon and metallics, this is the class for you.  Take your machine quilting to the next level as you create your own interesting patterns without templates - learn those fabulous free motion “doodle” designs that you do not need to mark!! During this incredibility fun and creative class, we will experiment with a wide variety of beautiful decorative threads – even those tough ones that keep breaking in your machine! You will learn how easy it is to stitch exquisite threads from the bobbin of your sewing machine.  We’ll even machine couch designs with funky yarns!

Machine Quilting 1- Just the Beginning!  
Are you tired of having unfinished quilt tops lying around?  Well then now is the time to get them quilted…by you, of course!!  This in-depth beginner's machine quilting class will introduce you to the world of machine quilting through a variety of procedures while producing a beautiful wall hanging!  Discussions include marking and basting tools, what needles and thread to use, batting and backing, "must have" supplies and so much more!  Quilting techniques covered include straight-line quilting with a walking foot, free motion quilting with templates, and free motion quilting creating your own patterns!   Your sewing machine must have "free-motion" capacity (ability to drop or cover feed dogs and a darning foot) and a walking foot that you know can fit onto your machine.  For this class to be a success, you must be familiar with your well-tuned sewing machine. 
           

Curved Piecing Made Easy
Using one block (constructed by you), we will learn to sew curves easily and produce a fabulous wallhanging.  This technique of using freezer paper is for anyone who wants the speed of machine piecing combined  with the freedom to put their seams anywhere they choose. The paper eliminates stretching and accurately marks the seam line making curved piecing (practically) painless!   Traditionalist who want to piece more difficult designs will love this class, as well as contemporary quilters who want to create designs without difficulty.  Beginners and the veteran Quilter will enjoy learning the process while producing a gorgeous wallhanging.  
EXTRA!  Go to our GALLERY to see what one student did in class!  We love overachievers!