Archive for the ‘Quilting Classes’ Category

And Now – For Something Completely Different!

Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011

DANCING SISTAS!

with Pat Dicker — May 15th at Noon

These “Sistas” are just plain fun. Each one is 14″ tall, with limbs you can position and has an exuberant personality that can’t be measured. Dancing Sistas prove the old adage that one can never be too thin, or too richly colored and textured. Pat is a great teacher, and  a lot of fun, even without her Sistas.

As of May 3rd there are spaces for two or three more students in this workshop. Maybe its time you made yourself a “doppelganger” or totem figure — Sistas are also flat enough to mail to a love one.

 

 

Begin With a 9-Patch; Make a Stunning Quilt!

Tuesday, April 26th, 2011

Detail of Becky’s Nine-Patch Quilt

2 Mondays, May 9 and 23

6:15 pm – 9:15 pm      All Levels

 

Begin With the 9-Patch is perfect for quilters of all experience levels who want to master a basic pieced quilt, while concentrating on color and pattern scale to make a quilt that really ‘sings’.
Teacher Becky Keck says, “The 9-patch is one of the most basic and easiest blocks to make. It either blends with the focus fabric or contrasts with it and moves your eye across the quilt.”
Beginners will learn use of the rotary cutter, basic piecing rules,  strip-piecing, block construction  and bordering. This class is one of the first marked with the “Beginner Friendly” icon, but it will still challenge anyone who takes it.

Got Questions? Get Support! Tuesday Morning Drop-In at New Pieces

Monday, April 25th, 2011

Sometimes all you really need is help with one tricky problem,

…or another pair of eyes on your design,

…or help choosing the right binding fabric — and a lesson on how to miter the corners on your binding,

…or?

Sometimes you just need to make an appointment with yourself to sew, and it helps to have friends who notice if you don’t show up! Tuesday drop-in offers all this and more  (if you need more, or have more to offer). At this point the group is a really nice mix of “regulars” and those who just need help with one special project.

New Pieces supplies the space and makes sure an experienced Staff teacher is here for you. After that it’s up to you.

Space is limited, so it’s best to reserve ahead, or you can call Tuesday morning and see if there’s room.

FORGET HALLMARK!

Thursday, April 21st, 2011

ART TO MAIL  -  May 1, 2011

12:00 – 3:00pm

Priscilla Read

Mother’s Day is May 8th this year. Art To Mail on May 1st is a perfectly timed adventure for anyone who has a mother, or is one, or married one or hopes someday to be one. It’s also perfect for anyone who just wants to learn to make stunning, mailable fabric post-cards.

Postcards have always been a way to remember friends, share good times and make art personal. Using your sewing machine and scraps of your favorite fabrics you will construct and embellish a mini-masterpiece, and take with you the skills to make more postcards at home. Why let Hallmark express your sentiments, when you can do better yourself, and have such fun!

Strips, and Strings and Scrappy Things!

Thursday, April 14th, 2011

 

Becky’s latest Strips, Strings and Scrappy Things Quilt, fresh from the long arm quilting machine.

 

About this Class:

 

Use all the scraps you can find  (as wild or mild as you can pull together) to make a lovely, unified quilt top.

Strips, Strings and Scrappy Things is a classic Becky Keck class. The “block” is simple, but your choices make this quilt both unique and stunning.

 

This class will be held on 2 Thursdays, April 28th and May 12th, from 6:15 – 8:15 pm. As of April 14th there were a couple of seats left.

Mary Mashuta – Foolproof Machine Quilting!

Saturday, April 9th, 2011

Mary Mashuta is an iconic Berkeley quilter, and an excellent teacher. She wrote the book on basic machine quilting. Literally. It’s an excellent book and we recommend it, but nothing can compare with learning directly from Mary in a workshop.

Mary’s method is not free-motion quilting; she employs straight lines, “soft pivots” and simple designs to create stunning quilts.

Mary is a generous teacher, whose classes are always filled with important information she’s gleaned from many years as a professional quilter, quilt teacher and author.

Her students come away better prepared to quilt in the long run… and wrung out in the short run. We cannot recommend the experience more highly! There are a couple of more spaces in the April 16th workshop. Sign up soon, read and follow the supply list, and  — get a good night’s rest before class!

Visit Mary’s website for more information and inspiration: www.marymashuta.com

 

The Envelope Please… “BEST IMPROVISATIONAL QUILT CLASS”

Tuesday, April 5th, 2011

IMPROVISATIONAL SPLIT LOG-CABIN – THE GEE’S BEND WAY

Stacy Sharman

April 12 and 19, 6:15-8:15pm

If there were an annual Award Season for quilt classes – like the one for movies – this class would be in the running as a “sleeper.” Stacy offered this class in March and it quickly filled to overflowing. Now it’s being offered again, and there are just a couple of spots left.

Quilters sense that Stacy offers them a new way of working and a new sensibility;  this class generates its own buzz.  The quilts from this class have been wonderful; each one is different and for most students it’s a  step towards thinking about quilts in a new way.

There’s some poetic justice in the idea that these modern, loose-reined quilts are heirs to the traditional, practical beauty of Gee’s Bend Quilts.  The classics deserve to be reinterpreted. Especially when it can be done in the freshest possible ways.

 

What’s next?  IMPROVISATIONAL QUILTS: THE SEQUEL!

COMING IN JUNE, 2011,  TO A CLASSROOM NEAR YOU:

Improvising a Basket Weave Quilt – The Gee’s Bend Way


Tips for New Piecers – Omnigrid Foldaway

Friday, March 11th, 2011

To get good results, you must start with good tools. There’s no substitute for good quality; some products are a treat to work with.

 

A quality product I recommend is the Omnigrid Portable Cutting and Pressing Station. It allows you keep two quilting aids in one – close to your machine space. It folds up to travel with you to classes and workshops. It ain’t cheap, friends, but I’ve had one for years and I love it!     – Carol Lee

Search for the Mystery Quilter

Friday, February 25th, 2011

Here at New Pieces we meet many, many wonderful quilters and other people who sew. Every now and then someone comes along we just wish we could share with you all, and now we can!

Starting March 15th we will be inviting one of YOU. each month, to come in and share with some of US how you do what you do — and to show us what you’ve done. The identity of the “Mystery Quilter” will remain a secret until s/he starts Show-and-Tell. The atmosphere will be informal, and admission is free — but seats will be first-come, first-served. We expect a full house for “Mystery Quilter”, from 12:30 -1:30pm, on the third Tuesday of each month.

Tips for New Piecers – Take Pictures!

Thursday, February 17th, 2011

Last week I finished a jacket that was intended as a birthday present for my wonderful mother-in-law.

Caroline is a gardener and bird-watcher, living in the cold, cold Midwest. The jacket was meant to give her a warm hug on her February birthday –  when we couldn’t be there to do it in person. I was thrilled with the fabrics I found — and, since I only have one jacket pattern,  I was set! Having procrastinated far too effectively, I laid the jacket out and sewed it up over the course of two or three days.  I made some truly creative fixes to my mistakes, a la Lisa’s quilt.  I hemmed the jacket on birthday-minus-3 day; then affixed two silk frog fasteners and mailed it off.

No picture. Oops! I can show you the fabrics — and I can remind you to always take pictures before mailing gifts to your loved ones. Most of us stop short of carrying those little “brag” books in our purses, but I’ve yet to meet a quilter who doesn’t want to see what you’re working on!

See you at the Store. And please, bring pictures!  — Heather