I could also call this post–Happy. Happy. Joy. Joy.  

Here is what happened. I was invited to teach at Quilter’s Affair in Sisters, Oregon. I have long known about the Sister’s Outdoor Quilt Show that is held every year on the second Saturday of July. It was on my bucket list as it should be on yours.

The week prior to the Outdoor Quilt Show, Jean Wells and her daughter Valerie Wells and the staff of the The Stitching Post create a rooster of approximately 30 teachers from all corners of the quilting globe to teach at Quilter’s Affair. Students can sign up for a wide variety of workshops from shibori to surface design to improv stitching and traditional handwork. This means you and your friends can all take workshops together even if your interests are varied.

All year long, I heard the EXACT same thing about Quilter’s Affair—“You are going to LOVE teaching there” And you know what, everyone was right. I LOVED teaching there. Everything was awesome–from the wraps I had for lunch to the student’s attitudes towards learning new things.

I taught three workshops. On Monday and Tuesday, I taught BLOW IT UP!

Students select a framework from which to build their quilt. It can be a traditional quilt block—rail fence, log cabin, or nine- patch—or a structure that resonates with them personally—a bridge, a building, a skyline. They blow that structure up–make it big.

Using blue painters tape, the students draw the lines that will compose the foundation of their quilt. From there, they build in the bits that make the quilt.

This is the first time I have taught this workshop nationally.

I was super happy with what happened over the course of two day class.

Students were fearless. 

On Wednesday, I taught Authentic Patchwork—AKA as Kitchen Sink Quilting.

Students bring leftover blocks, fabric, strip sets—whatever they’ve got. We sort through these quilt remains and begin to build new original compositions based on the bits they bring.

Because the students are working with pre-pieced components, compositions begin to emerge very quickly.

Narrowing the focus to using what you already have creates a clear path to original designs.

I found that the students were very loose—no one was being super precious about their work—and this made for some truly wild and dynamic quilts.

One of the keys to success with this type of composing, is to edit your leftover blocks–not EVERY bit gets to be in the new composition.

I had a celebrity in my class. Can you spot her? Freddie Moran! Who is totally awesome by the way.

I am still thinking about the name of this class. I have currently changed the name to Kitchen Sink Quilting—the ART of Making Do. What do you think? And for that matter maybe BLOW IT UP! needs to be changed too. 

On Thursday and Friday, I taught Making Prints out of Solids—Lines & Shapes.

This is my most frequently taught class. If you think this might be fun. You might like my new book. You can preorder on the C&T website on Amazon . I know. I just did a little bit of shameless advertising. Feels weird, but hey, maybe you didn’t know that I have a book coming out, and now you do.

Students learn an assortment of methods for creating stripes, polka dots, herringbones, and more.

Once they’ve made a bunch of bits (fabric) they move their work to the design wall and begin composing.

Some of my students were in more than one class, so they had the option of combining information and continuing to more forward on their original compositions.

It is very satisfying to see my students work hard and stay focused.

I believe that my job as a teacher is to conjur an environment where students feel creative and safe—comfortable with putting their ideas on the wall for everyone to see.

The environment I was given at Quilter’s Affair—a very cool science lab—made this easy.

I am hoping that all my students complete their compositions and then share them with me.

On Saturday, I helped hang quilts and enjoyed the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show.

What a week. I am honored to have had the experience. 

LOVE the weather!

Next week, I am off to Quilting by the Lake to teach—I hear there are still spots available in my workshops AND there is still time to sign up! 

From there, I head south to Memphis, Tennessee to work with the Uncommon Threads Quilt Guild < http://www.ucquilts.com/>.

I hope to blog while I am on the road, but it is difficult. If you want to keep up with the daily adventures of this road trip—like me on Facebook. 

I hope you are all having lovely bug and cloud free summers.

15 Jul This entry was published on July 15, 2017 at 9:45 AM. It’s filed under About Teaching, News And Events, TEACHING and tagged BLOW IT UP!, Kitchen Sink Quilts--The Art of Making Do, Making Prints out of Solids--Lines and Shapes, Quilter's Affair, Sister's Outdoor Quilt Festival, The Stitching Post. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.