Minnesota, Here We Come!

We are beyond excited to announce that we have been invited to teach and lecture at the 2022 Minnesota Quilters Annual Quilt Show and Conference in St. Cloud, MN. Registration opens for the general public on February 1, so you have time to plan. We would love to see you at the show! Take a look at what we will be teaching. And then click the link above to see what this great show has in store for you!

Floral Elegance

Class: Wednesday, June 15, 2022; 8:30 AM–4:30 PM

This elegant vase of flowers is a wonderful introduction to basic wool appliqué and ribbonwork. Your friends will be in awe of your skill when you show them your block, but you can decide whether to tell them how easy creating these exquisite blooms really is. The class will begin with the basics of wool appliqué, as we prepare the vase and leaves. And then we will become florists: using only three new techniques, we can create all these beautiful blooms. You will be amazed how a simple running stitch can be used in different ways to create petals for our pansies and chrysanthemums, and wire-gathering does the trick for our roses. A couple of basic embroidery stitches for stems will add the finishing touches. And all the while, fun will be the focus!! 

Full kits will include all material needed to complete the block: background fabric, wool for vase and leaves, all ribbon in colors pictured, embroidery floss, and pattern.

Floral Elegance

Potstickers

Class: Thursday, June 16, 2022; 8:30 AM–11:30 AM

Potstickers are not just for dinner anymore! We designed these plant ornaments to add some fun to our potted plants, but you could just as easily create any kind of ornament with these sweet patterns. Who doesn't love having a quick and easy project to do? In this class, we will learn the basics of wool appliqué, as well as the simple embroidery stitches needed to complete your potstickers. You will have a choice of three different sets for your class project. Are you ready to add some patriotic pizzazz, fall flair, or Christmas cheer to your potted plants? They will thank you—and we will have a lot of fun in the process! Which set will you choose?

Full kits will include all material needed to complete your chosen set of potstickers: wool for background and designs, embellishments, embroidery floss, flannel backing, and pattern. You need only provide the bamboo skewers or dowels for display.

Patriotic Potstickers

Fall Fun Potstickers

Christmas Potstickers

In the Garden

Class: Thursday, June 16, 2022; 1:30 PM–4:30 PM

Join us for a walk In the Garden as we learn the basics of wool appliqué and embroidery. Again, you have a choice of which project you want to do. Whether you choose to create Cornflowers or Violets, we will begin by appliquéing the leaves with wool. Simple gathering techniques magically turn ribbon into stunning blooms, and a few basic embroidery stitches become stems, leaf veins, and flower centers. We will have a fun time discovering that there is more than one way to grow a garden! 

Full kits will include all material needed to complete your chosen block (Cornflower or Violet): flannel for background, wool for leaves, ribbon for flowers, embroidery floss, and pattern.

Violets

Cornflowers

The Stories In Our Quilts

Lecture: Friday, June 17, 2022; 10:30 AM–11:30 AM

What do quilts and stories have to do with each other? Everything, actually! Have you ever had a piece of needlework passed down through your family and wondered who made it, how they made it, and/or why? These are the stories of our families—part of our history. So often these gems are tucked away in a chest or put on a closet shelf. But there is a wealth of information within those stitches, if only we knew their stories. Our quilts give us opportunities to tell our stories. Enjoy an hour of storytelling as we share some of our favorite quilts (old and new) and the tales they tell.

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Do you have that week in June planned yet? What a great opportunity to have some fun stitching. Vendors, a variety of talented teachers, lectures, seminars, and of course QUILTS! What more could you ask for? Hope we might meet you there!!

Minnesota Quilters, Inc. 43rd Annual Quilt Show and Conference

River’s Edge Convention Center

10 4th Street South

St. Cloud, Minnesota

www.mnquilt.org/mq2022

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Wonderful Williamsburg

Last week, we enjoyed a fantastic time in Williamsburg, Virginia. We spent the first half of the day on Sunday visiting the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival in Hampton before we headed back to Kingsmill Resort to set up our classroom for the Academy of Appliqué. More will follow from the Quilt Festival in the near future. Please enjoy some of the highlights of the classes we taught last week.

Academy of Appliqué

Our classroom for the Woodland Reverie class, all set up and ready for the next day

  

Ribbons, patterns, and other necessary notions were displayed on the sale tables.

Patterns are marked and appliqué begins.

Demo time

Back-basting appliqué of leaves or mushroom stems: several people around the room expressed that "Ah-hah" at having found a new method of appliqué they enjoyed.

Nest building around the room—what a perfect set-up!

Mushroom stems are appliquéd, caps are basted, and wreath-weaving has begun.

Rosemarie N stopped by to show us the Lovely Vase she finished from last year's class.
Such stunning work!!

Some add eggs to nests, while others begin making dogwood flowers.

"Wow, what a great nest!" The encouragement around the room is infectious.

"This is my very first flower!" That smile lit up the room.

Making pussy willows

Wreath-weaving and split leaves

More nests

Great progress!

Everyone was thrilled with all we accomplished in our session. This class was filled with happy stitchers who cheered for each other and shared tips and tricks. We all learned a lot—including the teachers. We even started a Woodland Reverie group. Thank you, ladies, for such a fabulous class!

On Wednesday, we gave a short talk during lunch.
Photo credit here goes to Nancy Nehez.

Colonial Piecemakers Quilt Guild

The last two days of our week were spent with the stitchers of Colonial Piecemakers Quilt Guild, also in Williamsburg. On Friday, we taught our Marcia's Flowers workshop, wool appliqué with embroidery embellishment. We had a big class, filled with ladies who were eager to try a new skill; for many of them, appliqué—especially with wool—was a new tool to add to their collection of techniques. Some found a new love, and some weren't yet so sure, but all gave it a fair shot. This was the first pattern we wrote, and one thing that we learned was that we needed to update a few things and reprint it, which is a job almost finished already. 😊

 

We spent the morning cutting out templates and wool pieces, and then we enjoyed a delicious lunch of soups, salad, sandwiches, and chocolate. Quilters sure do eat well!

We arranged the wool pieces on the background and then fused them in place with an iron. Then we appliquéd the pieces in place so that we could learn the embroidery stitches the next day.

On Saturday, we gave a lecture for the guild. This is one active organization; we were most impressed with the programs, community involvement, and friendliness of these quilters. During Show & Tell, some of the ladies from our class shared their blocks. After the meeting and a quick lunch, we got to work on embellishing our flowers. We learned a lot of stitches and made a good dent in our embellishing. It was so much fun that we both forgot all about taking pictures. After our class ended, everyone helped us to pack up and carry things to our car. What a lovely bunch they are!

On Sunday, we traveled back to Maryland. The day was beautiful, but the traffic on I-95 was pretty much a parking lot, so we jumped off and took back roads. We ended up driving through the Manassas Battlefield and seeing some much prettier scenery than highway driving would have afforded us. And then there was inventory...

To all of those new friends that we met last week, and to those who we have known for years, thank you for another wonderful week in Williamsburg. Our stitching friends are the best! We look forward to our paths crossing again someday.