Quilting & Design Workshops
Traditional Slow Stitch: Japan and India
Experience these two age-old traditions of hand-stitching from two different cultures. Both can be combined in a 2 or more day workshop, or each can be a stand alone experience of 1 to 2 days.
Japanese Boro: Stitch to Mend & to Create (1 to 2 days)Come experience boro, the artful Japanese tradition of hand sewing. Born of a need to revive & reuse worn textiles, fabric scraps are patched and “mended” into renewed fabrics. Simple running stitches and sashiko thread create patterns that are elegant and complex. Boro or "country sashko" is often densely stitched. Bring a variety of fabrics. commercial prints, hand-dyes, etc., perhaps some with difficult to use patterns. You're also welcome to bring a garment or object that needs upcycling.
​
Kantha: A Hand-Stitched Quilt Tradition (1 to 2 days) Expand your quilting vocabulary with Kantha. Originating in India, recycled fabrics are layered and patched with hand-sewn running stitches that fill backgrounds and create ripples and shadows. Designs can be improvisational or abstract or they can include simple embroidered figurative elements. Traditional kanthas tell a story--something about the maker's life. We can adapt images, make up our own stories and replace some of the embroidery with raw edge appliqué. Design Ideas will be provided.
​
​
Edgy Slow Stitch: Applique & Quilting (1 to 5 days)
Inspired by the Slow Stitch Movement and Japanese boro, this workshop combines appliqué and quilting in one step. Raw-edged fabric is sewn by hand directly to a foundation of batting and backing. Little or no fusible are used. Creative quilting stabilizes and completes the textile. This technique is suitable for all kinds of projects. Bring a sketch or photo for a picture quilt, an abstract design or be ready to improvise. Fabrics can be commercial and/or hand-dyed.
We’ll look at boro traditions of mending and we’ll be energized by the way “new” fabrics are created by stitching layers of fabric together. You can opt to practice layering and stitching by a small project, a phone case, a rice bag, before turning to your project. The intent is slow stitch hand work throughout, but the technique is adaptable to sewing by machine. Bring a design idea and fabrics and we'll take off!
​
A one-day class is an introduction to combining appliquéing and quilting in one step. We’ll create fabric “postcards,” or quilt blocks. Three or more days are an opportunity to at look at boro and kantha traditions for inspiration and apply them to our hand stitched projects.
​
Snapshot: Stitch a Picture Quilt (1 to 5 days)
Create fabric pictures--landscape, still life, etc.-- based on assigned snapshots that you bring to class. Pick your favorite photo and adapt it to quilting, using simple tools like photocopies and tracing paper. Begin selecting fabrics that will bring the image to life.
A one or two day class produces designs on paper and a start choosing fabric. A three to five day session is an opportunity for the picture quilt to evolve. We'll look to the hand-stitched boro tradition for inspiration in layering fabrics. The five day class includes an optional opportunity to practice boro techniques on a practical cellphone bag or traditional rice bag before turning to the pictures. The emphasis is on hand sewing, but using fusible and sewing by machine are optional.
How to Critique: Listening to Your Quilts, Learning from Others (1/2 to 1 Day)
Sometimes quilts just “work” while other times they need more work. A critique can help us understand what is happening, whether we’re evaluating our own quilts or learning from the art of others.
This workshop will begin by reviewing some easily accessible art concepts that are essential tools in a critique. Participants will look at Carol Anne’s quilts to see examples of these ideas in action. We’ll learn to set guidelines that create a positive, gentle critique, which will make it comfortable for students to share their own work.
You are encouraged to bring examples of your quilts to class—finished or in progress—that you like and/or ones that you’d like to improve. Discussion of starting a successful crit group can be included if there is interest.​​
Natural Lines: Mark Free QuiltingTechniques (1 Day)
"Draw" a design on a quilt top without touching it. Learn about lines--an important last design step in a quilt. Use mark-free methods for transferring designs to fabric and choose hand and/or machine quilting options. Techniques involve simple, available tools. Students work on samples and, if available, a previously completed top. Step away from the straight and narrow and try irregular patterns especially suited for picture quilts.
​
​