Friday, August 20, 2010

Janet and Susan teaching on Joggles.com


Janet and I are both teaching classes on Joggles. com this fall. Starting Oct. 1, I'll be teaching my Tyvek Explorations class. In four lessons, I will cover working safely with Tyvek; painting Tyvek; melting it with an iron and/or heat gun; manipulating Tyvek before heating to change the effects; making beads; and embossing Tyvek with rubber stamps.

The focus is on exploring the many ways this versatile material can be manipulated to create beautiful textural embellishments. You will be encouraged to experiment and share your work with fellow students in the class. You will need to be a confident free-motion quilter to complete the maple leaf quilt; the other projects involve only simple embroidery and beading.

After you learn the techniques in the first two lessons, I’ll provide detailed instructions for making a small art quilt with Tyvek maple leaves, as well as a bracelet, pins, and small Tyvek embellishments for art quilts, artists trading cards and postcards. 

Tyvek Explorations is a four-week class; the cost is $40.


Janet is teaching Dyeing Made Easy starting Sept. 23. This is an introduction to all over-dye techniques for cotton, rayon and silk. Learn to create your own fabrics using MX dyes. Starting with basics, learn step by step to mix your own colors and dye over all pattern and color to make what you need for your next project.

This introductory sampler class is for anyone interested who has ever been interested in learning how to dye fabric, using easy formulas and explanation, dyeing is very approachable. Using MX dyes you will learn all the basics of “small batch” dyeing.

After you have mastered the very basic, you move on to learn techniques to create those awesome crackle and parfait patterns and those coveted gradation collections. Now that you are a master of the dye pot, we will learn the basics of resist dying. Using techniques including: stitches and binding, wax, and flour paste resist, you will learn to create loosely controlled patterning with dye. MX dyes are perfect for dyeing cotton, rayon and silks. You can make fabrics using natural, white and even transform those “ugly” fabrics you have in your stash into something great for your next project.

Lesson 1. Introduction: Learn how to prepare fabric, about using dye and chemicals, MX dye safety, and start dyeing!

Lesson 2. Hand-dye Crackles and Parfaits: Learn about color strength and direct mixing to create a spectrum of colors on one piece.

Lesson 3. Dye me a Rainbow: Learn how to control color to dye a rainbow from primary dye colors, making “solid” colors, and how to make coordinated fabrics and gradations.

Lesson 4. Resists 1 – Getting started with resists: Learn to use tied, sewn and clamped resists to create pattern.

Lesson 5. Resists 2 – Water soluble resists: Learn to use paste made from your pantry as resists to create subtle crackle effects.

Lesson 6. Resists 3 – Drawing pattern: How to draw patterns and control color flow by using liquid resists such as: “gutta,” dish soap, jacquard resists, soy wax.

Dyeing Made Easy is a six-week class; the cost is $75.

If you have never taken an online class, you can read more about it on Joggles by clicking here. Basically, here’s how it works: You sign up and pay online, and about a week before class starts, you receive the supply list via e-mail. When the class starts, Joggles e-mails you information about how to get into the class forum, an online place where you can post photos, ask questions, share your work and get feedback from the instructor. Each week of the class, you receive a link where you can download a PDF of that week’s lesson. 

Barnful of Quilts 2010 is coming soon!


Here’s a wonderful event… make sure to mark your calendar! The eighth annual Barnful of Quilts will be held Saturday, October 9 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Fox Family Farm in Waxhaw, NC. I’ll be there vending; I’ll have some of my art quilts, patterns, and my DVD for sale. This year’s show will feature the Charlotte Quilters’ Guild Best of Show winners, so two of my quilts will be on display.  Harbinger’s Hope (below) won a Best of Show ribbon in 2008: 

And Sunrise, Sunset won a Best of Show ribbon in 2006:


The cost is $5, and all proceeds benefit the Waxhaw Presbyterian Church. If you have never attended this event, it is really wonderful. There is usually nice crisp fall weather, and all the vendors and exhibitions are housed in a spectacular barn in the rolling hills of Union County, south of Charlotte. It is owned by Valerie Fox and her family, who generously offer it for this event. Church volunteers scrub the barn clean in the days before the show, and offer tasty baked goods and drinks at the show. 

There’s also a silent auction, raffle quilts, and quilts for sale. Vendors offer a wide variety of art and craft items, mostly quilt or fiber related, but usually there is fabulous pottery and jewelry as well.


You can see many photos of the past Barnful of Quilts on the Fox Family Farm website, or see and read about the 2008 event on my blog here and here. I participated in 2008 and 2007, but was unable to do so last year because Quilt Market in Houston was held early that year and the dates conflicted. I’m thrilled to be able to participate again this year. Please join me!