Intermediate Quilting Class 2014 (Session Two)

The second week's class was about curved piecing.  A lot of quilters are scared of sewing curves.  And it does take a little thought, but is certainly do-able.  My co-teacher, Kalynn, and I are both garment sewers, as well as quilters, so we are used to handling curves.  

And our students caught on very well.

We talked about using templates in this class, when previously all of our blocks were rotary cut using straight rulers.  This particular block is a drunkard's path, and there are also several other names for this block.  I had some acrylic templates for students to use, and we also showed them how to make their own templates out of template plastic. Everyone used pins to secure the two pieces of fabric together, although sometimes fabric glue is used.  Some of us used a lot more pins that others, but it's all good!

 The results were quite good, as you can see by these photos.

Look at how even all these edges are!

The photo below shows how two blocks look when put together.  We talked about all the many different ways these blocks can be arranged.

This next photo shows what happens when you cut with two layers of fabric under your templates and then switch around the pieces.  The top one is a great combination, isn't it.

Intermediate Quilting Class 2014 (Session One)

A friend and I again taught an Intermediate Quilting class.  We taught it a few years ago for the first time.  Last year we taught Beginning Quilting, and this year we are teaching the intermediate class.  I should state for the record that these classes have been taught for quite a few years, through our quilting guild, PPQG, by some very, very capable teachers.  I've taken both of these classes.  I can only hope that my friend and I can fill their tennis shoes.

We have an excellent group of students this year, 7 in total, which is a really nice number for the class.  Not too big and not too small.

The first week we taught "Y-seams."  Specifically, the Attic Windows block and Tumbling Blocks.

This is the basic attic window pattern.  

When sewn together a nice window pattern emerges.

Tumbling blocks, as you know, are made up of just three diamond shapes, light, medium, and dark.  With the shading, they make a three-dimensional effect, as does attic windows.

I have a little (!) experience with tumbling blocks.  You can see some posts here and here.

 Our students are really great, and catch on quickly.  In fact, we had some extra time after they mastered these Y-seams, so we also taught them a free-form method of making blocks out of just strips of neutral fabric and scraps.  I learned this method from a blog I follow, called Oh Fransson.  I  made a quilt using this method back in this blog post.

One of my "free-form" blocks.

A happy student with her "free-form" block.

I always have fun re-making the blocks for the beginning and intermediate classes before we teach them.  This way they are fresh in my mind, and I'm aware of any steps or procedures that might be confusing to the students.