Patchwork Quilt Design Classes
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A professionally trained designer, Dena offers patchwork quilt classes that teach her students how to design as well as make any design they create. Learn how to use Dena's self-developed design methods to create original works of patchwork quilt art.
Dena first teaches design; then she teaches specialized methods to make any design into a quilt. |
For more information about classes, please contact Dena.
Crystal QuiltsRemember, as a child, making folded paper dolls? Learn to make simple or complex reflected and tessellated original quilt designs--each an instant masterpiece! Design by hand or computer using an easy drawing method anyone can master. Discover how to sew complicated-looking designs by tackling the simplest seams first. Master some unusual sewing techniques de-mystified in this workshop. Then, impress your family and friends with a patchwork quilt only you could make--and did!
6-hour workshop; skill level: Intermediate |
All That Glitters, a Crystal Quilt
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Darned QuiltsBuild a fabulous gradated background from a carefully chosen set of fabrics, augment it with a myriad of pretty sewing tricks, then chop and swap it to bits. Darn it all back together, and "voilà!"—you have a Darned Quilt! Dena's clever ideas shine through, but you can be proud of your original design art quilt. It's a one-of-a-kind, with no particular design skills required!
6-hour workshop; skill level: All |
Bubbles III, a Darned Quilt
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Structured Fabrics: Checks, Plaids & StripesCombine mixed materials in unusual ways to create Structured Fabrics checks, plaids, and stripes. Then use these constructed cloths to build original quilt designs for walls, tables, cushions, or other non-bedding use. You will be pleasantly surprised at how fabrics that seem not to go together actually do. Amazing things are possible!
6-hour workshop; skill level: All |
Conversation Piece (detail), a Structured Fabrics quilt
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Goodbye to the GridBecome an art quilter with this inspired method for releasing inner self-expression. Goodbye to the Grid teaches you to create original patchwork art quilt designs. The class moves you off the grid that lies at the heart of traditional patchwork quilting and still is the basis for much innovative work. It can open the way to a new vista of art quilting for those who are ready and eager to begin.
6-hour workshop; skill level: Intermediate |
Glissando, a Goodbye to the Grid quilt
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Bind Quilts by MachineWant to produce professional quality quilt bindings and save loads of time? Learn to apply quilt bindings quickly and professionally, and entirely by machine. Master the techniques for fuss-free single-fold, seamless, and double-fold quilt bindings applied entirely by machine. Enhance quilt bindings and even patchwork with Perfect Piping. Explore mock bindings, bagging, facing quilts, and raw edge finishes–-all in one class!
3- or 6-hour workshop, depending on techniques taught; skill level: All . |
Autumn Revisited (detail), machine-bound patchwork quilt
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ReflectionsAre you tired of using OPPs (other people's patterns)? Do you honestly believe everyone else is more talented than you? It is more likely that they have learned to know which designs are good. Unfortunately, there is a trashcan full of rejects for every successful idea. Do you feel creative but blocked by indecision? If so, this patchwork quilt design class moves you into the world of art quilting as you learn to master mirror-imaging!
6-hour workshop; skill level: All |
Revelation, a Reflections patchwork quilt design
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Designer PinwheelsFour-fold rotation of a tessellated right triangle--that makes a Designer Pinwheel. This workshop simplifies designing and piecing even the most challenging quilt patterns. Learn why and how to piece without unnecessary seams for beautiful results. Learn why, when, and how to use embellishments to enhance the designs. Master some fun-to-do techniques, and create original Designer Pinwheels of your own!
6-hour workshop; skill level: Intermediate |
Lilac and Clover, a Designer Pinwheels patchwork quilt
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African Quilts: Patchwork Without PiecingWork with African fabrics and essentially African techniques to create one-off African quilts. Learn the secrets of manipulating shapes made from fabric scraps to build a quilt without prior patchwork design or piecing. This class will open new doors of fun and imagination as you go--you may never make a quilt any other way after you take this workshop! And it's so easy that even a beginner can make these wonderful African quilts!
3- or 6-hour workshop; skill level: All |
All That Jazz, a Patchwork Without Piecing African Quilt
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Instant PatchworkRevisit the original nature of patchwork quilting as you build abstract images from scraps and small pieces of carefully selected fabrics, especially silks. Work to arrange balanced compositions of raw materials with emphasis on repetition, proportions, detailing, and distribution of selected colors and textures, polished off with fine freehand machine quilting. Each piece you make by these methods will be a one-of-a-kind art quilt, sure to claim any wall space where it hangs.
6-hour workshop; skill level: Intermediate |
Gee Whiz, a Balancing Act silk quilt
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Spirit WorksThis highly experimental and experiential workshop pulls imagery from deep within the quilter's psyche. Learn to let go as you allow your subconscious mind to speak spontaneously through your fingers. Free-motion stitch and color a Surrealistic image in this machine quilting and hand-painting workshop. Prior meditation experience is recommended, and there are no guaranteed outcomes.
6-hour workshop; skill level: Intermediate |
Heart's Aflutter, a Spirit Works quilt
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Sudoku QuiltsEnjoy playing Sudoku? Curious to see how you can interpret numbers into colors to make a profusion of quick and easy to assemble patchwork quilts, each one different from all others? Learn to assign fabrics or asymmetrical designs to numbers, then use Sudoku strategies for placement and reflection to create symmetry from asymmetry. Confused? Well, don't be; it's easy!
3- or 6-hour workshop; skill level: All |
Whirligig, a Sudoku appliqué quilt
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