The Whys

Since the creative production here isn't all that high, I've been thinking a lot about creative production. For me, that means writing and quilting. Over the course of a few conversations with a good friend we've asked each other about style, why we quilt, and what we think of when we talk about quilting.

Today I am going to address the last question.  It's kind of a word association game. 

When you think of quilting, what words come to mind?

For me, quilting means:

Creativity

Uniqueness

Comfort

Colour

How

Those were my first instinct words, what are yours?

Under My Belt

My first teaching experience is over.  My first experience teaching quilting, that is. It is now safe to say that I have a new dream career. Out of the window is my secret fantasy of being a DJ. Hmm, okay, that will still remain a not-so-secret fantasy and teaching will become my aspirational career.

For the past two Fridays I taught an Improv Piecing class to 4 lovely and interesting women. (Full disclosure: one of those women was my sister-in-law.) They were all experienced quilters, but they ran the gamut from exclusive pattern users to art quilter.  Most importantly, they were there eager to learn some new techniques.  And they all left happy, or so they told me.

I now know that one of the best parts about teaching is seeing what your students can do with the information/ inspiration you are able to share.  The 4 women showed up with 4 very different sets of fabrics.  One came with a delicious selection of her own hand-dyed fabric. There was a grouping of earth tone batiks that is making me want to rethink earth tones. My sister-in-law showed up with a good chunk of her staff, then augmented it heavily for the second class because she was in a purple kind of mood. 

The final student came with a grouping of fabric that all showcased a chicken theme.  I'll admit it, it wasn't my cup of tea, but I love the way her blocks turned out!  It goes to show that improv isn't just for the modern fabrics. She is planning on making a table runner with her blocks.

During the class we covered wonky log cabins, chopsticks, free piecing, maverick/liberated stars, and what I call building blocks. The above blocks with all the purple are, of course, my sister-in-law's. I fear that my brother may be cursing my name because we figure she really started 4 different projects!

The blocks at the top of the post and this wonky churn dash are all from the same student. Aren't they fantastic?  Sadly my camera and the lighting did not do justice to her gorgeous hand-dyes. She did a lot of work at home between classes because she was so inspired. So we started talking about what else you could improvise. 

I'm eager to teach again, having made notes and refining the approach a little bit. Unfortunately, this LQS isn't interested in hosting the class again.  That's okay, we thankfully have a lot of stores around!

Woohoo! An Announcment

If you know me at all by now it should be clear that I am not enamoured of my desk job. I have grand fantasies that may or may not come true about making a career out of being a creative soul. But in order for me to have even a remote chance of achieving that dream I have to start somewhere. Today I am pleased to announce that I am taking the first step in that direction.

I got a teaching job!  Let's be clear, a job teaching quilting.  Okay to be even more precise, a job teaching Improvisational Piecing.

A month ago I took an afternoon off work with the nanny at home with the girls.  I pressed my sampler, prepared some pitches, and hit the stores.  And the first one bit!  I actually pitched three classes and they picked up Improvisational Piecing.  How cool is that?

So, if you are in the Calgary area in late November, please sign up and I'll do my best to educate and entertain you. To register you can do so at Along Came Quilting.

Here are the details:

November 13 and 20

1:30-4:30 pm

Along Came Quilting

Unit 12, 1220-59 Avenue SE

Calgary, Alberta

See you in November!

Improv Sampler - Completed Top

So, would you hire me to teach you improvisational quilting?

My improv sampler is done - apologies for the crappy photo, Hubby was an unwilling partner as we photographed quilts yesterday.  And the quilt ended up much larger than my brain was thinking it was going to be.  Right now it is 76 inches square.  I think I should quilt it before I start pitching, what do you think?

This was the first time I used a solid white for the sashing.   I'm not sure why I resisted solids.  I do like the texture you get from a nice white-on-white, but the solid makes the blocks pop that much more.  Even better is that it is cheaper!

The colour scheme for this quilt came from one fabric alone.  It is a sweet print with birds and trees on it.  It actually was a scrap from a crib sheet that my mother-in-law made for my nephew, born almost two months ago.  I pulled the rest of the fabrics, other than the white, from my stash.  Each block contains that bird fabric as a way to tie it all together.  

Now, if only we could pin down a nanny and I could get out to stores and start pitching.  In the meantime, I'm plugging away on a baby quilt for the latest addition to the family, my nephew that was born today.  More on that this weekend.