Sewing On Air Art Quilt Technique. . .

On Wednesday, we held our monthly art quilt workshop.  This month's technique was "Sewing On Air" by Nancy Green as featured in the October/November 2012 issue of "Quilting Arts Magazine."

Following along with the instructions, this is my quilt base.  I fused fabric to fabric using Mistyfuse and quilted all over.

The circles were left unquilted as my sewing on air will be done within one of the circles.

The center of the circle was cut out.  

The circle is then heavily zigzag stitched.  Heavily means going around the circle four times with a free-motion zigzag stitch (my favorite :). The fun begins as the needle is placed to the back of the circle and straight-stitched across its diameter at a medium speed.  Once across, the fabric was turned 180 degrees and gone across again.  I did this three times, always with free-motion stitching.  The three lines of sewing were then zigzagged over with my machine set at 2.5 width.  And, whalaa, there is a strong cord-like thread line running through my circle.

This was an easy technique, much more so than I realized it would be.  Come join us next month and see what other new technique we will learn.

Blessings,

Karri

December Class Schedule Posted. . .

Before we jump into the Christmas season, Sandi and I would like to express our Thanksgiving gratitude to our quilting community for the success of our Open House this past weekend.  It feels wonderful to be accepted and supported by friends, old and new.  Thank you ever so much.

December’s class schedule is largely based on Christmas items to keep to decorate your home and to give to your family and friends.  If you have quilts that need to be quilted for gifts and want to quilt them on our longarm quilting machine, check out the group longarm lesson and then you can schedule the longarm for the day. There are also a few art quilt techniques thrown in to keep the pot stirred.  Please take a peek at what we have to offer on our class schedule.

Blessings,

Karri & Sandi

Bigfork Quilts, Etc. Ready for Open House. . .

Thanksgiving is tomorrow (Happy Turkey Day to all) and our Open House is this Friday and Saturday, November 23 and 24 with special hours of 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

Today was spent decorating for Christmas and bringing new product in.

We are excited about presenting our shop to our quilting community and look forward to serving our quilters.

Open House activities will include demos from our teaching staff to introduce their skills and share take-home Christmas projects, 

an hourly drawing from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., goodies to eat, and, of course, a fabric sale.

An included demo project is this simple decorative kit available for $12 with binding and backing included.  An easy flying geese technique will be demonstrated, as well as discussion on using metallic threads.

The demo schedule is as follows:

Friday morning - Handquilting by Mary Sanchez.
Friday afternoon - Foundation piecing by Clara Clark, including discussion of various foundation types.
Saturday afternoon - Fabric crayon coloring by Becky Jacobson.
Over the two days - the above Christmas kit and Hexagon Star will be demonstrated.

Our fabric yardage is $8/yd (excluding hand-dyes and wool).  The fabric sale includes buying (5) yards @ $8/yd - get 1 yard free (min 1 yd cuts) and purchase 5 precut fat quarters at $2/ea - get 1 free.  

Also available are hand-dyes 1 yard and 1/2 yard fabric cuts for $10/yd and wool bundles for $12 ea.  

In-stock threads are 25% off retail price and include cotton and wool blend Aurifil thread, as well as metallic and specialty threads.

For our online quilters, free shipping on all quilt patterns purchased through our online shop through Saturday, December 1.  All patterns offered will be listed by Friday 9 a.m.

We look forward to seeing you and having you become a part of our quilting community.

Blessings,
Karri  

Bigfork Quilts, Etc. Open House Coming. . .

Thanksgiving is around the corner and a time to give thanks.  Here at Bigfork Quilts, Etc. we are inviting our quilting community to "Blessings Shared:  A Quilter's Open House" on Friday and Saturday, November 23 & 24, so we can share the blessings we have received in this new quilt shop endeavor.  The weekend will be packed with demos and take home projects by our teachers for Christmas gifts and decorations.

Kaye Wood Hexagon Star is one demo

 There will be eating goodies, and quilting goody give-aways. 

And, of course, an opportunity to share in our new windfall of fabric with a sale.

All of the weekend event details will be posted on Wednesday, November 21.  Be sure to check them out as we will post demos to the blog and have sale items available in our online shop.

Blessings,
Karri 

October Class Schedule Posted. . .

October's class schedule is finally posted (better late than never :).  However, while late, there is plenty of October left to find a class to fit your bill.

Our first October class is "Crazy Eight Strip Tease" taught by Clara next Saturday.  A fun piecing technique for a unique table runner.

Becky begins a new monthly class "Beyond Traditional" that gives students the opportunity to try techniques that go beyond traditional quilt piecing techniques.

As the weather grows cooler in our part of the world, it's time to spend more time indoors wearing comfy clothes.  Sandi's class is a great beginner garment class learning to make pajama bottoms for lounging around.

Itsy Bitsy Quilt Club is cancelled this month as I will be in Texas teaching and taking in the Houston Quilt Show and Market.  Check back as I will post my adventures.  Please check out the class schedule for full class details, including dates, times, and fees.

Blessings,
Karri

First Ugly Fabric Challenge Quilts In. . .

Well, it's the end of September and the first of the Ugly Fabric Challenge quilts have been submitted, both by the same person.  I guess she didn't find it so ugly after all :)

This adorable rag quilt will be her little dog's bed after the challenge is over (buttons off, of course).

And this lovely embellished purse fulfills all the rules we set for a quilt submission so in it is.  There's another month left to complete your submission (and begin it :)  We look forward to seeing what you can do.

Blessings,
Karri

Teaching an Abstract Quilt Class. . .

This past Wednesday I taught how to create this abstract quilt in my monthly Itsy Bitsy Quilt Club class.  The end result is to allow a quilter to design and create their own art quilt. 

My students agreed to be guinea pigs in my preparation for teaching this technique at a Texas guild next month.  Here are their projects in the works.  This student is putting the finishing touches on her threadplay.

The colors in this quilt make me think of a scarecrow.

This one has a fall feel, and

this student was the quickest and is appliqueing the final element to the quilt center.

Teaching a method of art quilting such as this is a little more intense for me as a teacher.  I really have to have my act together and be sure I know what I'm talking about as my students are being asked to look at quilting from a more abstract point of view than they may otherwise be used to.  Try different art quilting techniques if you really want to stretch and twist your brain.

Blessings,
Karri

Lone Star Quilt Begun Using "Radiant Star" Book

Saturday, Clara will be teaching the Lone Star quilt from Eleanor Burn's book "Radiant Star".  A few weeks ago I began one so I would know how it comes together.  Here is what I know.

The quilt begins with strips that are sewn together and cut at a 45° angle.  For this quilt size, four fabrics are used.

Now the fun begins with matching up the seams.  For this quilt, the seams have to be marked and matched.  There are no natural seam matches.  Each diamond is marked 1/4" in (I used chalk).

The chalk marks are matched,

and pinned.

Once sewn, the strips are opened to verify that corners meet as should.  If not, ripping is necessary, and I did rip more than a few times :)

The first set of sewn strips are sewn to the second set of sewn strips,

and you have a star point.

Once you have eight points complete, you have a star.  Mine is called "Wild Child" as my goal is to make this the most colorful, busy quilt I will make (I think).  I will put it all together in Saturday's class and will share my progress next week.

Blessings,
Karri

September Class Schedule Up

The September class schedule is listed.  Check out our Class page to see what fits into your schedule this month.

September 8 and 22 will be the Lone Star quilt taught by Clara.

"Backdoor Bear" by Toni Whitney will be taught Wednesday, September 12 by Karri.

Twisted Fibers Friday is September 14.

A new block-of-the-month, "Graceful Rhapsody" begins Wednesday, September 19 with Becky.

The Itsy Bitsy Quilt Club will be held Wednesday, September 26 with this month's quilt being a quilt designed and taught by Karri.

We also begin our "Ugly Fabric Challenge."  See the Challenge page for the rules.  Join in on the fun and possibly receive a prize.

Hope you find something that tickles your fancy this month.  Even if you are unable to attend, please check back and I will do my best to share class details here.

Blessings,
Karri

Spicy Spiral Innovation. . .

I am continually surprised at how creative we quilters are. This Spicy Spiral innovation from one of our students is no exception.

Our student made two table runners, one for Autumn,

and one for Christmas.

She wanted them to be one reversible table runner.  Notice that the spirals on both table runners are reversed of each other.  That allowed them to be placed back-to-back. 

The table runners were sewn right sides together and turned inside out.  And, whala, a reversible table runner. Our student figured out that the reversed spirals occur by how the wedges are sewn together.  So smart, don't you think?

Blessings,
Karri

Spicy Spiral Table Runner Class No. 2. . .

On Friday we held our second Spicy Spiral Table Runner Class.  This is an exciting pattern to watch happen.

It begins with eight fat quarter stripped and sewn together.

Then the stress begins as the stripped section is cut with the wedge ruler.  Students continually ask "Are you sure we can get what we need out of this?"

Then the fun begins as the wedged pieces are sewn together.  Easy, peasy with no seams to match.  Just the wonder of the spiral as it begins.

One-half is sewn at a time to look like this.

With two halves sewn together, this is what you get,

 and this,

and this.  They all look great.  It's obvious that Autumn and Christmas are upon us, isn't it?  Class time is fun for this pattern as you have the opportunity to see the way various fabric choices look together.

Click here to purchase this unique pattern and join in the fun.

Blessings,
Karri