I always love to take classes. Yes, I could have enjoyed being a professional student.
I’ve been fortunate to take classes in the past from many well-known experts in the quilting industry; Hollis Chatelain, Sue Spargo, Ricky Tims, Kaffe Fassett, Sally Collins, Karen Stone, and more. And, I’ve attended lectures by others including Lisa Bongean and Diane Gaudynski.
But until today, I had never taken a class on free motion quilting. I had learned by watching videos and reading and practicing. And more practicing.
Today I took a free motion feather class from Paula Reid at my favorite quilt shop. I’ve tried my hand at feathers before, with limited success. Today’s class was wonderful. Paula has quilted professionally for many years. Now she travels the country teaching others how to quilt on their home machines.
The class was structured so that Paula demonstrated a variety of paths and patterns to fill a quilting space with feathers, then gave individual assistance as we stitched along. The morning was devoted to feather designs marked with stencils, the afternoon all free motion feathers, unmarked. So liberating!
This photo is my unmarked free motion design from this afternoon. Red Mettler 50 weight cotton thread in the top, Aurafil 50 weight cotton in the bobbin. Echoing is done with 60 weight Kimono silk thread.
Here are samples of Paula’s work (she gave permission to share). The green fabric is a silk/cotton blend –gotta get some of that! The motifs are fabulous! And, you are seeing the bobbin side of her work! Amazing talent she has. I’m so glad she’s in GA sharing her knowledge with us.
And, tomorrow…free motion embellishments with beads and ribbons.