Friday, March 16, 2012

Patchwork Class: Week 1

I was super lucky to be asked to teach a beginner's patchwork class at Pippablue here in Galway.  How exciting!  What a great adventure! Here's how it was advertised:


"Learn to create a variety of blocks, which combine together to create a beautiful quilt. Over this 5-week course, you will learn the basics of patchwork and quilting, with an emphasis on modern design."


Can I do that?  Here's hoping!  Well, with a few weeks of preparation, class started earlier this week.  We have 5 people enrolled.  The ladies were super nice, funny, creative and ready for a laugh.  Each has her own very distinct style, making this all the more fun.


The idea is to tackle a skill each week making 2 blocks in the class and one as homework.  After 3 weeks we'd have a nice baby quilt sized sampler that we can sash, layer, quilt and bind in weeks 4 and 5.  

Each person has used a sewing machine before.  Some made clothes, others have dabbled in quilts, but we are generally starting at the beginning.  We started off with choosing fabrics (discussing contrasting but complimenting colors, print scale, etc) and accurate cutting and pressing.  I thought maybe this week would focus on squares.  How about your classic nine patch to get basic piecing skills, nesting seams, accurate cutting skills, etc.  That seemed OK, but a little boring.  How about a disappearing nine patch instead?  Sounds great!

We used the tutorial by Judith of Just Jude to make these pretties:








Don't they look great for their first quilt blocks?  Look at those matching points!  I'm so pleased with how well they did....more importantly I think they were too!

Homework is a square in a square based on a Fresh Lemons tutorial:


Next week is triangles.  This is so exciting!

19 comments:

Archie The Wonder Dog said...

Sounds like great fun - I'm really impressed with their first blocks, they obviously have a very talented teacher!!

Linda Coleman said...

Congrats Cindy on your first class, I'm sure all the ladies enjoyed it as much as you

Manda said...

Congrats! It sounds like fun! :)

Mrs Flying Blind... said...

Get you the school ma'am! Sounds like fun!

Annabella said...

For me, this is a dream job - quilting and teaching combined! Of course you can do it lovely C - you go girl! xx

Nicky said...

Clever you Cindy! And well done to the students

Sarah said...

Bet class with you is a great laugh!

Elisa Esteve said...

I am very jealous Cindy. My sister Eva is a partner in Pippablue and I am so jealous of the things she can do. She recommended your blog to me and so wish I lived in Ireland as I would definitely be at that class!

Canadian Abroad said...

Do you not do enough already?! But well done and I bet it is a great class.

Judith, Belfast said...

Great going C! I'm sure your wonderful enthusiasm and creativity has rubbed off on them. Fab blocks! Jxo

Cherie said...

I love the 9 patch style! The colours you've used really go well together!! I have them on my to sew list =D

Katy Cameron said...

Sounds like loads of fun, they did a great job!

Di said...

Sounds like great fun. What about adding an extra session on blogging? Di xo

Lucy | Charm About You said...

How fun!! Well done to you and all the class :)

Kelly said...

Looks like your a fab teaching looking at those first blocks!

pippablue said...

It was a great class Cindy, and the ladies definitely had fun! Looking forward to next week!

Quilting In The Cold said...

Wow, that is really exciting. You guys made some great blocks.

Cindy Sharp said...

it is fun to teach and see others get excited about something that you love.

Lynne said...

Congratulations on being asked to teach and well done on your students' achievements.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Label Cloud

241 tote all heart appeal antique applique apron art quilt aurifil award baby quilt back background bag basket batik bee Bee Blessed Big Stitch Swap bird's nest birdie stitches birthday blankets of love block blog blogaversary blogger bundle bloglovin' BOM book brit bee brooch bundle bunting business card holder camping cathedral window chain piecing chaos charm pack charm squares charm swap chickens Christmas class clothes color commission community community quilt contest craft craft fair cross cross stitch Cúchulainn cushion design wall diaper Do.Good Stitches donation double wedding ring drawing dress eclipse election electronica embroicery embroidery eraser stamp exhibit fab fabric fabric tape facebook FAL farmers journal fat eight fat quarter fat quarterly feature festival of quilts film finish finish along flag flickr flying geese FMQ FNSI frame Free Motion Friday free motion quilting friends fugly Galway Galway Now gift giveaway goal goals goodie goodie swap granny mania granny squares graph guest blog guild hand puppet hand quilting hand sewing happy hat help hexagons hey girl hospital hot pad HST I Spy ICA improv innovation award inspiration interview invitation ipad ipad cover IPS IQFOI Irish chain Japanese key fob kind stitches knit knitting knitting and stitching kona lattice illusions laugh launch learning lecture Liberty linky list little star loops love on the blocks LQS Day magazine market medallion mennonite miniquilt mixer cover mod logs Mod Pop QAL modern blocks Modern Irish Bee modern irish quilters modern quilt guild modern quilt guild bee modern stitching Modern Stitching Bee monster mouthy stitches mug rug mural name name game name tag napkin needle book new york beauty newsletter Nieve notebook cover overlocker panel paper piecing patchwork pattern Pay it forward Peace Valley peanut butter perle cotton pezzy pizazz photograph PIF pillow pillowcase dress pin cushion pinwheel PJ placemat podcast polka dot pom pom portholes post pouch precut puffy pouch puppy purse QAL quilt quilt exhibit quilt frame quilt top quilter in the gap quilting Rainbow Charm Swap research retreat retroflower review sale sampler scarf science scrap scraps screen printing seams selvage sew and bee happy Sew Bee Blissful sewing machine sewing room shop significant sizzix sketch skirt solid spools stall stand star stargazing start your own stitched in color string stuffed super tote surprise swap swoon tablerunner teaching text thumb tack tiles top tote toy travel tree skirt tumbler tutorial twinkle twinkle twitter video vote walk wallet website win WIP wonky house yarn youtube zip

Total Number of Page Views