Virtual Scared Stitchless Class is LIVE!

Something I've been working towards for several years has finally happened. My first online class is now LIVE and ready for students to sign up! The first virtual class is Scared Stitchless to Quilt Your Quilt: An Introduction to Free Motion Quilting on Domestic Sewing Machines and/or Sit-Down Quilters.

The information included is extensive with lessons covering machines and accessories, needles and threads, batting choices, and so much more! Before you're done, there are lessons on preparing your quilt sandwich and creating your own first free motion sampler. As long as you can either drop or cover the feed dogs on your machine, you can free motion quilt on any machine. The sampler on the left below was quilted on my Singer Featherweight, while the log cabin block sampler was done on my Brother sewing machine. You'll practice a variety of designs that can be stitched out on a simple grid to start. Then you can move up on your own to practicing with stencils and more complex designs once you're comfortable with the basics. 

 

I've been teaching Scared Stitchless (previously Introduction to Free Motion Quilting) since 2015 to full classes, including at the 2017 and 2019 Kansas City Regional Quilt Festivals. Everything I cover in a single 6-hour day in-person class, is now available to anyone online for up to 6 weeks so you can work at your own pace. 

 

My own need to learn to free motion quilt came out of necessity. When I first learned to quilt around 2006, I didn't have the budget to send my tops out for quilting by a longarmer. I was working part time while caring for my aging father. Signing up with my friend Marsha for a free motion class at a local shop got me launched. Several months after that initial class, I attended a week-long FMQ camp in Southern California where I quilted from 9am to 6pm every day for a week. I went home with so much more confidence, lots of knowledge about how to prepare a quilt for quilting on a domestic sewing machine, and most importantly information about the things I needed to know BEFORE I even sat down to the machine. Hence, the lessons about machines, needles & threads, batting, marking tools, etc., were as important, if not more so, to the time spent at the machine. The information included would be valuable even if you own or are considering owning a longarm quilting machine. I hope you'll join this journey to quilting your own quilts!  

You, too, could own a Hexified Panel Quilt!

We are just a couple of days away from June 1 already. This year is flying by too quickly! Our garden is loving the rain! We had over 3 inches earlier in May and yesterday had another 2.5 inches with more expected tonight. 

Most of the flowers have already bloomed--the iris and peonies in particular were lovely. The daylilies and Asiatic lilies, along with a few others, are open now and there are many seeds in the ground that will soon provide a whole new wave of colorful blooms in coming weeks. 

The newest Gypsy Dreamer Quilts (GDQ) update is there are more items being added to the Quilts category on my GDQ Etsy shop, unique quilts made by my husband and myself, as well as vintage blocks, tops, and quilts that have found their way into my stash. 

As my trunk shows continue to evolve, some of the early quilts are no longer in the rotation. Plus there are new quilts Les is making for the challenge that he has encouraged me to list for sale. Every quilt deserves to be loved, cuddled with, displayed, and not hidden away in a suitcase or closet. Our quilts are all unique, many of them from the same technique--the Hexified Panel Quilt/One Block Wonder variation; although, even our non-HPQ/OBW quilts are still unique! 

There are vintage items listed that came to me from antique shops we visited along our travels, estate sales, and random bags that have been handed to me at guild meetings. The vintage items I have posted so far have been popular, with many of them already out the door to new owners. Although my ideas at the time they came to me were wonderful, there are too many projects for me to make or finish, so more of those from my stash will be added soon.  

Howling at the Moon, a unique Hexified Panel art quilt that my husband Les made, is the first larger quilt we have listed, along with a few of the wall hanging size quilts. More are being readied for their glamor shots and written descriptions before being posted in coming days. 

As I get ready to post one of our finished quilts, I have to take into consideration that these are, indeed, unique art quilts. Not only is the cost of materials considered, but also the amount of time it takes to create a unique layout that is pleasing to the eye, often allowing the central panel to disappear within the hexie layout, but also the hours it takes to custom quilt them. I've seen art quilts priced at $1.00 per square inch and simple patchwork quilts priced as low as $0.10 to $0.15 per square inch that barely cover the cost of the materials, not to mention the maker's time in making and quilting the finished quilt. I hope my pricing makes them worthy of their cost while still being affordable. 

Later this summer I will be going through our totes of sets of seven panels that we have purchased together over the last nine years--I believe there are close to 60 sets of seven. We will be culling them, as well, considering which ones we really want to make into finished quilts and which sets of seven panels we will pass along through the GDQ Etsy shop to those who would like to make their own HPQ/OBW quilt. Watch for those to be posted soon with options to purchase as a kit, with the ruler and pattern, or as panels only. 

 

As a quilter who grew up with a sewing background, I also have numerous patterns and another entire tote filled with English Smocking design plates, patterns, and even a pleater. These treasures from the 1980s are still popular in some sewing circles and will be posted in due time as I sort through it all. 

 

It's never too early to start looking at all we have collected on our journey through life. Who has tea cups & saucers? Book collections? Coins or stamps? Even Mom's or Gramma's china dishes with enough to serve 12! Obviously we can't take any of that with us at the end. Why not share with like-minded others now? Having close friends who have passed away, leaving extensive stashes of patterns, fabrics, and so much more behind for their families to deal with, I'm doing my best to be proactive now so my children don't have to deal with it later. There will always be some quilts that will remain with us that were made for special reasons and are precious to us. Gifting special quilts to family or friends who admired them along the way is always fun, especially when the gift is a surprise. Plus, every year a surprising number of quilts are blessed and released as donations to local charities or fund raisers. UFO's, random projects, and even fabrics I haven't used in 15+ years of quilting are added to donation tables at guild meetings for other quilters to enjoy. However we do it, sharing what we have that is taking up space or hiding in a closet is a blessing to ourselves and to those who will face the challenge of dealing with it all after we are gone. 

Reconnecting with the Universe

After a long absence from writing blog posts, I'm beginning the journey of staying in touch once again. I'm also figuring out how to link these posts in a newsletter sent out from my website to those who have signed up at trunk shows or online. I promise not to overwhelm you with lots of emails. At this point I'm hoping to send something quarterly and, IF I get into a rhythm, it may be monthly. 

After a slow start and a late freeze, we are finally enjoying the gorgeous peonies lining the north and west sides of our yard, along with more iris than we expected after that freeze. I'm taking some time to play in the garden and am planting shade loving perennials in the backyard where nothing has grown in years. Between the tree that shades that corner and the shed that was there when we moved in and was removed after a big wind storm, along that fence is bare ground. As I told my cousin today, I'm mostly spreading packets of seeds as it's cheaper to replace a seed packet than buy more plants. My thumb is not always green, but I have hopes the plans will come to fruition with a lovely wildflower perennial area near the bird feeders where we can relax and enjoy time on our patio with a more colorful view. 

In quilting news, I've added another topic in my list of available trunk shows, added a couple of new classes, and have an online class that is now ready for signups! I'm also continuing to create new quilts, do my own FMQ, am learning to quilt pantographs on one of the machines at Quilters' Paradise, and have several patterns that will be released (hopefully) soon. I guess there is plenty to share and talk about.