Have you ever wanted to create a highly complex quilt design with an appliqued look but just can’t bring yourself to have to do all that fine handwork? Well this technique is a fabulous way to achieve an applique look without having to do any hand stitching at all.
Instead, you get to doodle on the surface of a quilt sandwich using your sewing machine and free motion foot. Then, just like back in kindergarten, you get to color in the lines!
In this class, art quilter, Heather Thomas will provide you with tons of ideas, drawings and skills to create some truly amazing quilts.
First she will help choose a great design to work with and show you how to transfer the basics of that design to fabric. Next, she will dispel the myth that free motion quilting is difficult as shows you how to stitch out your chosen design.
Then she will introduce you to the world of fabric paints and inks and instruct you on how easy it is to achieve delicious shading and bold luscious color as you fill in your stitched motifs and finish up your unique quilted and colored work of art.
As part of this class you will have access to downloadable assets including a complete list of supplies needed and over 60 of Heather’s designs for your use.
Heather is a mixed media fiber artist with a passion for color and a dedication to teaching. After a decade of making original yet traditional work, she began venturing out toward art quilting, embellishments, and mixed media work. With more than 12 years of studying and teaching color and design under her belt, she wrote her second book, A Fiber Artists’ Guide to Color & Design, which came on the heels of her very popular first book, Fabric Embellishing: The Basics & Beyond.
In 2011 Heather was a guest writer for Quilting Arts magazine with a multi-part feature on Free Style Machine Quilting. She also participates in group and individual instructional DVDs produced by the Creative Crafts Group. You can visit Heather’s blog at heatherthomasblog.blogspot.com.
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In this first session Heather will introduce you to all of the tools you need to create and quilted and colored work of art. She will begin by showing several samples of quilts made using this fun technique. As she does so, she will talk about the design elements used and suggest how you can come up with designs of your own by mixing the motifs she provides or by using your own resources. Next, she will tell you all about the different types of paints and inks she likes to use as well as the brushes. She'll close out the session with suggestions for batting, marking tools, thread selection and her basting technique.
Session 2: Creating a Design & Tracing Your Motif
9:59
This class includes over 60 downloadable motifs for you to mix and match into your own unique design, or use ideas of your own. In the session Heather will help you bring together the elements of your choice and give you great ideas on how to mix them up and help them play together well. Then she'll show you how and what she transfers to the surface of the fabric and what tools you'll need to get that job done. After all is marked she'll then walk you through batting selection and show you how she likes to baste using silk pins.
Session 3: Free Motion Stitching Your Design
48:16
Beginning with how to approach your machine from an ergonomic standpoint Heather will show you how to stitch out your design, from using the traced lines to adding detail and then how to choose and stitch out the perfect fill for the negative space. She'll show you how to deal with the fullness that often happens when quilting heavily and how to double over stitched lines to thicken them for greater impact or to conceal less than perfect stitching. This is a no-fail technique and Heather will show you how to make your stitching look like you've been doing it all your life!
Heather begins this session by showing you how each of the color mediums moves on the surface of quilted fabric, then she'll show you how different kinds of brushes can be used and how to get the most out of fabric markers. Then she'll begin coloring in an actual piece, showing you wet and dry shading techniques as she goes. She'll give you lots of hints on when to color what area and why. All the while, she'll be giving you lots of information on how to choose colors to enhance your stitched designs.
Session 5: Final Shading, Squaring Up & Binding
13:57
Once you've finished the stitching and coloring, Heather will show you how to square up your quilt and bind it using fabric that is the same color as your thread. Then she'll instruct you to look over your “finished” piece up close and from several different distances. She'll show you how to add highlights and lowlights to enhance weak areas or showcase major motifs. She will use both dry brushing techniques with Lumiere paints and iridescent Shiva Paintstiks.
Class Q&A Resource
Access to the Q&A Resource for this Class is available with purchase.
