Hello!

I love to dye fabric, make thread pictures and quilt. I live in the Yukon on an acreage with my husband, 2 dogs and 34 fish. It's the 'good' life.

Friday, February 15, 2013

Cardinal Art Quilt Classes--Done!

I must say I really enjoyed these 3 artsy styled classes that started by painting the cardinal, to embellishing the piece, to finishing it with thread painting. I have wanted to teach this style of class for several years now, so it was very satisfying to see it come to fruition.

Janet's cardinal. Wendy in the background

Because I didn't want to have a closed class, I allowed anyone to sign up who wanted for one, two or all three classes. In hindsight, this was probably not a good idea, but it worked out just fine. People like Wendy (above) just did a smaller piece in the thread painting class. I'll show you her cardinal below. Quite stunning!

Look at those yarn branches!
Close up of Debbie's cardinal 
And this is Debbie. Debbie has never made a quilt and has only been sewing for a few months. I don't even think she has a sewing machine, but here she is creating a fabulous cardinal. The free motion quilting didn't even faze her at all. What a trooper!

Are you having fun?
As a person who is forever hamming it up for the camera, I love a kindred spirit. :-)  If you click on the picture (this or any of my pics), you may be able to see the lovely branches and puffy painted snow. We had a class of Friday, then this final class the next Monday. This was done during the weekend--Gina says it was 'homework'. 

Notice the backing? I always, always suggest using a busy backing piece so that stitching is somewhat hidden when you thread paint all the layers together.  

Metallic threads here were gorgeous.
I could kick myself for not getting a close up of Sarah's cardinal because she used the most beautiful dark red metallic thread for some of her cardinal. Sarah hums loudly-as she is stitching and is not adverse to letting out a resounding screech if she does something good, bad, funny, interesting, odd or just because she is a fun, happy person. 

Look at the concentration!
I felt SO bad for Sara. She brought 2 sewing machines and one would not start and the other would not allow her to free motion. So I let her use my class machine. She was off and running then. I didn't hear a complaint out of her all evening. Now THAT is a great person to have in your class.. 

Catherine made a mini
And what a trooper! Catherine had just flown in from Ontario that day (10+ hours) and was bound and determined to make this class, as work out of town had prevented her from attending the other classes. So Catherine got a mini cardinal and tried her very best to learn the techniques. I hope she soldiers on and finishes it, or tries another one when she is not so tired. I really liked her choice of reds here.

Janet wrestling her piece under the needle
This picture gives a much better idea of the actual size of the cardinal piece. I wanted something big because then people will hang it up. It seems when we do small pieces, under 9", they end up in a pile somewhere. The idea is to fool around with this piece and if you like it, then you have the tools, skills and confidence to continue on. I hope there are some more thread painters born from this humble beginning...


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And last but not least is Karen. I think Karen has been in every class I have taught since she also opens and closes the store. I like to think she takes these classes as well because she likes them. I mean, who wouldn't?? And she is taking her time on this cardinal and has a bet with the store owner that she will finish it.  Thank-you Karen for always being there and taking care of the till and helping me clean up. And your cardinal is awesome!

Oh yah! I was going to show you Wendy's cardinal. Here it is. Bye for now. I will post more often--promise. 

Small cardinal--14" x 8"

6 comments:

  1. These are all totally stunning, and the larger size so good,it makes such an impact, and the branches with snow, I saw a photo recently exactly like that.Beautiful. Cheers from Jean

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  2. Oh, you are my hero, these are stunning and so beautiful. I'm just starting to explore thread painting, see my blog Good Earth Quilting for the latest posts on the subject. My very first journey into thread painting was inspired by you and Monika.

    By the way, we in Telkwa are interested in coming to the fall retreat 2013, can you link us up with the right person?
    Cheers,

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  3. WOW - what a big full class. Great photos! They won't let me photograph them for my blog. lol : ) Right on!

    ~Monika

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  4. Great photos from the class. You have made all the cardinals looks fantastic :)

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  5. The cardinals are all truly lovely, and each quilter has added her own special way to make them personal. Cheers, Jean

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  6. They all look exceptional! The last one is something. How satisfying a class it must have been!

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