Don’t hurry pleasure

“How long does it take to make that?” is certainly a question we hear often as do many quilters, knitters, weavers, basketmakers, spinners and other makers. As they say, don’t hurry pleasure!  Ellen Graf’s Drafting in Quilt Design class demonstrated that it’s not only the time spent sewing, pressing, piecing and finally, quilting, that goes into each unique quilt, it’s the time planning, drawing, experimenting and seeing ahead to what it will look like when finished.  As far as we could see ahead, each and every quilt will be a treasure!  Ellen always shares her excellent techniques with her students and we look forward to seeing the quilts started in class make a return visit to Sievers.

  

  

The early summer rains helped produce extra-lush botanicals and the sun cooperated for several days of heliographic printing using what was collected by Donna Kallner’s Local Color: Botanical Prints class.  Dyes provided by nature, the creativity of the students and methods taught by Donna combined to preserve the intricate details of the design found in leaves, plants and more.  Using the Thermofax to make screen prints was just one of the many ways to explore the possibilities presented in class.  You can see more photos at Donna’s Instagram page  @donnastitches .

  

 

 

For the first time, we have a class with an “A”, “B” and “C” session, Open Quilt Studio for five days with a two day overlap at the beginning and a three day overlap at the end.  Some of Ellen’s students stayed to continue working on what they’d started in class and others joined for a fun time sewing, as relaxed as they want to make it.

  

Whether it was pre-arranged or not, this batik challenge from two of the students in class caused a double-take!

  

P.S.  They’re each working on the border fabrics now.  We’ll plan to send an updated photo next time!