The 13th Quilters Retreat Teachers and Workshops

Daphne Greig

Daphne made her first quilt in 1980, after years of sewing as a child and in later years for her family. She began teaching quilting classes at local quilt shops in 1990. She has extensive teaching and presentation experience including lectures to over 300 attendees. Daphne has co-authored four quilting books, designed over 100 published patterns, has regularly written articles for quilting magazines and teaches internationally and online at Quilt University.com. Daphne's work has been exhibited in Canada and the US. Her goal as a teacher is to encourage students to try new techniques, to expand their skills and, most importantly, to have fun and enjoy the creative process. Sheconsiders herself a 'student' of fibre arts and works at developing her own skills by attending workshops and participating in associations that further the art of quilting.

GIVE AND TAKE APPLIQUE

 Learn a surprising 'no waste' way to create positive/negative appliqué designs in this workshop. With careful cutting you will have the motifs for two blocks. In a one-day class, students will use the pattern provided. Longer workshops will explore other design options. The workshop also includes machine appliqué instruction using many decorative machine stitches.

Elaine Quehl

Elaine Quehl is an award-winning Canadian quilt artist and teacher who specializes in colourful and intricately stitched pieced and appliquéd art quilts. Her quilts are recognizable for their depth and contrast, exuberant colour and abundant texture. Her work has been juried into numerous shows and exhibits at the national and international level. Elaine travels across the country delivering workshops and lectures to colleges, summer art programs, guilds, conferences and shops. She is recognized for her expertise in free-motion machine quilting, fabric dyeing, and many innovative techniques for creating original quilts.

MACHINE QUILTING A to Z

This workshop will be a combination of 2 of Elaine’s most popular classes on machine quilting. Expand your repertoireof beautiful free-motion stitches! This course is designed for machine quilters who are familiar with free-motion stipple quilting, but need creative ideas to venture beyond stippling. Experiment with cotton, rayon and metallic threads. The best thing about this method of quilting is that there is no need to mark your quilt top, and nothing to wash off after. Bring along a quilt(s) for advice on how to quilt them. You will take home samples of at least 20 more free-motion designs that you learn in this course, and we will study free-motion feathers in depth. Time will also be devoted to learning how to combine motifs.

Jane Sassaman

Jane is a contemporary quilt artist, fabric designer, author and teacher whose critically acclaimed work inspires creative confidence in aspiring artists of all backgrounds. Her internationally known quilts are known for their bold designs, celebrating the energy and miraculous beauty of garden flowers and plants (and the occasional skeleton!). Jane's quilts are shown worldwide and can be found in many private and corporate art collections. Her quilt Willow was named one of the best 100 American Quilts of the Century. Jane is also an accomplished teacher of design and quilting for guilds and conferences around the world. She travels internationally, teaching groups and individuals how to nurture creativity, sharpen powers of observation and overcome creative obstacles. Jane spends part of her creative time designing fabric for the quilt fabric manufacturer Free Spirit.

ABSTRACTING FROM NATURE

 Nature is an endless source of inspiration. In this class we will examine a wide variety of artists interpretationsof nature before beginning to manipulate natural forms ourselves. Through a series of exercises we will experiment with abstraction and exaggeration to capture the essence and energy of your favorite flora and achieve dramatic visual effects. We will then translate these ideas into fabric in the 3 day workshop. Drawing skills are not needed but participants should have a strong interest in developing their own design language and unique visual symbols. This class is especially beneficial for the drawing impaired and the tragically literal. Nature is an endless source of inspiration. In this class we will examine a wide variety of artists interpretations of nature before beginning to manipulate natural forms ourselves. Through a series of exercises we will experiment with abstraction and exaggeration to capture the essence and energy of your favorite flora and achieve dramatic visual effects. We will then translate these ideas into fabric in the 3 day workshop. Drawing skills are not needed but participants should have a strong interest in developing their own design language and unique visual symbols. This class is especially beneficial for the drawing impaired and the tragically literal.