ZOOM Workshops

  

Moving forward from Fall 2023, my preference will be to book in-person workshops only.  Please do get in touch if Zoom is the only option and we can certainly discuss! I do offer a wider selection of workshops in person. The list below only includes my Zoom-adapted sessions.

For rates, availability and to book a workshop, please contact me directly via email (address in top left sidebar).

THREADPLAY POUCH

The Threadplay Pouch workshop is offered as a follow up addition to the Aurifilosophy Lecture described on the Zoom Lectures post, however I'm happy to teach this as a stand-alone workshop.

This half-day (3 .5 hour) workshop typically follows on the Aurifilosophy presentation so students may put into practice the technical information shared in the lecture. Students will make a Quilt-as-you-go zipper pouch along with Krista as they learn about managing machine tension, proper needle selection, stitch length, free motion or walking foot stitching strategies, hand appliqué, appropriate thread for decorative stitches and a lot more! The pouch is designed to show off stitch patterns in multiple weights of Aurifil thread. Participants may purchase custom Poppyprint Aurifil sample thread packs in advance that include 5 small spools of thread in weights 12, 28, 40, 50,  & 80 wt. A minimum of one month lead time is required to order and ship sample packs to the guild representative for local distribution to participants.

Pouch size: approximately 6˝ x 9˝

Class Time: 3.5 hours

Class Size: 20 students

SPEED DATE WITH IMPROV

#speeddatewithimprov

Think of this class as speed dating with improvisational piecing techniques that include curves and free-cutting.  It will be fast-paced and a lot of fun:  several techniques are introduced and demonstrated one after the other with very little time to second guess, stress or obsess over perfection. Every student will end up with a unique, original improv sampler quilt!  The focus here is to explore line, shape and happenstance in abstract design, so keep things simply graphic by using solid-coloured fabrics in black, white and one pop of colour.  In the afternoon, Krista will share design wall tips to jigsaw the improv elements together, seeking balance and creative design opportunities.  Some pre-cutting is required.

This Zoom class combines pre-recorded technique videos with live instruction/support from Krista throughout the class.

Quilt Size: without borders, approximately 20" x 20". Fabric required: 1/2 yard black, 1/2 yard white, FQ colour (all solids or reads-as-solids).

Class time: 6.5 hours with 30 minute offline break. 

2-day option: 6.5 hours on day one with 30 minute offline break, 3-hour day two for more support on puzzling together the improv elements into the sampler collage.

Class size: 20 students

COURTHOUSE COLOURPLAY

#courthousecolourplay

Explore the possibilities of colour expression and free-cutting while you create this wonky, nested Courthouse Step quilt (reminiscent of paper lanterns) in your own personal colour story. We’ll work intuitively from the centre out, creating a dynamic quilt with loads of personality. There will be no squaring up with this one -- instead Krista will show you how to “build out”, finding the fit between adjacent blocks and using up all of our scraps in the process. As in all of her workshops, Krista will share loads of tips while encouraging all students to find confidence in new techniques that will inform their pursuit of designing original quilts. Put your traditional quilting skills to work and explore improvisational design and piecing in a fun, supportive environment.

Quilt size: wall hanging to lap size depending on the amount of fabric you start with. A collection of 18-25 F8's for wall hanging or 18-25 FQ's for large lap to single size (solids or reads-as-solids) plus 1 FQ contrast colour for block centres is recommended.

Class time: 4 hours 

Class size: 20 students

What students are saying about these classes:

"For those of you who know me well, improv has not been one of my go to techniques. The fabric consumption was way too much for me. But Speed Date with Improv eliminates that concern with fabric waste" 

-Susan, @modernblendedquilts

"Speed Date is my number one technique class"

-Gillian, @sewgolly

"Thank you so much Krista for taking the fear out of improv cutting and piecing!"

-Linda, @myquilts

"hands down the best patchwork course I've ever been on. Krista is so organized and patient. I can't believe how much I learned in one day"

-Rachel, LondonMQG (UK)

"..this class was SO good!! it was awesome to learn these techniques and add some new things to my arsenal, such as the grading technique. I think the combination of videos and live feed is excellent. Krista is a gifted teacher.

-Cindy, @liveacolorfullife 

Varietals - A Monochromatic Improv Study

Here's a recent finish, the second in what I hope will be a series of three quilts all based on improvisational (free cut) hourglass units. This mini-obsession started with the
"Try a Triad" design challenge (still open!) issued by the Canadian Quilter's Association to make a modern mini quilt using only red, blue and yellow fabric. I really loved the resulting design and composition of my challenge quilt but the colours are not at all 'me'.   I decided to hit my Oakshott fabric stash and try a monochromatic version.

Varietals 25" x 25"

Oakshott fabrics are shot cottons, which means they are woven with two different colours of thread. One colour for warp, the other for weft. In the photo above, it may appear that there are more than 3 colours of fabric used. Had I been incredibly diligent about piecing the fabric with the threads always in the same vertical and horizontal orientation, the quilt would appear more uniform, but it wouldn't be as interesting, in my opinion. That is just one more delightful aspect of Oakshott fabric; it gives quilts added visual interest and depth because as you change your viewing angle on the flat, two dimensional artwork, the colours subtly change as the different threads some into view and the fabrics absolutely glow. 

These are the 3 colours I used to make Varietals. Iris is black + purple thread, Grape is red + navy thread and Mallow is red + purple thread.

The tricky aspect to all of this fabric awesomeness is photography. Everyone who loves working with Oakshott will tell you the same thing: it is really difficult to adequately capture the depth in photos. Every time I share one of my quilts in a show or lecture, I hear the same thing, "wow, that quilt is even more incredible in real life!". The best way to describe the sheen and depth is to compare it to Dupioni silk, another fabric you may be familiar with. In the case of Varietals, I could have made this quilt with regular quilting cottons, but with only 3 shades of one colour and no real value difference, the quilt would probably have a flat, less interesting appearance. 

In terms of construction, I first cut sets of squares in a few different sizes from each fabric. The squares were stacked and then free-cut on both diagonals using a rotary cutter but no ruler. Swapping triangles out, I then pieced a lot of improv hourglass units. For me, the challenge of quilts like this is the puzzle-piecing of all the units into a pleasing composition. These are techniques I teach in my Speed Date with Improv workshop. Here, my desire was to portion the quilt into three colour sections that blend toward the center. Keeping like-sized units in groups prevents the quilt from having a completely chaotic appearance. 

As an Aurifil Artisan, I am very lucky to have access to the 270 colours available for my projects. To add more dimension to the piece, I purposely didn't try to exactly match the fabrics, but chose thread colours that I thought would shine on the fabric. I've been using Aurifil thread for about 17 years now and have settled on 40 wt as my go-to quilting weight. I used to stick with 30 wt for quilting (and still do sometimes when I'm not quilting so densely), but I've come to love the look of 40 wt on closely-spaced straight line walking foot quilting. These lines are eyeballed using the edge of my walking foot as a rough guide, about 1/4" to 3/8" apart. I don't try to keep the lines perfectly straight, or perfectly spaced. After all, this is an improv quilt! The lines run at different angles for each colour section. My stitch length is set around 3.0 on my Juki. I've had quilt judges say that my stitch length is too long, but for a wallhanging that isn't going to get any wear and tear, I think this looks much prettier than tiny stitches where I really notice the holes more than the thread.

Aurifil colours from L-R: 2581 Dark Dusty Grape (on Grape), 1100 Red Plum (on Mallow)

 and 2745 Midnight (on Iris)

I used almost every scrap of the supersized Oakshott FQ's that I had for each colour (Oakshott is milled at 55" wide and cut by the meter, so you actually get a luscious piece of shot cotton that is 19.5" x 27"!). That meant a binding was out of the question, so this quilt is faced using most elements of this great tutorial on my friend Terry's blog.

I got the name from my visit to Naramata, B.C. at harvest time last fall. I'd never been when the vines were laden with grapes and it was a gorgeous sight to see!

Any day now, I'm going to find the focus required to start my third version, which I plan to make a bit larger and using 3 different Oakshott reds. I hope it will turn out as beautifully as this one!

Thank you to my friends at Oakshott Fabrics and Aurifil for the fine materials they share with me so that my projects can look their absolute best.

CQA Workshops now open for registration

Hi all! I know things are quiet around here now as most of my interaction with friends is on Instagram, but just in case a few of you are still lingering in this space, I wanted to let you know I'll be teaching at QuiltCanada in Ottawa, Ontario, June 12-15, 2019.

To see full descriptions of my workshops and to register, click here . You could try out my brand new Courthouse Colourplay workshop, or perhaps if a funky take on log cabins and accurate piecing is your jam you'd like Round Peg Square Hole? If you've always wanted to try sewing a 3-D object but zippers are a terrifying prospect, then come make a Level Two Tote with me (you'll get to meet my adorable mini-anvil, hammer rivets yourself and leave with a stylish, completed tote bag!). Finally, if you want to challenge yourself with some new techniques and gain confidence with free-cutting and improv, I invite you to come on a Speed Date with Improv with me as your guide.

Courthouse Colourplay - enjoy intuitive colourplay, free-cutting and building your quilt organically from the inside out!

Round Peg, Square Hole

 

Make yourself a stylish tote with a favourite linen/canvas print and easy clean cork, leather, vinyl or waxed canvas bottom! Leather handle and hardware kits available for class...you just bring your fabrics!

Speed Date with Improv: it's a super fun, fast-paced class with lots of support and tips for improv success. Make your own improv sampler to take you on your way to creating original work!

Registration is now open to CQA members and non-members alike! I am very excited to be back in Ottawa in June and hope to see you at the National Juried Show and accompanying conference.

Looking for a Hot Date in 2019?

Hey Locals (and anyone looking for a great reason to visit the Lower Mainland):

On Tuesday, February 19th, I'll be teaching my popular Speed Date with Improv class for the Abbotsford Quilter's Guild. This guild is full of lovely people, many of whom are what I like to refer to as "modern curious" quilters.  I love teaching this class to groups like this because I feel it really is a non-intimidating way for traditional quilters to experience the fun of improvisational quilting, working with solids and making a small, original quilt with about $20 worth of supplies.  I take away many of the stresses commonly felt  by improv newbies: you only have to choose one colour, you'll hardly waste any fabric and you won't have enough time to obsess about perfection!

Just look at these two happy Speed Daters with their classwork in Charlottetown, PEI!

The quilters who have signed up are super keen and they really want this class to run, but we need a few more people to join in to make it viable. It has been offered many times in the area already, so I thought I'd post on the blog to see if there are any folks interested who may not see my Instagram or FB posts. FYI, there are several adorable B&B's as well as reasonable hotels in and around Abbotsford.

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This one is my "Improv Untitled" that hung at QuiltCanada in 2017.

The cost is only $55 for non-members, which quite frankly is a smokin' deal! I promise a super fun day. This democratic class sees students move forward together as everyone learns the piecing techniques at the same time.  I give lots of 1 to 1 support during the day and am confident that you'll leave the class feeling fired up about designing your own original quilts with the skills you've learned.

"What Apple?" This appeared at QuiltCon 2018 in the small quilts category.

If you're interested in joining us, please email me directly at poppyprintcreates@gmail.com. I don't receive comment alerts from the blog anymore, so please email!

If you can't make it this time, don't worry, there will be more chances.....like at a big quilting event happening in Ottawa in June, for instance ; )

What Apple?

Here's my latest Speed Date with Improv class sample. When I teach the workshop (which as been very popular with traditional and modern guilds alike, yay!), I demo each technique for students. When I travel, I use student fabric (no one minds because it gives them a little head start on each "date"), but at local classes I use my own machine and fabrics.  The result is lots of improv units on my home design wall.

I was recently interviewed by CBC radio for a local weekend program called North by Northwest. A producer came to interview me working in my studio, so I decide to piece this together because it was a fairly small, manageable project.  I'll write more about that fun afternoon once I get the word on the day the interview will air (it might be mid-December).

So, here is What Apple?  A fun mini-quilt improv sampler that finished up at 24" x 28".

There are a few more units making up this quilt than in my previous Speed Date samples because I used the same mustard fabric for demos in two workshops, so I had extras to play with. I also had some more chunks of mustard leftover, so decided to insert that strip on the right side and balance it with black on the bottom and white on the top to extend the piece. These chunkier strips coupled with the 1/4 circle curves at each corner give the piece boundaries, but jaggedy, imperfect boundaries where like colours meet. I prefer this on an improv quilt as opposed to a straight and defined traditional border.

I chose to quilt in the "wonky waffle" with my walking foot again. This is random straight-ish vertical and horizontal lines that I really like on top of this busy quilt. I score a few lines with a long ruler and Hera marker, then fill in by eye at random intervals in between.

Like the two that came before, Mojito and Night and Day, this one has faced edges.

This workshop continues to take me places...in the new year, I'll be teaching on Vancouver Island, in Scotland, England, Alberta and for a couple of outlying modern guilds in BC as well. I can't tell you how happy that makes me!!  I've had several students create completely new improv work informed by what they learned in this class; that's incredibly exciting for me because that is the exact intent of teaching these techniques as a sampler. Bring on 2018! 

Maritime Teaching Tour Part II

Thank you for the sweet comments on the first post about my recent Maritime teaching trip. Here goes for part two.

After a delicious cold salmon filet lunch prepared by my sweet billet's partner, I flew from St. Pierre back to Halifax. I retrieved my second 50 lb suitcase from airport storage, loaded my quilts into the back of a sweet Jetta rental car and headed straight to Charlottetown, PEI. I drove over the exciting Confederation Bridge! I was looking forward to spending the week at my sister's place and also see my parents who happened to be visiting at the same time.

The PEI Modern Quilt Guild *asked me to teach my Variegated Threads pattern (a fav of mine!) and Speed Date with Improv. I also gave the group a trunk show a couple of nights before the weekend workshops. The week previous, my upcoming visit got a mention on the local CBC TV news! A guild member picked up a few of the quilts and pillows I'd gifted my sister and her family over the years to use as props (since I wasn't yet on the island). That was pretty cool, and the story encouraged a few traditional quilters from around the island to attend the trunk show and find out more about modern quilting. Yay!

Some variegated thread spools in the making with lovely tone on tone prints.

Here I am with students and their lovely work.

The next day, we had a lot of fun with Speed Date with Improv, learning 7 different improv piecing techniques and building improv collage wallhangings on the design walls around the community room.

Although this was a new way to work for many guild members, Janice and Jean's smiles say it all: improv is fun!

On my days off in town, I enjoyed walking my sister's dog along the waterfront and the beach, I made it to a great yoga class, got to see my niece perform in her dance school year-end recital, checked out my sister's gorgeous new dance shop location, drank delicious coffee at Receiver and ate scrumptious food at a few local restaurants. It was a fantastic week! Here are a few pics:

Sadly, I never got to sample the fries or free hugs here, but isn't it the cutest chip shack?

Many of the red sand beaches on PEI are protected parkland and there is a comprehensive education program in place to save the fragile dune ecosystem and also protect the nesting endangered Plovers. At this time of year, before tourists arrive and the weather is warm enough to swim, the beaches are deserted and pretty wild with wind.

Charlottetown is a lovely place to explore the backstreets in search of historic buildings and signs.

How about 100 1/2 for an address?

A clever quilt block QR code sign program guides visitors around town to points of interest and attractions.

I'm sure this is one of the most photographed homes in town as it is visible along the length of the boardwalk frequented by cruise-ship visitors and locals alike.

A transport is loaded with lobster headed for market from the fishing village of Stanley Bridge.

My sister and I married boys from opposite sides of the country and settled in their hometowns to raise our families. We never know when we'll see each other again, so it is always a little bit sad when we say goodbye. I felt very lucky that my work took me to Charlottetown and that I got a great visit in while there. Thanks to the PEIMQG for that wonderful opportunity!  If you are looking for a fun project to tackle next fall/winter, check out the free modern mystery BOM program that the guild is sharing on their blog here.

My final stop was to the Maritime MQG * of Halifax-Dartmouth area, Nova Scotia. I've spent many a summer visiting my grandparent's home in Dartmouth. I love the area and was happy to billet with Jeanette and her kind family while working with the guild on Round Peg, Square Hole and Speed Date with Improv. I held a trunk show here, as well. Happily, I sold the rest of the books I had shipped in advance of my trip, so I didn't have any extra weight to bring home - thanks gals!!

I'm grateful to Jeanette, who took a day out of her life to drive me around Halifax, shopping and browsing. No modern quilter should leave Halifax without visiting the super cute Patch Halifax shop and sewing studio. Great modern fabric selection for quilting and garment-making located in a historic old house on Robie St.  As you can see, I couldn't resist! I've already made myself an Eva dress with that lovely Anna Maria Horner "Loominous" woven shown here on the bottom of the fabric stack.

We enjoyed a coffee on the rooftop cafe of the amazing Halifax public library. The interior has incredible lines, doesn't it?

Love this funky block of shops and restaurants across from the library on Queen St.

The guild is very lucky to have weekend access to the big classrooms at the Nova Scotia Community College in Dartmouth. The building is amazing and has lovely views of the harbour....this is where the workshops were held on Saturday and Sunday.

 

 

Fabulous Round Peg, Square Hole blocks made in class (after we first confirmed our scant 1/4" seam allowances and accurate cutting and pressing process).  I'm wearing a new Ola Tunic I made with Essex crossweave just before the trip. It's another Tessuti pattern I picked up in Australia and I love it!! I've since made a second one with Nani Iro double gauze that is dreamy to wear. 

These quilters are an enthusiastic bunch and made great progress on their Speed Date collages and on Mother's Day no less. That's commitment! I love seeing these come together with different accent colours alongside the black and white. Great work, everyone (must've been the Timbits and trays of delicious cookies and squares)!

I was thrilled to learn that my IG friend Jen (and her daughter) would make the trip from New Brunswick to attend the Speed Date workshop. What a wonderful Mother's Day treat! We had chased each other around Australia just a couple of months before, so it was pretty fun to meet up in person finally in Dartmouth. I also had the pleasure of meeting Gillian, who flew down from Newfoundland for the workshops and a visit with her son.

On my final night, I enjoyed a delicious Maritime staple of seafood chowder prepared for us by Jeanette's kind husband. Maritimers really are the best - if you've never been, I highly recommend a vacation on Canada's east coast!  

Thank you so much to everyone who worked on planning the workshops and making sure everything went so smoothly for all of my tour stops. I loved meeting everyone and I look forward to returning one day soon. 

And thank YOU for following along and putting up with these iphone photos - I was unable to bring my heavy Nikon on this trip. There was simply too much to carry! 

* The links to the guild's blogs  (above) will take you to their posts about my visits, where you can see more pictures of my trunk shows, workshops and guild members' work.

Notes from the NJS Judges - Part 2

In this post (a continuation from my previous post) I share the comments from three CQA-certified judges on my Improv Untitled quilt. This wallhanging recently hung in the Canadian National Juried Show in Toronto in the Abstract Art category. I could have easily entered it into the Modern category along with Round Peg, Square Hole, but I thought my chances with the jury might improve if I tried two different categories.

I am happy to share these comments/critiques with you as a point of interest. I find them thoughtful, constructive and useful!

Judge 1

The variety and scale of the shapes add visual interest. The shapes shift between being positive shapes to being negative shapes. This is visually unsettling (oh dear). Was this the mood you were intending to portray? Grid quilting pattern is effective.

Judge 2

This well-constructed quilt works with the viewer's mind (thank you, exactly!) as the eye moves around searching for familiar and identifiable images. The bold border plays a secondary role - perhaps it could be slightly integrated into the central area. Take care when piecing dark against light and watch out for shadowing (curses, I tried my best).

Judge 3

Negative space might be emphasized with more or different quilting (hmmm, this is a good suggestion worth considering for the next one). The design draws me in to follow pathways like a game (mission accomplished!). The light-coloured motif floats off the black and is anchored by the black grid quilting lines.

I'd really like to thank the judges (in no particular order, because the comments are not directly attributed to any judge), Margie Davidson, Hilary Rice and Judy Villett. I am actually rather delighted with all of your thoughtful words and will take them into consideration for future work. For the first time (in 6 juried show experiences) I actually feel like I got some great value out of my entry fee with this feedback.  

Would you like to learn 7 improv piecing techniques and make your own quilt similar to this one in a fast-paced, fun and supportive environment? I teach this unique Speed Date with Improv workshop (as a 1- or 2-day class) and would be happy to visit your guild or shop. Email address at the top left sidebar for enquiries. I have some availability in late fall and am now booking into 2018.  Sadly, due to working visa restrictions, I cannot teach in the US, but all other international and Canadian travel is welcome.

Open To Interpretation

So, I am still having a great time playing with my Speed Date with Improv workshop samples. After debuting this new class with the Vancouver Modern Quilt Guild before Christmas, I came home with more demo pieces that I played with on my design wall over the holidays. This is what I came up with.

Improv Untitled, 31" x 36"

One of my students, VMQG member Jaydeen, pieced her improv collage, then surrounded it with a lot of negative space to make it into a gorgeous lap quilt for a friend. After seeing her quilt, I thought about playing with borders for these pieces, so that the improv elements could float in a background of white, black, or the 'free colour'.  

I'm excited about the possibilities this brings up for the viewer. When I posted photos in instagram, one person commented that if she turned the composition, she saw a locomotive. Another person saw the shape in the lower right as a pendulum that had knocked all of the other pieces askew. That's so cool. It is exciting to think that every person seeing the quilt can interpret it in their own way.  The expansive background gives the improv shapes more room, opening them up to imaginative possibilities.  The magic of negative space.

See the pendulum? A wrecking ball? Chemistry lab glassware? A little black house or a blue arrow?

I'm teaching this class in Nanaimo in late February, in PEI and NS in May and in Ottawa in September. I know that every time I teach it I will learn more from my fellow quilters and each composition will tell a new story. When creating my first quilt with these techniques, jigsawing the improv elements together, I thought about the wooden blocks my son and daughter used to play with - you know the standard ones that have squares, rectangles, half circles, cylinders and little "bridges"(rectangles with the 1/2 circle arc cut out). I'm sure many of you have seen these blocks, or even built towns with them yourselves!

Arrows!

All of this improv play has really ignited my creativity but unfortunately, I'm sort of overwhelmed with ideas at the moment. I'm making sketches so that I don't lose any of the sparks. I just have to focus and start on something. My teaching/travel schedule is packed for the coming months (so exciting!), so there won't be tons of time for big projects.  Manageable improv to the rescue!

One permission I've given myself is to not obsess over quilting these compositions. I think that the 'wonky waffle' improv grid really works well without overwhelming the piecing. I mark the lines with a hera marker and then quilt them with my walking foot and a 4.0 stitch length. The quilting goes quickly and the piece is done. Result. My previous two were faced, but I bound this one with black.

You can tell with these photos that balancing colour in our winter light is a challenge for me. This minty blue proved difficult!