Friday, April 1, 2011

The class I took

I have been meaning to post about the awesome class I took out at Sewing With Class in Stony Plain but with the renos it kept getting pushed aside until now.
First let me tell you how I almost didn't make it out there!
Mr. Hunter left the house before me with the trailer in tow to get some lumber for the house reno. I enjoyed my second cup of coffee before loading my machine and supplies into the car. My goal was to stop at Tim Horton's to get another coffee (I like to jitter) and something for brunch. Then casually shop at the fabric store until my class was to start. This my friends did not happen! The trailer blew a tire and Mr Hunter ended up calling me just as I was loading the car and asked me to bring him the jack. Eyiyi, so I rushed to him as fast as the speed limit allowed and then found that I was needed to provide weight to keep the tire from spinning while he tried to undo the bolts. This is is me, sitting on the trailer. This took until 45 minutes before my class. I phoned Sewing With Class to advise that I would be there late and was I allowed to still come? Yes they assured me, come! I drove the faster route which is the Yellowhead which I normally avoid like the plague, but desperate times call for desperate measures! I made it, not only on time, but 10 minutes early! I was able to set up and be ready with the rest of the group. JOY

Dawn was our teacher and she was fabulous! She taught us how to free motion with the quilt kit I had shown you. Here it is in case you want to see it:

 She handed out this paper print out of the perfect practise for perfecting your free motion stitching. You start with the straight lines which are actually the hardest to free stitch, then end with writing. Dawn told us that if we did this every time we sat down at the machine as a quick practice/warm up, we would see a major difference in our skill level in just a weeks time. I believe it too. I started the class without any control.
 As you can see, I could not follow the serrated lines to save my life!
 My swirls are not even proper swirls!
 The biggest thing was I would not breath - can you believe that? I must have been turning color as she kept coming over and reminding me to breath. ha ha - and I would be caught every time, you are right Dawn, I was not breathing!
 But look, I started to get better, and Dawn coached us all, and told us not to stress so much about following exactly on the lines, they are guides. Fancy, you stop stressing about being on the lines and suddenly you are following them much better!
 Look how much better I got in just a couple of hours.
 Here is the back, looks pretty good huh?

As you can see, we did not do the entire quilt. Which is great as this allows us all to use the tools and information provided to continue building on our skill.
I did all this for just 45 bucks! Including the kit! I look forward to doing another one - but I will dress warmer - my only complaint was that it was chilly willy in there!!
Cheers,
Carolyn

5 comments:

  1. I've seen posts where people talk about free motion quilting...even with "regular" machines.But I'm scared to death to try it! Did you really use your standard everyday machine to do that? I think you did amazingly well! I'd love to hear more about how you do, if you continue to practice...show us more!
    PS Glad to see you on LinkedIn!
    Jacque in SC
    quiltnsrep(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  2. Looks like a great class! Have you been practicing at home?

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  3. Very cool. Some day I'll work up the nerve to try this. Maybe :)

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  4. Looks like a great class. I sure should take one!

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  5. I love free motion quilting. I bet you will too, as you are doing an excellent job. I saw her stuff on the internet and thought it would be a good/fun class. Lucky you for getting to go.

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