My New Quilting Arts Workshop!!!!

I am so excited! My new Quilting Arts Workshop called “Free Motion Machine Sketching: Drawing with Thread from Birds to Botanicals” has launched!!!

“Free-Motion Machine Sketching” is a 74 minute DVD or download, filmed on the set of Quilting Arts TV last September. In it, I teach you how to Free-Motion Machine Sketch lots of my favorite motifs and I show you how I came up with those motifs so that you can design your own. I’ve been keeping the subject of this workshop a secret, but I’m sure most of you could have guessed this subject matter. BUT!!!! I’m sharing something new…Fabric Sketchbooks!!!

I’ve always admired sketchbooks kept by other artists, but I really can’t draw or paint at all. And although I’m sure that I would gain some skills by working on with those tools, I would much rather be working with fabric and my sewing machine…so I decided that I needed to start making fabric sketchbooks!

I use them to try out new color palettes and free-motion machine sketches, it’s a fun way to work with color and stitch without the commitment to a larger piece. I’ve been chomping at the bit to show these off to you since last summer!!!! And so for the next two weeks I’m going to be running a celebratory blog tour and featuring a different one of my sketchbooks everyday! I am SO glad that the cat’s out of the bag!!!

What I call “free-motion machine sketching” is a combination of thread sketching and machine quilting that results in drawings and motifs that are featuered fabric and celebrate the hand-generated “wonkiness” we can achieve while using a machine . I developed this technique after much experimentation, and have taught many quilters how to look at their sewing machine as a tool for drawing and sketching.

The workshop begins by reviewing the inspiration behind my sketches—everything from birds, to ceramic bowls, to plants—and then I illustrate how free-motion machine sketching can capture the essence of the subject in thread.

I then walk you through the process of making a fabric sketchbook to demonstrate and practice machine sketching techniques and try out new color palettes.

I break down the process for creating my sketched motifs into easy to follow tutorials, and and provide in-depth demonstrations along the way.

Finally, I show you how to assemble the fabric sketchbook and create a lasting collection of the sample sketches.

Prepare to expand your view of how the sewing machine can be used as a drawing tool to create sketched motifs on a variety of stitched surfaces. You’ll never look at your machine the same way again!

Here’s my favorite picture from the whole day, taken by Vivika DeNegre. It was taken at the very end of the taping, and you can see how HAPPY I am to be DONE DONE DONE!!!!

Phew! That’s a lotta stuff I’ve been holding inside since LAST SUMMER!

Pre-Order Special!!! Edit, all the sketches are gone, thanks so much!

I have a whole lot of sketchbook pages I generated on the set as well as practicing ahead of time.

Since I already have the sketchbooks with these motifs in them, these extra pages will just sit in a box here in my studio, or…go off to folks who pre-order my DVD from me! It’s my way of sharing a bit of the process and saying thank you to all the folks who encourage me on my journey!

So, order the DVD now and I’ll ship them out as soon as I receive them (probably by April 20) and I will include a FMMS sketch I created while making this DVD!

[add_to_cart item=”DVD2″ ]

Shipping: 1st class US $4  |   Priority US $6.20   |  International $10

Video preview

Gallery of more pictures from the DVD