Whole Cloth Hand Applique with a Joyful Aesthetic

Beginners and advanced stitchers alike are welcome in this class! Quilting is a special process by which makers create a quilt top, then quilt the top with batting and backing, and then bind and hopefully sign their work. This class will focus on a special way of making a quilt top: appliqué. Students will select a base fabric, and then apply (appliqué) fabric to that top. Instructor Heidi Parkes will share her unique approach of attaching that appliqué in humongous and teeny-tiny pieces using visible stitches, made by hand with a needle and thread.

This approach with a wholecloth base fabric is appealing because our work is not about reaching a specific size. Instead, our work is about composition! Heidi will highlight a joyful aesthetic, which you can learn more about via Ingrid Fetell Lee, author of Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness in her 13-minute TED Talk.

Students can choose to make a 5×5’ or a 40×40” quilt. They will receive pre-recorded instruction from Heidi a month before we gather to begin learning stitches and selecting fabrics to pack. On the last day of the workshop Heidi will demo quilting, binding, and signing your name so that students can complete their quilts independently at home.

Students will be welcome to use 2 sewing machines in the Sanborn Mills studio in addition to the hand sewing techniques highlighted in class.

This class is beginner friendly and simultaneously engaging and playful with new approaches to familiar techniques for experienced quiltmakers.