Winter Session Come and Gone

Let's be honest: everything I do these days worth blogging about is at Lillstreet. Thaaat... or... their required blog schedule is the only thing keeping me up to date these days. One of the two!

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I can't believe it's already July! Wait... March? What month is it?! It's jarring to say that we just finished Winter Session but, there it is. I had a great time with my classes! Here are some highlights from the past 10 weeks:

First Time Sewing:

Bags!

Aprons!


First Time Quilting:

Log Cabin Variations!


Multilevel Sewing Projects:

Clay ponders his epic messenger bag...

So epic!


Meagan's skirt: with zipper and pockets!


Susan's American Girl Doll Sleeping Bag!



Whew! Good times! And the Spring Session is shaping up to be just as exciting! Hope to see you in the classroom!

xoxo
Nora

New Spring Classes for Lillstreet!

Blog Preview! I'm not scheduled to post for Lillstreet until Thursday but because I'm feeling particularly productive this morning, I've already done it! Here's a sneak preview of... the exact blog that will go up Thursday morning. :0)

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It's almost Spring! I'm starting to see tiny crocuses poking out of the ground and the Lillstreet Spring Catalog is open for registration! I've got two brand new classes this session that I'd love to tell you a little more about:

Metal on Material (10 Weeks)

Thursday, March 29, 2012 to Thursday, May 31, 2012, 6:30-9:30pm

Level: MultiLevel (Beginner to Advanced)

(Pin by Ashley Gilreath)

Work in both the textiles and metalsmithing departments as you learn how to combine two different materials work while working with both textile and metalsmithing techniques to create wearable or sculptural art for body adornment, jewelry, small sculpture or wall pieces. Fiber techniques including felting, dyeing, embroidery and hand sewing will be covered, and the metalsmithing component will teach you how to saw-pierce, texture, solder and fold form metal. No experience necessary. Materials fee covers materials for first project. Additional metal may be purchased from instructor. $30 materials fee.

Ashley Gilreath and I have been plotting and planning this class for months! We're hoping it will provide an opportunity for students of metals, textiles or neither to experiment and explore the combination of these two realms. We'll look at texture, color, pattern and lots of construction methods. It's gonna be so much fun!

Because the possibilities are endless, I've also started an inspirational pinboard for this class on pinterest. Follow the link to see some really beautiful metal/textile pieces!

Register for Metal on Material here!

Fabric Design and Print Exchange (10 Weeks)

Monday, March 26, 2012 to Monday, May 28, 2012

Level: MultiLevel (Beginner to Advanced)

(Fabric Design by PennyCandy for Spoonflower.)

Perfect for sewers and crafters who want to expand their practices! Are you comfortable with your sewing skills, but want to use fabrics designed AND sewn by you? This course focuses on surface design- specifically, repeat patterns and an exploration in color theory in relation to the finished object. Traditional and digital printing design techniques will be discussed. The final project will be a class-wide fat quarter print exchange. Great for quilters! A class kit will be sold on the first day of class for $20. Students will have access to both sew and print studios during open studio hours. Come to class prepared with project ideas and sample fabrics.

I was thinking specifically of my quilting students when I designed this class, but it will be equally as fun/productive for anyone looking to create their own printed material. There will be plenty of hands-on exercises and lots of oggling lovely fabric!

Register for Fabric Design and Print Exchange here!

I hope to see a lot of new and returning students!! Happy almost spring, everyone!

--Nora

New Books on My Shelf

Blog Entry for Lillstreet Textiles!

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Merry Christmas to me! Or, maybe by this point it's Happy Valentine's Day to myself...hm. In either case, I have been on a recent book buying binge! Here are some of the new titles I've purchased for my studio:

Super Stitches Knitting, by Karen Hemingway

An amazing collection of different knit patterns! Everything from knits/purls to cables & lace to intricate color work! Looking forward to trying out some of these soon...

Around the World in Knitted Socks, by Stephanie Van Der Linden

This one was actually a Christmas present from an Aunt. 26 beautiful color-worked sock patterns inspired by countries all over the world. SWOON.

The Art of Manipulating Fabric, by Colette Wolff

CLASSIC. I actually can't believe I didn't have this one in my collection already. A veritable go-to for how to make just about any texture with fabric. We have a copy of this one in the Lillstreet Textiles collection! Check it out in the sewing studio!

A Field Guide to Fabric Design, by Kimberly Kight

A new discovery, this book has some amazing resources for fabric design. Pattern and color theory is discussed at length and there are instructions for both traditional and digital methods of design/production. Also, it's really pretty!!

Radical Lace and Subversive Knitting, Catalog by the Museum of Arts & Design

This show was up in NYC when I was in college and features a couple of my professors. The collections of work in this book represent a range of concepts and techniques that were instrumental in my falling head over heals in love with art in general and fiber, as a material and method of communication, specifically.

Aren't books the best???

--Nora

Quilting Boot Camp: Where we left off!

Here's the final entry about Quilting Boot Camp that I did for the lillstreet textiles blog! What an awesome time we had!

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We had a great time in our Quilting Boot Camp, held the week between Christmas and New Years! Yes, our goals may have been lofty, but each of my students worked admirably and sped through their projects. Here's where we left off at the end of the week:

Karen finished her eclectic quilt top! Lots of colors and patterns!

She decided to do her basting and quilting at home but spent our final class practicing machine quilting and binding techniques on a pot-holder.

Christine after finishing her queen-size quilt top!

Basting can be a physically exhausting process. Bravo, Christine!

Sometimes you need a little help wielding the expanse of your quilt while you work with it under the machine (provided here by an extra rolling chair.)

IRONING, YOU GUYS. It's soooo important. Right, Jordana?

Basting! Huzzah!

I was soooo impressed with everyone's creativity and dedication throughout the week. Thanks, you guys! I can't wait to see pics of your finished quilts in their natural habitats!

Anyone else interested in learning how to quilt? I've got another First Time Quilting Class starting in three weeks! Sign up today!

Quilting Boot Camp: Days 2 & 3

Although I had every intention of blogging our progress every day, boot camp took over our lives! The rest of the week flew by in a blur! I'm going to put it up in two batches, though, so as to not be overwhelming!!

Day Two: Creating the Nine-Patches

The disappearing nine patch pattern starts with, you guessed it, nine patches! We spent the better part of Tuesday sewing our preliminary blocks.

Day Three: Laying out the quilts

Once the nine-patches are finished, they are cut into quarters; these smaller squares become the building blocks for our finished quilts.

It seems like this part would go pretty quickly but, since you're going to be living with this quilt for the forseeable future, all of those little decisions about what color sits next to what takes on a much grander importance.

Each quilter in the class started to create sets of rules for their design; a kind of logic to guide the process depending on their colors and personal styles.

Eeeh! The quilts are coming together!! This is the stage at which I start getting really excited... :0)

Quilting Boot Camp: Day 1

That's right: BOOT CAMP! Five days, three students: come with fabric, leave with a quilt. (Or that's the goal, anyway...) I thought about dressing in camo and combat boots today and wearing a whistle-- "that's a generous quarter inch, not a scant quarter inch: drop and give me 20!"-- but instead I decided to go with a playlist that was 3 hrs of Eye of the Tiger.



HA. Just kidding. I only made them listen to it once. (So far... bwahahaha.)

Day 1: Cutting the fabric

We are making a disappearing nine-patch pattern, for which we need a total of 108 8" squares.

Our three brave recruits... I mean students: Christine, Jordana and Karen.


Less chatting, more cutting! Drop and give me 20!
HA! Gotcha again, it's all cool. :0)


Christine's color palette is phenomenal! All Merimeko prints purchased at the Crate and Barrel outlet. JEALOUS. I can't wait to see how it turns out!



Tomorrow we'll start piecing the squares together!

What are other good montage songs I should download for my montage mix? We're gonna need all the 80's-stye adrenaline pumping we can get come basting day!

Happy Holidays from Lillstreet and other ways to shop!

This past weekend we invited friends, co-workers, students and members of the Lillstreet community to join us for the second annual department Holiday Sale. Much fun was had by all!

We had ten vendors this year! Some of them were craft fair pros:

James and Jordana of Qualaar.

Heather Bella of Spills Her Coffee

And, for the first time, we invited students to apply as well. They did great!

Caryn

Amy

(More pictures from the event in my flickr!)

A few months ago I decided not to prioritize making crafts to sell. Instead, I was going to spend my precious little extra studio time to re-vamp my portfolio. Well.. then I had even less studio time than ever so I pretty much ended up doing neither. But the Lillstreet Holiday sale is one of my favorite events of the year! I definitely wasn't going to miss out.

Is it even possible to feel prepared for craft fairs?! If so, I definitely haven't figured out how. I pretty much had to build my whole collection from the ground up in the three weeks leading up to the event. (Y'know, since I had stopped making crafts.)


I even designed some new products!

I've got birch bolsters and birch/brown wood pin cushions! They're pretty adorbz, if I do say so myself.

All in all, I'd say my booth came together quite nicely.

I'm doing one more fair this season: this SATURDAY! If you're in the Chicago area, come by and check it out!

Happy holiday crafting, everyone! 'Tis the season to buy stuff made by your friends. :0)