My Quilting Classes at Amitie

If you came to read a calm and very professional-sounding write up of how my first class went, well, lower that expectation right now 😉

Yesterday, I started my first quilting class at Amitie Textiles (OMG that’s me under AMH and Carolyn Friedlander!). And despite the bundle of nerves in my tummy in the morning, it was such an amazing experience! Teaching quilting classes has long been on my list of dreams, that for it to finally come to fruition… Pinch me!

I am currently teaching my Aurora starry sampler quilt, and just for classes, I printed the patterns in a beautiful A4 format – you can see them on the table there, all ready for the two very lovely ladies attending yesterday, one who was a brand new quilter! So not only was I teaching the various quilting techinques involved in the Aurora patter, but also some basic quilting skills like how to rotary cut fabric, and sew and press quilting seams. Thankfully she’s a garment sewer, so she was already very comfortable with the basic sewing skills.

I always say this, I know, but the best part of designing quilting patterns is seeing how other quilters interpret the patterns with their own colours and fabrics. And these ladies have not disappointed. The new quilter was inspired by her favourite artist and chose to make her stars out of warm oranges and yellows and set on a dark night sky background. She selected a stunning teal/navy shot cotton for the background fabric, and while it’s a little soft and slippery to work with for a newbie, it looks incredible in person. And far out, I wish I had her points when I first started quilting!

The other lady brought along a pile of her favourite fabrics in her favourite colour, and chose a sand-coloured background fabric… of which I’d like a whole bolt of, please! I can’t wait to see their quilts grow over the next three weeks!

And if you’re local, you’re more than welcome to still join in! The Aurora pattern is based on techniques, so there’s plenty of time to catch up on those in the next two classes. You can find all the info on the Amitie Textiles blog. And stay tuned if this class doesn’t work for you, because there’ll definitely be more classes happening.