I am so excited to once again be on the faculty of MQX New England! This is such an amazing show featuring so many talented teachers, and to be considered one of their peers is truly an honor. This year's show is April 6-9 in Manchester, New Hampshire. If you're planning on going to the festival, I'd love to see you there! Registration for the classes is already open. You can see the list of my classes below and register for the classes on MQX's website.

Essential Skills: Beginning Custom Quilting

Wednesday April 6, 1:00pm-3:00pm Type of Class: Lecture/Demo Move to the front of the machine to explore custom quilting. This class begins with a broad overview of custom quilting then to easy custom border/corner/sashing treatments. See how to "read" a quilt top to select the best design. Ruler work and templates will also be discussed. After this class, students will be prepared for more focused custom quilting classes. This a drawing class. Optional handout fee $3.

Avoiding the Biggest Blunders of Longarm Quilting

Thursday April 7, 1:00pm-3:00pm Type of Class: Lecture Angela Huffman has quilted over 1,000 customer quilts and students will benefit and learn from her mistakes. Find out how to deal with problem quilts, how to keep things square and how to avoid many of the pitfalls to become a confident machine quilter. Learn how to keep a quilt square, how to quickly set tension and how to tame wild borders. Understand “friendly” blocks to help them lay flat. Find out how to interact with customers to minimize headaches and how to find the perfect customers. Optional handout fee $5 collected in class.

Quilting Legos

Thursday April 7, 4:00pm-6:00pm Type of Class: Drawing and Design Knowing how to quilt basic patchwork shapes will make devising a free-motion quilting plan much easier. In this class Angela will explore dozens of ways to quilt flying geese, 9 patch blocks, square-in-square blocks, half square triangles, quarter square triangles, and more. Learn how to break down the shapes found in patchwork and how to apply a library of common tactics for quilting these shapes. This class is applicable for both sit-down and stand-up quilters. Bring a mechanical pencil and a nice eraser. Optional handout fee $5 collected in class.

Simple Shortcuts for Custom Quilting with your IntelliQuilter

Friday April 8, 1:00pm-3:00pm Type of Class: Computerized - IntelliQuilter Speed up the time it takes to layout and setup a custom quilting project within the IntelliQuilter system using shortcuts to finish faster. Learn how to reposition motifs in blocks using only three button touches, make a catalog of custom designs, and how to select award-winning, custom quilting motifs. Optional handout fee $3. Bring fully charged IQ tablet or StiQ on a laptop to class.

Slice and Dice Patterns for Penny Pinchers

Friday April 8, 4:00pm-6:00pm Type of Class: Computerized - IntelliQuilter Save money and make an entire set of patterns using one pantograph. Use IntelliQuilter to break apart designs and reconnect them creating new patterns. Join Angela Huffman to learn the power of the IQ to manipulate designs to fit specific spaces and how to combine split patterns with common shapes with amazing results. Optional handout fee $3. Bring fully-charged IQ tablet or laptop with StiQ.

Paisley Peacock Party

Saturday April 9, 8:00am-12:00pm Type of Class: Hands On Stand Up Machine Quilting Using the basic paisley shape as a foundation for freehand custom design ideas, students will elevate this shape into a mini wholecloth with Zentangle inspired designs. Class will begin with drafting, designing, and auditioning using the paisley as a container for fillers, filigrees, and more. Explore design, improvisation and hand-on stitching. Bring a sketch book to class along with a mechanical pencil, a good eraser, and a chalk mechanical pencil to mark fabric. Bring favorite longarm rulers (labeled with student name) to work with and share in class. Required kit fee $25, collected in class. One student per machine. Bring thread snips.