It’s so much fun to take very common shapes like curls, leaves, and pebbles and manipulate them just a little to create something new and interesting. It’s a great way to challenge your brain or get yourself out of a rut. In my upcoming Peacock Paisley Party class, we’ll be using the paisley – a mainstay of quilting design – as a container for freehand custom designs with a zentangle twist. There are so many different ways to dress up your paisley. While working on my whole cloth sampler I created a peacock, koi, butterfly, and so much more. This is such a fun way to fill up your backgrounds!

The first half of the class will be spent playing with designs on paper. If you’re new to zentangle, I’ll introduce you to a variety of common freehand fillers and filigrees, many of which are just like your favorite quilting designs! You’ll learn how to entertain inspiration and drill down to the right design for the right areas.

When you’re ready to take your design from paper to quilt, we’ll have fabric, batting, and thread ready to go on your own machine. That’s right, everyone gets their own machine, so no sharing! You can quilt your sampler at your speed without the pressure of knowing someone else is waiting for her turn. Learn how to dress up the areas in your paisley and stretch you custom quilting muscle and finish the day with a beautiful personalized sampler that will make you proud as a peacock to show off!

I’ll be teaching this class as part of the Longarm Schoolhouse here at Quilted Joy on Saturday August 29, 2015 from 10:00am-4:00pm. The class is $149 or you can sign up for the Longarm Schoolhouse Package, that includes a total of 6 class and two free lectures, for $499. All of the skills we’ll be learning in this class can be applied to sit down quilting.  If you would like to bring your own George you can receive a discount on the class and the package.  Please call us at (502) 718-7148 for more information.