Teaching Tour - the new BERNINA Q16

In my last blog post I hinted that there was an upcoming teaching tour with BERNINA. It's all confirmed so now I can give you all the deets and make it all official and stuff. 

BERNINA have released a brand new machine. It's another sit down long-arm with all the great features of the BERNINA Q20 but it's just a little smaller. Welcome to the new BERNINA Q16! This is perfect for those quilters who need more throat space than a domestic to make quilting their quilts a breeze, but don't have quite enough sewing room space for the larger machines. It's also just a bit easier on the budget. 

And I'm so excited to be able to help BERNINA introduce it to New Zealand!

BERNINA  asked me to design a fabric panel specifically for this class. I've used my own hand-dyed fabrics and put together a design that isn't too complicated but still has plenty of scope to get creative with the quilting designs. Rebecca Owen from BERNINA worked her digital magic and put the squared border around it and has got a panel printed for every workshop participant. 

You'll be able to try out free-motion and ruler quilting on the beautiful Q16 machine and will get to take your very own ruler home with you - as well as your quilted sample of course. The panel will be sandwiched, the machines will be threaded, all you have to do is sit down and have a creatively fun time with me and the BERNINA crew!

It's a great opportunity to have a really good try out session with the Q16. I know it can be a bit overwhelming at a show with everyone watching and other people waiting to have their turn too. At this workshop every class participant will have their own machine and during the three hours I'll be able to guide you through some beautiful free-motion and ruler quilting designs, which you can combine to really make the panel your own.

If you are interested in joining us, please get in touch with your local BERNINA dealer. I look forward to seeing you there, it's going to be so much fun!

Edited to add the timetable:

Ailsa Craig Quilt and Fibre Arts Festival

Have I told you my exciting news?  I'm going to Canada!!

The Ailsa Craig Quilt and Fibre Arts Festival (hereafter known as ACQFAF, because that's an awfully long name!) is held every year in a little town called Ailsa Craig in Ontario, Canada.  If you google Ailsa Craig, like I did, the first thing you'll find is a tiny Scottish Island - apparently Ailsa Craig is named after that little craggy rock - so put Ontario in the search bar as well and you'll find it.

Every year, they invite a different country to come and be part of the ACQFAF, showcase their quilts, teach classes and hold lectures.  They've had places like Denmark, Israel and The Netherlands. Earlier this year they had Iceland and 2019 is New Zealand's year!

A few months ago, Aotearoa Quilters asked for submissions to be a tutor on the trip (just another benefit of being part of AQ is knowing about these sorts of amazing opportunities.)  I submitted my CV and classes that I thought they'd be interested in and I was so excited to be named one of the four tutors picked to travel!

My companions will be:

Clare Smith

Catherine MacDonald and 

Merrilyn George

I think we'll make an awesome team, plus there will be representatives from Aotearoa Quilters travelling too.

One of the exciting parts of the ACQFAF is the challenge.  New Zealand and Canadian quilters are invited to submit quilts for a challenge, which will then be exhibited and travel in both NZ and Canada.  The theme is 'New Zealand, through our eyes' and they have an interesting range of sizes that you can choose from too.  If you are interested in entering, more details on that can be found here.

You can also find ACQFAF on Facebook and follow along with them here.

And speaking of Facebook, have you found my page there yet?  I'm Charlotte Scott - Textile Artist on Facebook, click here to find me and if you hit the 'like' button, hopefully you'll get regular updates on what I'm up to.

Free photo from pixabay.com

After the ACQFAF, Hubby and the kids are joining me.  We are planning a trip to Newfoundland and then driving back through Nova Scotia to fly out from Toronto.  What a trip!!  I want to see icebergs in Newfoundland, Hubby wants to see a moose and the kids are just excited about the whole thing!

Thoughts on Teaching

Last week I finished running a class making my Aotearoa Tote bag.  I ran the class over two weeks, with two sessions of 3 and a half hours.  My participants were members of my local guild, so we went out for lunch afterwards - a really nice way to end an intense sewing session!

This is my sample bag that I worked on during class to demonstrate.

Teaching is such a great reminder of how differently our individual brains work.  My class utilises a positive/negative appliqué technique.  It generates two usable appliqués from the one cut.  It sounds simple written down, but when you have to explain it, and the students are trying to figure out colour placements as well, it can get a bit mind bending.  And for some more than others.

These are Jane's bag panels.  Love her colours.

Our brains are just wired so uniquely and it's endlessly fascinating.  My husband can see spatial relationships in a room in a way I just can't, but colour and pattern are just not his forte.  Some experienced quilters need time and quite a few explanations to get the technique, and some beginners just intuitively understand.  I have to come up with different ways to explain it if someone doesn't understand the first way, so it's great for my brain as well.  I always learn something.

Beryl is giving circular quilting a go.  Another gorgeous colour scheme.

In this class, we all got there one way or another.  The participants assured me they had fun and learned something new.  What was particularly satisfying for me was that all of them tried quilting methods that put them out of their comfort zones.

Anne, trimming up her panel.  Anne tried FMQ for the first time!  So cool!

Colour with Texture Workshop

I ran my practice hand dyeing workshop last Friday and thought I'd show you some photos.  I had six students, just the right number for me to test out my teaching methods and see how much we could get through in a day.

There were students who measured precisely and noted everything down, and then there were students who were true mad quilt scientists and just chucked a bit of this and a bit of that!

Some beautiful colours emerged during the day.  Luckily most of the students were part of my guild so I'll get to see the washed and dried fabric results, yay!

We worked in my local community hall, a great big space with very cleanable floors.

It was lots of fun and I can't wait to run another one.  I learnt a few things to change in my handouts and how I structured the day, so it was really useful for me also.  I also have a few more samples to dye, but that's no hardship as I love to dye and watching everyone else have fun with colour just whetted my appetite!