Teacher Spotlight: Judy Rush

 Fiber art encompasses a myriad of materials and techniques, which may be why quilters often include more than just plain old fabric into their quilts. Needle felting is one of those options.

Judy Rush is a master of all types of felting. Here is her amazing installation that was at the Riffe Gallery:

 During the second week of Virtual QSDS she will guide you through the basics—and beyond–-of needle felting. If you’ve ever admired (and perhaps fondled) lusciously colored hanks of wool roving, this is the time to try it out! The tools are pretty simple, mainly what you’d call “poky things” that meld together and shape the fibers.

In the five-day class, Judy will take you all the way through incorporating armatures that allow you to make any free-standing shape you can imagine.

You know this class is going to be fun! What can you dream up? 

The weekend class is enough time to really understand the technique and make a creature or two. There is a lot you can do without any armature.

Have you seen quilts with landscape details created in needle felted wool? What kinds of dimensional art would YOU do with your new needle-felting skills? Learn more about Judy and her QSDS classes here: https://www.qsds.com/classesbysession2021.html

Teacher Spotlight: Kevin Womack

 Kevin (shown here with pal Nan Turner) is well-known for his colorful dyed and printed fabrics and T shirts. During the second week of Virtual QSDS, he will teach his five-day “Color Explorations for Fiber Artists.” So many of us found our way into quilting with no formal art background. We all love color but never had to deliberately create a split complementary combination. But it helps to know one when you see it. Kevin’s class is a chance to explore classic color relationships so that you can make more informed choices going forward. 

You will need a traditional art-store color wheel for reference, but all the other supplies are already RIGHT THERE in your work space. This is the perfect “Virtual” class because  you have access to your entire stash! Students will work with fabric or papers, such as magazine pages, to experiment with a whole series of color relationships.

So why not treat yourself to a class that will improve your fiber art and your color confidence. 

Kevin will also teach two weekend classes. In “Printing Possibilities,” he will show you so many ways to use a silkscreen—and possibly some tools from your kitchen or junk drawer.

What about those pieces of fabulous fabric that you made in a class or bought from, well, maybe from Kevin himself? Has it sat in your stash and become Precious Fabric? Spend the last weekend of QSDS trying out Kevin’s method for cutting and arranging that fab fabric into an easy to sew quilt top.

Come on, join the fun and the learning. Check out Kevin’s classes here:
qsds.com/teachers2021.html

Teacher Spotlight: Amanda McCavour

 Water soluble stabilizers have revolutionized machine embroidery. Canadian artist Amanda McCavour is a master of this technique.  Her impossibly airy artworks have become otherworldly gallery installations.

Others are whimsical and almost transparent. They might remind you of Pop Art. And all of them are stitched from thread, sewn onto wash-away stabilizers.

During the second week of Virtual QSDS, Amanda will teach two classes. For five days,  “Experimental Embroidery With Water Soluble Stabilizers,” will have you working with  different types of stabilizers and threads, doing both free-motion and feed-dogs-p stitching. What happens if you add bits of fabric, trims or even paper? Since we are virtual this year, You will be in the comfort of your own sewing space on your own machine—no need to pack up all your thread!

Only have the weekend free? Then why not focus on “Embroidered Botany?” Amanda will have you creating flowers, leaves, vines, twigs, etc in both two dimensions and three. Check it all out here: https://www.qsds.com/teachers2021.html

Photo Credit: Christine Lim

Teacher Spotlight: Rosalie Dace

 Living and quarantining in Durban South Africa does not stop Rosalie from teaching all two weeks of Virtual QSDS. It does mean that she will be starting each class day when she should normally be going to bed. But it would not seem like QSDS without Rosalie!

During the first week, she will lead the seven-day Independent Study, mentoring the group and nudging each artist to do their best work. Rosalie is a master of pretty much every fiber art technique, which is apparent in the exuberant mix of silks, cottons, hand and machine stitching in her quilts.

During the second week, she will teach the five-day class “Earth Wind and Fire.” The colors and textures of those elements will be the inspiration for each student’s quilt. This is a popular class. At a previous QSDS Jan Booch chose Fire as her inspiration:

Earth was the starting point for Jean Weaver’s quilt:

What element would you choose? Doesn’t this sound like fun? What’s in your stash that could be the start of an Elements quilt? This is a great class for students of all skill levels. 

Are you more in the mood for a relaxing weekend of hand stitching? Then join Rosalie for two days of “Slow Stitch Satisfaction.” It’s a very low-pressure class, where you wlll rediscover how nice it is to pull out colorful threads and do some stitching. Even Rosalie’s demonstration samples are little improvisational works of art.

Come join us and discover why Rosalie is always such a popular teacher, whether in the flesh or in a virtual class. Learn more about her classes here: https://www.qsds.com/classesbysession2021.html