MarJen for Error Embroidered Quilt Class - April 2008

Last October I started an online class of participants on the MJE quilt and we have had a wonderful time stitching together! Because of the large response I've received to start another class, I will be starting a new year-long class in April 2008! Thank you to all who started in October and have made this class so amazing enjoyable!

Join my MarJen for Error quilt class to create a unique heirloom!

This is a beautiful quilt that features luscious embroidery designs, fussy cutting fabric details and creative decorative stitches!This beautiful quilt features machine embroidery, fabric fussy cutting, decorative stitches and quilting techniques. Learn how to prepare and cut your fabrics for machine embroidery. You will learn hooping techniques, embroidery design stitching tips and helpful hints in stitching decorative stitches while at the same time completing a beautiful quilt!

I will be sharing my favorite products I use for machine embroidery and my own tips and techniques I have learned throughout my many projects. You will gain loads of information that you can use with so many other projects! I'm excited about beginning this quilt journey and I hope you will join me in this adventure!

There are several files with class notes, fabrics needed, supply lists and a video introduction to the quilt that you can download by visiting my class schedule page. Also, you may look at the quilt with all its detail by clicking here.

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  Receive detailed instructions every month!
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  Download videos so you can actually "see" how to complete each technique!
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  Email me at any time with questions or if you need additional help with your quilt!
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  Join our online classroom to chat with other class members and upload and share photos!

I'm looking forward to another fun class and seeing all the color combinations and creative ideas you all have to share! Don't miss this quilt adventure!

The deadline to register for this class is March 17th! Class size is limited and I expect this class to fill quickly, so don't miss it!

Read more details here...

Or drop me an email and I'll send you a quilt introduction with full details on the class.

Sometime I forget how young...

...I actually am and the fact that I probably look younger than I am.

I've been sorting through business cards and brochures I picked up at quilt market and have to keep reminding myself how unusual it is that I am as young as I am in the sewing/quilting/embroidery world.

It's interesting and amusing the response I get from people when I am at quilt shows, shopping at fabric stores, attending quilt/embroidery classes or teaching those quilt/embroidery classes.

Like when I ordered my ironing board.

As I sat down to fill out all the needed information, the gentleman taking my order said, "Aren't you a little young to be in this business?" I just had to smile and say yes, explaining how I got started and became completely addicted to "this business".

You have to keep in mind that there are not too many young people my age at a quilt market only open to retailers and teachers!

That was by no means the first comment I heard and most certainly not the last! Does that bother me? No, certainly not!! Just think - I have so many more years to complete all the projects swirling in my head and will have lots of opportunities to build up my fabric stash and use pieces from it! :)

Only a few days left to register...

There are only a few days left to register for my NEW online class featuring the MarJen for Error Quilt!! Sign up now by emailing me before October 1st!!

This beautiful quilt features machine embroidery, fabric fussy cutting, decorative stitches and quilting techniques. Learn how to prepare and cut your fabrics for machine embroidery. You will learn hooping techniques, embroidery design stitching tips and helpful hints in stitching decorative stitches while at the same time completing a beautiful quilt!

More details are here...

NEW MarJen for Error Quilt Online Class

Take an exciting quilt journey with me and stitch the MarJen for Error Quilt! This is a beautiful quilt that features luscious embroidery designs, fussy cutting fabric details and creative decorative stitches!

This beautiful quilt features machine embroidery, fabric fussy cutting, decorative stitches and quilting techniques. Learn how to prepare and cut your fabrics for machine embroidery. You will learn hooping techniques, embroidery design stitching tips and helpful hints in stitching decorative stitches while at the same time completing a beautiful quilt!

I will be sharing my favorite products I use for machine embroidery and my own tips and techniques I have learned throughout my many projects. You will gain loads of information that you can use with so many other projects!

I'm excited about beginning this quilt journey and I hope you will join me in this adventure! There are several files with class notes, fabrics needed, supply lists and a video introduction to the quilt that you can download by visiting my class schedule page. Also, you may look at the quilt with all its detail by clicking here.

Please email me with any questions or comments! If you would like to join this class, please email me to register by October 1st!

I hope you decide to join me in this quilting adventure! I'm excited and look forward to seeing the color combinations and creative ideas you can create with your own quilt!

Class Schedule Newsletter

For those of you who live in western Kansas or would like information about my class teaching schedule, sign up to receive my Class Schedule newsletter. This will not have all the tips & techniques like my weekly newsletter you have been receiving, just details and information on my current classes I am teaching. I will send out monthly updates on where I am teaching, what classes I have scheduled in the upcoming months and the dates on each class.

Please note that if you are receiving my current weekly newsletter, it will not contain my class schedule or local class details. I have created this second newsletter for those of who you desire to know what classes I am teaching, but may not want to receive my other weekly emails.

To sign up, click here and enter your email address. You will be taken to a page where you can select to receive my weekly Tips & Techniques newsletter, my monthly Class Schedule newsletter or both! I will post updates on my latest classes on this blog as well, but to be sure you don't miss something, sign up for my newsletter. Thanks!! :)

My Toppling Pile of UFOs

I decided back in February that I was not going to start anything, I mean anything - quilt, wall hanging, pillows or clothes, until I finished my overwhelming pile of unfinished objects! My only exception - I could do a new "something" if I needed it for a class I am teaching.

Have I accomplished what I set out to do? Well, yes and no. Yes, I have stayed on track, not started anything new except for a couple things I needed for classes and have been able to get a few projects finished. I finished up several wall hangings and fixed a pile of alterations that have been sitting in my sewing room since last fall. I was also able to go through my spring/summer clothes and alter the skirts, tops and jackets that needed changed or repaired. I found two spring skirts that I cut out last year and finished those.

So, yes, I made a dent in my pile. But the dent seems oh-so-small! I have a huge, almost tumbling over pile of class samples and half finished ideas to complete. I store most of my projects in totes as you see here with all the pieces and info so it is all together when I am ready to work on it again. I have two stacks of totes this high with projects in various stages. This is only one pile that I am temporarily storing in my sister's room while she is away at school. I am hoping to reduce this a little since she will be home in three weeks!!!

Why do I have such a pile? Excellent question!! It's not that I just start something and never finish, although that happens on occasion. Over the past five years that I have been teaching, my teaching samples have piled up. For each class I teach, I stitch multiple ideas plus several of the same thing in various stages so I can show how to complete the project step-by-step.

I like to have as many visual samples as I can for every class I teach. It gives everyone more ideas and shows how many different themes and projects can be accomplished with just one idea. Plus, it helps me and guides me through the project as I am teaching to have multiplies in different stages. And of course, I only start out making one sample and soon my mind is flying with possibilities and I just have to stitch out some of those ideas! I get myself into trouble when I start asking myself, "What if...?" :)

With multiple classes a month, all different, my samples and in progress projects have just grown and grown! I try to finish some of them each month after I have taught that class, but it usually ends up being filed away in a tote. That is a big part of the reason why I have such a toppling pile of UFOs!

There are always those projects that I start, have a brain freeze and just can't seem to get past it. If I put it away a while and then get back to it, I usually can think of several ways to accomplish whatever I was trying to do. Sometime I will be looking for a certain fabric or notion to complete the project, but haven't found it yet, so I will lay it aside. And there are times that life interferes with my embroidery projects!

I will keep chipping away at my pile, but new ideas are just starting to bloom in my mind! I have been staying up way too late with a pen and paper sketching several new ideas! They are just sketches now; I'm not sure how long I can put off putting them into fabric and thread, but I'm trying.

I've started ideas for a quilt in memory of my mom who passed away last November, a new embroidered quilt that I may teach in a local class and few other ideas. For now I am content to doodle on paper and plan out fabric, embroidery designs and quilt blocks. But it won't take long to switch to fabric! :)