My, how time goes by so fast! While I've been busy keeping the house neat and tidy for showings, getting the kids off to school and planning next years classes, summer has slipped away and fall has snuck up on me! I'm not complaining really....I love fall. Fall is without a doubt my favorite time of year! I was just hoping to be moved and settled in by fall....

So, I guess all my quilty friends are wondering what I'm teaching at shows next year. Well, I have come up with a couple of new classes to tickle your fancy! Here is a list of them:

I've Got A Longarm (and I'm not afraid to use it)
(Beginner Longarm class)
Hands on class will cover all the basic info about machine quilting on a frame ~ regardless of what frame or machine you have. This is a great class for beginners and for those who are considering the purchase of a machine/frame system. We’ll cover the differences in frames, oiling and maintenance of the machine, timing, tension and adjustments, threads, batting, needles. Mindy will demonstrate how to properly load a quilt on the frame and how to keep it straight on the frame throughout the quilting process and how to finish it off.


Longarmed & Fabulous
(Advanced Longarm Class)
This class is for confident beginners who are ready to move on from pantographs and edge to edge designs and begin custom quilting. In this class you will learn how to stabilize the quilt, master stitch-in-the-ditch and ¼” outline, conquer continuous curve, learn how and when to turn a quilt, and sashay through setting in motifs using the following tools and methods: chalk, markers, paper stencils and templates. We’ll also tickle your fancy with some faux trapunto and background fillers. When you leave this jam-packed class, you’ll have a good grasp of the skills needed to begin custom quilting for yourself and your customers!


TNT
(Drawing class OR hands-on workshop in studio)
Do you love templates? You couldn’t resist buying them, but got home and didn’t know what to do with them? Let Mindy guide you through using acrylic templates to enhance your quilting skills. Circles, ovals, hearts and many more will create numerous designs. Master your templates! This drawing class will simulate using your machine hopping foot around the template and will teach you how to plan your designs to be stitched on your quilts.


TNT2
(Drawing class, OR hands-on workshop in studio)
This DYNAMITE drawing class is an advanced version of TNT which will include more detailed and intricate border and block designs. Learn now to make your designs turn the corner and learn flexible designs for borders, sashings, blocks, setting triangles so you can quilt these spaces without worrying about resizing your designs. Discover how to use registration lines, circles, hearts, swags and many more templates to create fantastic border and block designs!


Bodacious Borders
(Drawing Class)
Do borders have you bogged down? Can’t keep ‘em in line? Tired of the same old border designs? Then this is the class for you! Using free motion quilting, templates and stencils, we’ll learn at least 20 border designs. We’ll use mark and no-mark methods and registration lines. We’ll learn how to keep the borders straight, how to deal with fullness in the borders, how to choose the best design for the quilt, and how and when to turn the quilt.


Not Gonna Take It Lying Down
(Lecture/Demo)
Stretch your imagination and use your creativity! Let’s explore some projects that are not ever going to keep you warm at night. First, we’ll learn how to load multiple small projects on the frame at once. Then, how about some projects that are not even quilts?! We’ll be using threads, yarns, fibers, stabilizers, and other unexpected items to make unique, surprisingly simple projects for gifts or for yourself. This class is loads of fun! Feel free to bring your camera so you can capture all of these great ideas step by step.


Bunny Quilting
(Lecture/Demo OR Drawing Class)
Tired of stopping and starting over and over again? Let’s just keep going and going and going….
Using traditional quilt blocks, we’ll learn to choose quilting designs for them that are easy to accomplish, free motion, continuous line designs and fill the blocks well. These designs will use little or no marking and will make every quilt unique and beautiful! These are great for sampler quilts too. Bring a pad of tracing paper to put over the block designs (your handout) so you can reuse them.


Swags Galore
(Drawing Class)
In this drawing class we will use acrylic templates and free motion quilting to make gorgeous swag designs.
Do you drool over gorgeous swag designs but can’t figure out how to make them? In this class we’ll use acrylic circles, ovals, and swag tools to accomplish just that! We’ll embellish them with freemotion quilting too. We’ll learn when one tool is more appropriate than another, how to make our designs turn the corners, and some ways to make them fit your space perfectly with no math! This class will enable you to create your own designs to make your quilts totally unique and stunning.

So, most of these will be taught at MQX, and I've also submitted them to AQS and Mancuso, so hopefully I'll be teaching more next year.

I'm also going to teach a one hour hands-on workshop at MQX on altered fabric. I'm having tons of fun coming up with ideas for that one! I've also just set up a new Yahoo! group called AlteredFabric today. So, if you're interested and want to learn, or have ideas to share, please join me there!

Also, I'm encouraged that the house has been shown more often lately. So we're keeping our fingers crossed here that we'll have a sale soon!

Must run now. I've just been informed by the children that they have no jeans that fit. Since fall is here and it's getting chilly, I suppose they need long pants now, so I must take them shopping. And so, I guess that's a good excuse to go out to dinner, too!