CoursesInspiration, Machine quilting tips, Rulers
7 great reasons to expand your personal machine quilting skills
Dec
As the number of quilters in the world increases, so do the number of machines used to create stunning quilts. While there is no limit to the imagination and creativity of a quilter, there are some who prefer to keep it simple. However, as the technology advances so quickly, you may find yourself looking to expand your personal machine quilting skills.
The quilting world is a big one and there is no end to it. It is a craft that has stood the test of time and it is something that has survived. One of the reasons why quilting is such a popular craft is that anyone can do it. No matter where you come from, how old you are or what you look like, you can enjoy the craft of quilting.
As a long time quilter and occasional blogger on the subject, I’ve learned that the more I experiment with quilting, the better a quilter I become. I find it’s the same with sewing machines, too. The more time I spend sewing on a machine, the more I learn about its various capabilities and the better I get at using it. That’s why I’m excited about the Australian Machine Quilting Festival finally happening in Feb 2022 in Adelaide!
A little bit of history:
In 2009, a customer who became a very special friend, approached me to consider creating an event that would educate and inspire machine quilters here in Australia and New Zealand. After a weekend of consideration and brainstorming I agreed to commit to this new adventure. Both Sharon and I had presented classes at various Machine Quilting shows in the USA, so we aspired to provide a similar opportunity for Australian and New Zealand quilters to experience similar without the stress and cost of travelling to the other side of the world. My first teaching experience was in 2005 in Manchester, NH and thereafter I returned multiple times to teach at HMQS, MQS and MQX until the last visit in 2013. After that we were just too consumed in creating our own event here in Australia.
The very first Australian Machine Quilting Festival was held 9 months later in 2010 in a small venue in Adelaide and was a resounding success with students, exhibitors and enthusiastic quilting public visiting and learning and shopping.
We outgrew that venue the very first year and moved to the Adelaide Convention Centre, where it still remains today. Sharon retired in 2015 after 3 very successful events together and I continued to grow and expand for another two events with the last one held in 2018 and then I passed it over to it’s new owners in 2019. The ups and downs of COVID has resulted in a number of changes of dates and difficulty in securing a program, so it is a credit to their perserverance in what is being presented.
With a multitude of both National & International teachers from all across Australia, USA, Canada & Germany over the years, the quality of educational opportunities has been outstanding. This next event is no different with some new International & National tutors braving COVID to present fresh classes and products to enhance everyone’s quilting endeavours.
I’m thrilled that for the very first time that I can actually present some classes instead of running and organising everyone else. I have 7 classes on offer with the first 6 all being drawing classes that ANYONE can learn from. It does not matter what size or brand machine you do your machine quilting on, as we will be discovering lots of techniques, ideas and designs that we will draw that will convert to your machine quilting on your own machine. Hints, tips and suggestions on how best to achieve these designs will be discussed and shared. You can find all the classes available at AMQ Festival’s website and look for the classes. You can drill down to find them by day and genre. All my drawing classes can be found under the drawing tab and the final class is a maintenance class for A1 longarm quilting machine owners to get a refresher on looking after their machines.
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Quick direct links to my classes can be found below:
Grids on Steroids Book your spot!
Perfect Cables in any size Book your spot!
Fancy Feather Fiasco Book your spot!
Basic Border magic using rulers Book your spot!
Tempting templates Book your spot!
Advanced border magic Book your spot!
A1 Machine maintenance Book your spot!
… and it is not just about putting a few more stitches in a straight line! The more you quilt, the more you will love the process, the more you will learn, the more you will become part of a great community of quilters and the more inspired you will feel to quilt. It is a journey of discovery and we hope that you will enjoy it.
Chat again soon…
Tracey
