I'm happy to announce that I will be once again teaching
'BALLS!' class!
this time it will be at the wonderful
Gotham Quilts in NYC!
In this two-session class, students will learn the easy-to-master technique of
English Paper Piecing, and get started by making balls.!
This is an ideal class for TRUE BEGINNERS,
but experienced EPP-ers interested in exploring spherical projects
are more than welcome.
The balls can become toys, tree ornaments, accent pillows,
pincushions, juggling balls, sachets, and more.
The class is TWO sessions:
Sunday afternoons, 1-4pm
January 8th and 15th
In case you are new to all this, English Paper Piecing is a traditional technique for hand-piecing quilt tops that dates back as far as the 1770's. It's simple to learn, addictive, portable, and can be used to piece an infinite variety of quilt designs. It's basically one of my favorite things to do - all of my work that I've posted on this blog was created with this technique.
EPP especially great if you need a portable project to work on in your spare moments, if you have a schedule that involves random down-time, or if you have a commute where you don't have to drive. I get most of my work done on the subway!
Although experienced EPP-ers will have plenty to do, this class is ideal for folks who are brand-new to EPP, and even those who have never before lifted a needle. It is a relatively simple technique, so I will be demonstrating a variety of options, tips, and tricks, so that students can decide what style of working suits them best.
And we'll be making balls! It's so much fun!
Students will have 8 different ball designs to choose from, depending on how big and how ornate they'd like their project to be.
Here are some ball projects I've made recently.
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| Some halloween balls - decorative orbs - highly tossable. |
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| Halloween balls with a rainbow "Bucky" ball. |
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| Holiday ornaments. |
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| This is a great big "Squareburst" ball (a rhombicosidodecahedron if you want to get technical). |
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| Some triangle balls I made for Donna: one is a pincushion, one is a lavender bag, and one is an ornament. |
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| Star Trek balls (the little one is a pincushion for my mom) |
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| Where The Wild Things Are balls for my sister, Alisha. |
DETAILS:
Once again, the class will be TWO sessions,
Sunday afternoons, 1-4pm
January 8th and 15th
both sessions will be held at
Gotham Quilts
40 W 37th St, Ste 603, NYC
(btn 5th and 6th avenues)
To sign up,
Here's a list of the supplies you'll need for class (almost everything is available at Gotham):
TOOLS:
- Students will need to purchase the “Balls!” Paper Piece Kit
(This kit will contain all the paper pieces you’ll need and will be available on the first day of class)
- Straight pins
- Needles for hand sewing (I recommend appliqué sharps)
- Fabric scissors (small ones are nice for this)
- Non-fancy thread for basting (whatever you’ve got laying around)
- Filling (stuffing will happen in the second class, and we will discuss options at the end of the first class - cotton or polyester stuffing, dried lavender and pellets are all good options depending on what your ball wants to be when it grows up).
FABRIC AND THREAD:
If you have a bunch of thread and scraps and fat quarters and random fun fabrics in your stash, go ahead and bring as many as you don’t mind carrying! The more the merrier! If you do not have a stash like that, fabric and thread color selection will be discussed in class, and there will be time to shop, but ultimately you will want 1/4 yard of at least 2 fabrics that look nice together.
- For fabric, quilting weight cotton is recommended, but pretty much anything that isn’t stretchy is fine. (Small-scale novelty prints are lots of fun for this!)
- For piecing thread, I recommend 50 weight cotton in colors that either match the fabric you’d like to use, or are slightly duller. (Medium-dark greys are especially handy.)
And that's everything I can think of to tell you about this class!
Please let me know if you have any questions!
Thanks for reading!
All the best,
Reyna
