Sew with Denyse Schmidt at a "MakeWorkshop"--Or Join A "Denyse-flavored" Block Swap or Quilt-Along for Inspiration
Fiber artist, Denyse Schmidt, has been sewing since her mother taught her as a young girl.
Denyse holds workshops where you will have this hands-on opportunity to spend an afternoon learning her intuitive design techniques, while building a foundation for bringing your individual style to quilts or projects from her book, or your own creations. Lots of fun!
And here is a personal invitation from Denyse:
“You can sign up for my improvisational piecing classes at MakeWorkshop The June class is sold out, but the next one will be Saturday, August 12, 2006. It's a really fun afternoon of working quickly and intuitively. I set things up in a way that forces you to turn off the "editor" for a while.
No decisions about which color or fabric next, or even what size or shape – at least in the beginning. It's really freeing and you make discoveries about what works that you might never have arrived at otherwise. It's a great technique you can use to create an entire quilt, as a way to break out of your design and color ruts, or to create color palettes for your next project with a pattern. (The blocks shown above were created by her students in a workshop. Here is a design wall her in studio.)
You'll find yourself part of an inspiring group of like-minded folks setting aside time for themselves to create, which is a great way to spend an afternoon. The workshops are held in our Bridgeport CT studio, in the former American Fabrics
building. The light is beautiful in the studio, and it's fun to nose around these old industrial textile mills.
Bridgeport used to be a manufacturing hub, and is now on the cusp of a renaissance. We're on Long Island Sound, so you can hit the beach while you're here. It's not the Hamptons, mind you, but it's pretty darn nice for being 57 miles out of NYC.
I'm working toward developing the "graduate" version of the class (for all those who have taken the class before), and if the classes keep filling up as fast as they have been, we'll add more!”
Denyse thanks us for our support and enthusiasm...and there's more projects in the works...
"There are many other projects and partnerships in the works and on the lists, but I'm working to stay focused for a while on keeping my core biz healthy and fun. It's very easy to get distracted by wonderful opportunities but we are a small operation and no one can do it all. Learning to say no is a challenge but empowering (and easier said than done). Thanks again for all your support and enthusiasm."
Blogs host “Denyse Schmidt” style block swaps and quilt alongs
Jessica Croker, a “graduate” of a MakeWorkshop, was so inspired she
encouraged quilters to make 10 blocks “Denyse Schmidt” style for a block swap. She opened the block swap to the first 50 people who responded to her and to challenge.
Here is Jessica to tell us more:
"I got the idea for “Blockswap” sometime last year while envying everyone participating in “Back Tack” and other blog-organized swaps. I thought it would be fun to be able to incorporate some kind of service into a swap and combine a whole bunch of different personalities into one project.
So, a quilt block exchange was the natural solution. I held off on starting anything, though, because I was so busy...and I was worried that I wouldn't get very many people to participate.
For my Christmas present my husband registered me for a workshop (through Make studio) with Denyse Schmidt , my quilting hero. I ventured out to Connecticut and spent a day in Denyse's studio with other Denyse admirers and quilt enthusiasts.
We pieced blocks in Denyse's improvisational way, and then stuck them up on the design wall. (See photo of blocks on wall in Denyse’s studio) They looked amazing together, even though they were so different. We were all using the same bags of fabric scraps, so there was continuity because there was a little bit of this solid here, a lot there, and then some totally unique fabrics thrown in.
I came home wanting a collaborative quilt just like what we had had on the design wall, so I picked some solid fabrics to use as a spring board, my husband added a page to my site, I wrote a few e-mails to bloggy friends (and Denyse) to enlist some free advertising, and we were off!
I was so excited by the response. It only took 2 days to get 50 people signed up! There were a few people I never got blocks from, but 48 people (including me) contributed blocks. Some people sent extras, so I have 55 blocks ready to be pieced into quilts. Right now I'm planning on making just two full size quilts.
My goal this week is to get sashing fabric bought and the piecing started. Once I'm finished I'll have them machine quilted. I have the quilting for one quilt donated and I am still looking for quilting on the other one to be donated. (E-mail me if your are interested.)
Hopefully, by the middle of June we can try out auctioning off a quilt and see how much money we can raise. I'm hoping to buy a goat or two through Heifer International. I think it is one of the best charities there is because it promotes self-sufficiency-- it helps people help themselves. Depending on how that goes, I'll either auction the second quilt and donate the money to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Humanitarian services to help the victims of the earthquake in Pakistan, or I'll send the quilt itself.
All the blocks that have been contributed are different and fun and look so good together. There is some kind of special energy generated by a project like this, and I think we all could feel it while we were piecing our blocks. The internet is amazing--how it brings together people all over the country, and even the world--with common interest. We tapped into some primal feminine quilting energy, and now we all get to make it our own and wrap up in it!
Quilt-Along Projects Come From Denyse's Book
Quilters like to share ideas and inspiration and basically, they like to “show and tell” about their projects. Sarah Minshall started a Denyse Schmidt Quilt-Along on her blog, Hip To Piece Squares. Here is a Sarah telling us about it.
“I started the Denyse Schmidt Quilt-Along on my blog, Hip To Piece Squares, last year when Denyse's book (Denyse Schmidt Quilts)
came out so that people could have a common place to discuss the projects and show their creations from the book. The Quilt-Along itself is a very loose idea; there's no time limit to projects and there's no constraints to how people can construct their projects.
Since we started the Quilt-Along, we've had well over 30 people join in, and even more have decided to join us on the group at Flickr. Anyone can join in!
So far, crafters participating in the DSQA have been busy making hordes of the Too Hot To Handle Oven Mitts, several Steve the Cats
have popped up, and others have made Zigzag Bags and Hits The Spot Cushions. There's been amazing quilts being made too!
So far, there's been several A Day At the
Beach, Big Zig, and Hop Skip & A Jump quilts finished, and others are working on Ice Pops, What a Bunch of Squares, Flock of Triangles, Pie In The Sky and Drunk Love 2-Tone quilts. It would be great if we could eventually have at least one of each project from the book finished!
(Photos and graphics courtesy of Denyse Schmidt, Jessica Croker and Sarah Minshall and the Quilt-Along participants.)
And now you can sew with her! 
Denyse holds workshops where you will have this hands-on opportunity to spend an afternoon learning her intuitive design techniques, while building a foundation for bringing your individual style to quilts or projects from her book, or your own creations. Lots of fun!
And here is a personal invitation from Denyse:
“You can sign up for my improvisational piecing classes at MakeWorkshop The June class is sold out, but the next one will be Saturday, August 12, 2006. It's a really fun afternoon of working quickly and intuitively. I set things up in a way that forces you to turn off the "editor" for a while.
No decisions about which color or fabric next, or even what size or shape – at least in the beginning. It's really freeing and you make discoveries about what works that you might never have arrived at otherwise. It's a great technique you can use to create an entire quilt, as a way to break out of your design and color ruts, or to create color palettes for your next project with a pattern. (The blocks shown above were created by her students in a workshop. Here is a design wall her in studio.)
You'll find yourself part of an inspiring group of like-minded folks setting aside time for themselves to create, which is a great way to spend an afternoon. The workshops are held in our Bridgeport CT studio, in the former American Fabrics
building. The light is beautiful in the studio, and it's fun to nose around these old industrial textile mills.Bridgeport used to be a manufacturing hub, and is now on the cusp of a renaissance. We're on Long Island Sound, so you can hit the beach while you're here. It's not the Hamptons, mind you, but it's pretty darn nice for being 57 miles out of NYC.
I'm working toward developing the "graduate" version of the class (for all those who have taken the class before), and if the classes keep filling up as fast as they have been, we'll add more!”
Denyse thanks us for our support and enthusiasm...and there's more projects in the works...
"There are many other projects and partnerships in the works and on the lists, but I'm working to stay focused for a while on keeping my core biz healthy and fun. It's very easy to get distracted by wonderful opportunities but we are a small operation and no one can do it all. Learning to say no is a challenge but empowering (and easier said than done). Thanks again for all your support and enthusiasm."
Blogs host “Denyse Schmidt” style block swaps and quilt alongs
Jessica Croker, a “graduate” of a MakeWorkshop, was so inspired she
encouraged quilters to make 10 blocks “Denyse Schmidt” style for a block swap. She opened the block swap to the first 50 people who responded to her and to challenge.Here is Jessica to tell us more:
"I got the idea for “Blockswap” sometime last year while envying everyone participating in “Back Tack” and other blog-organized swaps. I thought it would be fun to be able to incorporate some kind of service into a swap and combine a whole bunch of different personalities into one project.
So, a quilt block exchange was the natural solution. I held off on starting anything, though, because I was so busy...and I was worried that I wouldn't get very many people to participate.
For my Christmas present my husband registered me for a workshop (through Make studio) with Denyse Schmidt , my quilting hero. I ventured out to Connecticut and spent a day in Denyse's studio with other Denyse admirers and quilt enthusiasts.
We pieced blocks in Denyse's improvisational way, and then stuck them up on the design wall. (See photo of blocks on wall in Denyse’s studio) They looked amazing together, even though they were so different. We were all using the same bags of fabric scraps, so there was continuity because there was a little bit of this solid here, a lot there, and then some totally unique fabrics thrown in.
I came home wanting a collaborative quilt just like what we had had on the design wall, so I picked some solid fabrics to use as a spring board, my husband added a page to my site, I wrote a few e-mails to bloggy friends (and Denyse) to enlist some free advertising, and we were off!
I was so excited by the response. It only took 2 days to get 50 people signed up! There were a few people I never got blocks from, but 48 people (including me) contributed blocks. Some people sent extras, so I have 55 blocks ready to be pieced into quilts. Right now I'm planning on making just two full size quilts.
My goal this week is to get sashing fabric bought and the piecing started. Once I'm finished I'll have them machine quilted. I have the quilting for one quilt donated and I am still looking for quilting on the other one to be donated. (E-mail me if your are interested.)
Hopefully, by the middle of June we can try out auctioning off a quilt and see how much money we can raise. I'm hoping to buy a goat or two through Heifer International. I think it is one of the best charities there is because it promotes self-sufficiency-- it helps people help themselves. Depending on how that goes, I'll either auction the second quilt and donate the money to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Humanitarian services to help the victims of the earthquake in Pakistan, or I'll send the quilt itself.
All the blocks that have been contributed are different and fun and look so good together. There is some kind of special energy generated by a project like this, and I think we all could feel it while we were piecing our blocks. The internet is amazing--how it brings together people all over the country, and even the world--with common interest. We tapped into some primal feminine quilting energy, and now we all get to make it our own and wrap up in it!
Quilt-Along Projects Come From Denyse's Book
Quilters like to share ideas and inspiration and basically, they like to “show and tell” about their projects. Sarah Minshall started a Denyse Schmidt Quilt-Along on her blog, Hip To Piece Squares. Here is a Sarah telling us about it.
“I started the Denyse Schmidt Quilt-Along on my blog, Hip To Piece Squares, last year when Denyse's book (Denyse Schmidt Quilts)
came out so that people could have a common place to discuss the projects and show their creations from the book. The Quilt-Along itself is a very loose idea; there's no time limit to projects and there's no constraints to how people can construct their projects.Since we started the Quilt-Along, we've had well over 30 people join in, and even more have decided to join us on the group at Flickr. Anyone can join in!
So far, crafters participating in the DSQA have been busy making hordes of the Too Hot To Handle Oven Mitts, several Steve the Cats
have popped up, and others have made Zigzag Bags and Hits The Spot Cushions. There's been amazing quilts being made too!
So far, there's been several A Day At the
Beach, Big Zig, and Hop Skip & A Jump quilts finished, and others are working on Ice Pops, What a Bunch of Squares, Flock of Triangles, Pie In The Sky and Drunk Love 2-Tone quilts. It would be great if we could eventually have at least one of each project from the book finished!(Photos and graphics courtesy of Denyse Schmidt, Jessica Croker and Sarah Minshall and the Quilt-Along participants.)
