I was very lucky to have an opportunity to attend the Birds of a Feather gathering by the Virginia Longarm Network at the beginning of February. This was a weekend of classes, workshops, vendors, and networking with Longarm quilters from all over the state, the country, and the world!
I took classes in social media, blogging, and some quilting techniques. If I tried to tell you everything I learned, it would be a ridiculously long post and you wouldn’t want to read it all. Suffice to say, I met some really terrific people and learned a lot of things that will help me be a better quilter and a better businesswoman.
Friday night there was a “Giving Back Night” where we brought our sewing machines into the big banquet hall and sewed for charity. We made quilt tops for wounded soldiers from kits of fabric that had been collected and donated by the hosts. Here is one of the two quilt tops that I made. I brought it home with me to quilt and bind it, and will return it to the Longarm Network completed and ready for delivery.
On Saturday I took a business class, and also a class from Lisa Calle using special rulers on the Longarm machine to make different shapes and patterns. I had not done a lot of ruler work so this class was eye-opening! We also used machines I had never used before, made by Innova. The hosts of this show are Innova dealers and I would guess that at least half of the participants own this type of machine, but it was my first time using one. They had Innova technicians in the classroom ready, just in case we had any difficulties and to help change bobbins or do any other mechanical things that we needed. It was a great way to run the classes. Here is part of what I learned in Lisa Calle’s class:
I took a class from Cynthia Cossu to make landscape quilts. Here is my pile of supplies at the beginning of class:
She showed us several techniques to assemble and embellish, and look what I ended up with after just two hours!
I still have some embellishment and quilting to do, but I feel like this is a technique that I can use to make some fun things for decoration and to frame or try to sell.
I came back from the weekend refreshed and inspired, and ready to do fabulous things. Keep an eye out here for some good things to come!
–Sandy