Teaching Schedule

Back to teaching a few classes.

Please check this link (teaching schedule) for details. Triangles, quit-as-you-go and squares.

I hope to see you!

Simple Shapes

You can make so many nice quilts ...

... using the simple shapes of squares and triangles.

I used this mini quilt (12" x14") as an example in the Binding Class I taught yesterday at Ewe Knit.

Students really enjoyed the class!

Upcoming Fall Classes

My Fall schedule is coming together even though I am still in Italy. I L-O-V-E internet!!...when it works.

Teaching on November 13 at Artscape Youngplace. A 9-patch block, perfect for self-taught quilters and beginners. It is also a good review for those who have made a few quilts already.

This is just one of the quilt designs using the versatile 9-patch block

Teaching on November 27 also at Artscape Youngplace.

A quilt-as-you-go construction. Great project for using all kinds of scrap fabric!
(detail)

I am speaking at Oakville Quilters Guild on November 17. My theme is "Inspiration". Even if you are not a member I think you can attend. Better contact them though just to make sure.

I am speaking at Halton Quilters Guild on January 4, 2017. Also teaching there. A scrap class for sure.

I love those types of quilts. I find them the most interesting. Those are the ones I find myself stopping in front of when at a quilt show. They just offer so much to look at...if they are done well, of course. Some people think you can just "throw anything in" but I disagree. That is one of the things I talk about when I teach my scrap classes.

Another reason I love making scrap quilts so much is the cost. You have probably noticed the cost of quilter's cotton has gone up quite a bit in the last year! Many quilters/sewers have collected a box of fabric they love, bought and set aside for use "one day". Now is that time! Take those fabrics out and let's make a quilt! Use what you have- an old cotton shirt, an apron of your mom's, an old pillow case with a fancy trim, an out-of-control fabric bin. Learn how to make those fabrics work well together!

Right now, no classes are full so sign up! (contact me by email: sandra.reford@sympatico.ca)

Making Changes

I recognized a friend at the St Lawrence Market that I hadn’t seen in over 30 years ! She and I went to high school together in Montreal. She has recently moved to Toronto.

I exhibit my work in Europe.

We met for coffee later in the week and had a long chat about everything! It was wonderful!!

I prepare teaching samples for my
quilt classes.

She asked about what I was doing and I gave her my blog and my website address.

I organize trips to Verona, Italy, with a textile theme.

But later that week I wondered what she would see on those sites.

I work on art journals.

The website has not been updated for years! No new photographs. No new text. No additions to my CV. Yet I have done a lot!

I recently organized a trip to Umbria for August 2016...
and by organize I mean preparing an itinerary,
interviewing the right people to give workshops and lectures,
finding the best places to eat,
booking an amazing villa,
discovering places to visit...
a big job!

The blog is fine if you follow me regularly. You know what projects I am working on and you know what I have done.

I exhibit my work in Toronto.
This piece was part of the exhibit
The Gathering last summer
@ Gallery 814.

But for a person who is just visiting for the first time I need to have a better description of what I am and what I do and what I have done!

I teach in the art department at different high schools.

My website and my blog need a make-over! 

I take some art classes and always keep learning.

That is what I will be working on in the next months.

I curate textile exhibits

Early Spring Cleaning

My annual Spring Cleaning quilt class will be held a little early this year. It is in late February.

Sunday, February 28 from 10 am to 4 pm at Artscape Youngplace in Toronto.

This quilt tells a story- a story of my travels.
Besides the techniques of cutting and sewing
 I also teach HOW to start this quilt
from a design point of view. How to make it personal to you.

By 'spring cleaning' I mean clean out that fabric box...shelf...room!

Students make the quilt top using mostly fabric from their stash. That is a good thing to do now that our Canadian dollar is so low!!

For the beginner quilter, there is the option of purchasing a few fat quarters. And that also goes for those 'sensible' quilters who have not accumulated metres of fabric...bought for a future project!

It is a fun day with other quilters in a gorgeous space with lots of natural light. The projects are always simple to sew up.

There are 2 spots left! Register NOW.

Click here for info.

I Promise

I promise I will not check my cell phone messages or Face Book status during our class.

I promise to mind the clock so that 5 minutes before the class ends I won’t throw all final instructions at you and confuse you.

I promise to start the class on time and not half an hour late.

I promise to end the class at the scheduled time and not go over by 2 to 3 hours.

I promise I won’t make you run around town looking for supplies that are not really necessary for the class.

I promise to share all my tips for the project and not holdback the best ideas for myself.

I promise not to squash your creativity and impose my colour choice on you.

I promise not to talk down to you when you ask a question just because I am knowledgable on the subject.

I promise to give you more that just 'reading the pattern' to you.

I promise I will not sew my own projects during the class.

I promise to have my samples made and ready and not sew them up while I should be walking around helping you.

I promise to make my classes fun and inspirational.

As students you shouldn’t settle for anything less!!!

During the last two years, I have taken a number of classes, not necessarily sewing workshops, and all the above were things I observed in the classes I took. Needless to say there are some places I won’t go back to. Remember as a paying consumer you do have influence!

I am teaching several quilt classes this Fall. Click here to view the calendar.

Apple for the teacher

Club Quilt

New this Fall: The CQ

You've heard of the magazine GQ? Well this is CQ, Club Quilt.

Come sew any project you want in a large clean room filled with natural light that isn't in the basement!!! Bonus: you'll be sewing beside other quilters! A great way to be inspired and to inspire others.

Hope you can join me on Thursday mornings from 10 to 1....I may be able to open the doors even earlier for the same price! I will be there to help with anything- an idea, a technique, a reminder.

Click here for location and exact dates. Register by email. Register with a friend.

Hope you can come and sew with me.

High School Quilts

I had a busy week last week mailing out art work, tennis lessons, trip preparations and wrapping up my teaching at Branksome Hall.

I worked with a small group of students and finished up the quilt making that I started with the entire grade last month. The blocks were made and designed by all the grade 8 students.

First step- Place the blocks in a pleasing fashion.
Second step- Sew the rows together being attentive to the block intersections.

Since we were pressed for time, I suggested we make the quilts the "turn inside out" way instead of the traditional way that ends with a binding.

Third step- Lay your top, good side up over the batting and pin the two layers together using safety pins.
Fourth step- Cut the batting right up to the edge of the quilt.
Fifth step- Tape the back fabric, good side up, onto a table so there won't be any shifting when doing the next step.
Sixth step- Lay the top and batting combo, good side down, over the back fabric.
Seventh step- Pin all the way around using straight pins.
Eighth step- Sew around the edge leaving a gap at one end.
Ninth step- Trim backing.
Tenth step- Turn inside out through the gap you left.
Eleventh step- Add a top stitch all around the quilt which closes up the gap.
Last step- Tie the quilt using pearl cotton.

Lots of steps but the girls were so good at listening that it went pretty fast.

Originally the quilts were to be donated but now the school has decided to exhibit them as an installation at their other school Branksome Hall Asia on Jeju Island, South Korea.

The girls are very excited about that. They should be proud of their work!!

Quilting with Teenagers

I finished my 8-class contract teaching grade 8 students about quilting. It is the third year the art department of Branksome Hall hires me.

I taught the students how to make a simple 4 patch
and some half square triangles

I talked about fabric and design. I showed the students how to be accurate in their sewing.

The inside of your block can be crooked but the
outside should have 90 degree angles.
This makes it easier to sew all blocks together.
(mostly made with men's shirt fabric I bought in Verona)

Using the sewing machine in a safe way will be a skill the students will be able to tap into in their future, I am sure, even if they don't ever make another quilt.

Half square triangles can be used in a border.

Each student will be creating and designing their own block that relates to an art principle: Balance,  Contrast, Emphasis, Movement, Pattern and Unity. The blocks of the same principle will be made into a quilt. The 6 crib-size quilts will most likely be donated. To see quilts from past students click here.

Using simple squares one can create an interesting pattern.
(This quilt is mainly made with men's shirts.)

The art teacher liked some of my teaching aids, like my coloured photograph of a quilt and the exact same photograph in black and white. This explained the element of value very well.

Both photos were taken of a group quilt made at a Toronto Public Library
when I ran quilt program several years ago.

What was so gratifying was the interest of the students.

The values is what gives this quilt its movement.

Best moment... when the bell rang and no one moved, just kept sewing!

(the quilts in these pictures are the samples I brought in to show the students)

More Empty Bowls

I returned to teach quilting at Branksome Hall and noticed there were some bowls leftover from their fund drive, Empty Bowls.

It is such a good cause, I couldn't resist buying three more.

I think they would make great one-of-a-kind hostess gifts filled with a home-made appetizer.

Empty Bowls

I was at a Toronto high school, Branksome Hall, this week teaching in their art department.

The art teacher reminded the students about their fundraiser, Empty Bowls, with all moneys going to support The Daily Bread Food Bank.

The idea is to buy a bowl made by the students and get it filled with soup. What a great idea!

I liked this size and the colours and the carved-in textures on the bottom.

I couldn't stay for the soup but I was glad to buy a one-of-a-kind bowl made by one of the art students.

The bottom of the bowl is stamped with the date and
the school and the event's initials.

I will use it at my home when I entertain on the weekend.

I will be back at that school next week to teach Part 2 of my workshop.

More Teaching

I was invited to teach a textile workshop at a high school in Mississauga, west of Toronto.

I taught a three-part workshop on Textile Art Expression. The students were from grade 10 and 12, between 15 and 17 years of age.

For many it was their first time using a sewing machine. They explored free motion stitching, hand stitching and fabric painting. They worked with Tyvek and soluble film.

It was a new medium for them. I compiled a list of Canadian and international textile artists they can research on-line.

What makes my workshop a success is that all want to continue exploring.

The teacher wants to repeat this workshop next year and eventually have students at a level where they can create a cooperative textile work that can be considered for exhibit at the textile forum, Verona Tessile in 2015.

Verona...again...and again

I am in Verona again.

I dropped in to see friends at the Associazione Ad Maiora.

Friends meet at the studio.

As always, there was lots of talking...

 and sharing....

and eating.

Home made, of course! Obviously made by a quilter!
Look at those strips! They're cut perfectly!

One of the neighbours brought some eggs to give.

I taught a class yesterday at the same studio.

Two students arrive early to set up. There were 6 students in all.

Today, a friend drove up to the studio and gave me a knitting class.

It is always a pleasure being here. The members of the association are incredible!

Leaving Verona

I left Verona today.

I always love being there.

A road in Verona's historical district

There is always so much to do and see and I have so many friends to share things with. This time, I didn't do much sewing because I was busy with the Canadian group and Verona Tessile event.

The Sanctuary very close to where I stay.

I will be back in Italy in September for teaching in Mantova, Padova and in Clusone, a small town in the mountains near Bergamo.

A small street in the historical centre of Verona.

I am looking forward to that!

Me at Lago di Garda on Labour Day, May 1.

I arrived in Vienna, Austria, this evening.

Vienna International Airport