Some Additional Evening & Weekend Classes

The teachers at my shop are offering more evening and weekend classes.  Here are a few of those projects.  This cute Wool Applique Tea Cozy is being taught by Mary Nielsen, and will teach the wool applique process plus some of the fun stitches to embellish the applique.  Kits are available from the shop while supplies last.  So if you can't make it to her Wool Tulip Penny Rug Class, this one is a great alternative!

I'm so happy that Heather Kojan will be teaching some classes at the shop too!  First, this is her Project Bag.   It's a nice little tote that's just right for those take along handwork projects ~ and that adorable little wooden spool in place of a bead is the perfect touch :)   The class also includes how to make the little matching zippered pouch.

And this is Heather's Pinwheel Pillow Class.  The twister quilts are so popular right now, but Heather teaches a method using Marti Michell's Windmill Ruler that doesn't require you to piece an entire quilt just to cut it up again.  

Plus there's this larger windmill quilt...

It's Layer Cake or Fat Quarter friendly, and it's a free pattern that Heather provides along with tips to making it included in the class!

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

More Happy Quilters

Here are some more happy quilters who have finished quilting their first quilts while renting our HQ machines :) This is Julie's first rental finish.  She rented with her friend Pat, and unfortunately I've accidentally ditched some of my photos from my phone and don't have Pat's any more ~ sorry Pat, I'll catch your second finish!
  

This is Barbara's beautiful shabby chic quilt that she quilted with swirls and little tea bags to go with the teapot themed fabric :)

And this is Pat's (a different Pat) cute charity quilt that was one of four quilts that she finished on her recent rental day!

Check out the details of our Rental Program, and we do still have a space available in our upcoming February 22nd Rental Class. 

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

A Tour of More Class Samples at the Shop

Not all of our upcoming classes at the shop are applique like the ones I posted about Here ~ I'm very proud that our teachers are putting together a portfolio of a variety of projects, and many are suitable for a beginning quilter to take on.  This is the Beginner's Rail Fence quilt that Marcia Bilbrey will be teaching on two Saturdays in March - perfect for a beginning quilter to learn important skills, and still have a great project from the class. 

And if you ever wanted to learn how to make a T Shirt Quilt, Marcia is also teaching this class coming up beginning March 10th.

This set of quilts are the samples for the "Think Outside the Pattern" class.  I think this one is really intriguing.  Marcia started with the above Christmas quilt which is a pattern of mine...

...and she made this quilt from the same pattern!  She will teach students how to start with a pattern, and make some changes to make the quilt project their own.  How fun is that!

Another great beginner quilting class is using my Soft Hearts pattern.  Marcia is also teaching this one that includes easy pieced blocks and simple machine applique so the student gets to learn the process for both techniques.

 

I'm throwing in this fun little class on how to make my Quilted Wall Kite that's in the current issue of Sew-It Today magazine just for something fun to do for March :) 

This one is the English Paper Piecing Patchwork Flower Garden project.  Patti Rusk will teach the process of English Paper Piecing using this project on two Wednesdays in April, and then we will be kicking off a monthly English Paper Piecing Club that will have one smaller project each month, and work on larger ongoing projects as well.

Finally, Mary Nielsen will be teaching this Crazy Curves Quilted Jacket that includes curved piecing and great machine stitched embellishments.  Just stunning.

All of these classes currently still have space in them.  You can register for any of these classes Here on the Website, or call me at the shop (410)381-0695.

And upcoming this week at the shop is a great HQ Machine Quilting Club Class called "Quilt as Desired ~ What the Heck Does That Mean?"  Get some ideas for what to quilt on your quilt tops!  Learn some versatile free motion quilting motifs, and where to use them.  Bring a quilt top to the class to get some quilting ideas for your own project too!

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Plowing Through Some Snow Days

This new sign came into the shop this week, and I thought it was very appropriate with all the snow days that we've been having to deal with. Because of all these stay-in-and-sew-days, the shop has been pretty quiet ~ but on the bright side, that has lent itself to some work-on-the-classroom days for us.   

The warehouse space that we are turning into our new classroom already had some very funky plastic textured paneling up on the walls...

...with some funky kind of stains, including this one which we are hoping is from red paint...

So we debated about tearing out all the paneling and re-walling everything from scratch, but that would have set us back quite a bit on the timeline ~ so we've decided to embrace the funky walls with a good cleaning and paint over all.    

The space already has a lot of outlets, which is great for a classroom, but they are on the outside of the wall, so we're going with an "industrial" kind of look.  I decided to paint a light green that will look good with all the metal, and some light gray design walls that I'm going to put up.

The back wall of course Bob had to build.  This week we were able to bring that from just studs, to spackle, then...

...Painted!

  

And yesterday Bob was able to start on the sink area.  First he had to re-route a few things, and move the pipe to the corner, then he put the light up that will be over the sink.  Next we'll go and pick out a counter top and install the sink, finish painting, and the carpet will be installed on Wednesday!

 ...Almost there :) 

Enjoy the day!

~ Dawn

We Interupt this Impending Snow Storm for...

 

...A little Valentine's Day shopping!  Gift Cards are available at Spring Water Designs...the shop's open all day Wednesday...so send your Sweetheart on over before the next weather event that's coming in, and I'll set you up with a Valentine's gift that you can really enjoy ;)

Enjoy the day! 

~ Dawn

All Work and No Play...

Well lately it has been all work around here, so last night I took some time off to Play a little!  Today, I finished up this little quilt top for my Riley Blake challenge for the Baltimore Modern Guild meeting tomorrow (I know...nothing like waiting until the very last minute).

We were given fat eighths from each of the six prints that you see in the squares above (Thank you Riley Blake!), and we could add a solid, so I added this aqua color and started making squares...

I didn't get mine quilted up yet, and don't plan on entering it in the Riley Blake challenge contest, I just wanted to play for fun :)

I added the "UnRuly style word "Play" kind of Tonya Ricucci-ish and added it to the bottom border...And this is what I came up with ~  It was fun to just play today :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Some Amazing Class Samples are Arriving at the Shop!

Our cure for the Winter blues is to think Spring here at Spring Water Designs!  I've been booking dates with Teachers and every day more class samples are being dropped of at the shop for upcoming Spring classes! This is the Spring Tulip Wool Penny Rug that Mary Nielsen will be teaching on April 14th & 28th. 

Part of her class will be teaching these embellishing stitches that really punches this little project up to the next level :)

 How can you not get cheered up when looking at this little project :) 

Class sample arrangements are going up in the shop, with more samples scheduled to come in tomorrow.

This is the Machine Raw Edge Applique "Daffodil" being taught by Patti Rusk on March 6th & 20th...Let Patti help you forget this cold weather and get in the mood for gardening :)

 ...and this is the "Oriole" both appropriate for Spring and the start of Spring Training too :)  Patti will be teaching the Oriole on two Fridays, March 21st & 28th.

And keeping with the seasonal theme, Barbara Burnham, author of Baltimore Garden Quilt will be teaching her hand applique techniques with this little Cherry Bird on Saturday, March 22nd.  Barbara does amazing work, and I can't wait to host her class here at the shop :)

And last (for now), but not least ~ I'm so excited to share that internationally known quilt teacher, Pat Sloan will be teaching an all day workshop in our classroom on Saturday April 5th from 10 - 4:00! Come out and enjoy a day learning Pat's techniques in her workshop The Magic of Easy Machine Applique, and work on her Little Blue Bird quilt (pattern is included in the cost of the class).  Space is limited so register early!

You can register for any of these classes Here on the Website, or call me at the shop (410)381-0695

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Latest Additions to the Shop

So this afternoon Bob rolled this new section to my check out counter into the shop.  It abuts right up to my current counter and has slat wall on this side to display things. (I immediately loaded it up with these apron samples that we have kits for and I thought they needed to be displayed, and a sample for our upcoming English Paper Piecing Class ~ more on that soon!)

But the best part of this new unit is this side...I now have my Bernina here at the shop with me and can sew to my heart's content!  ~ I'm really way more excited about this than I should be...it kind of feels like Christmas :)

Another new addition this week was this cabinet.  We found it at ReStore (my new favorite store by the way).  It needed a new back on it, and Bob added casters to the bottom so I can wield it around.  I painted it up on Tuesday, and now it holds the beginnings of our Wool display!

We had Wool Chunks, cute little wool charm packs, and yummy Valdani Pearl Cotton arrive this week...

...And Mary made these adorable little wool pincushions that we just happen to have kits for :)

If you think these are cute, stay tuned for photos of the Wool Penny Rug Class that Mary is going to be teaching ~ Photos, dates and details coming soon :) 

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn