Workshops
Strips That Sizzle
Strips
That Sizzle Workshop
Description
Come and spend a blissful morning sewing strips of fabric together,
and watch in wonder in the afternoon as hundreds of quilt possibilities
emerge we play with the resulting blocks on the wall! The magic happens
because you sew strips from two color families in a light-to-dark arrangement
to begin with: the challenge of the class is to quit playing with the
blocks on the wall and sew them into a quilt, because there are so many
possibilities!! A day of sewing fun, resulting in learning a lot about
value and color, almost in spite of yourself!
Click for Printable Version
Supplies Needed for Workshop
- Rotary Cutter (with extra blade)
- Acrylic straightedge – 6" x 24"
- Acrylic square – 6" (or 6-1/2")
- Rotary Cutting Mat – large enough to cut fabric 22" wide
- Straight pins
- Masking tape (wider than 1", for taping design surface to wall)
- 1-1/2 yards cotton quilt batting or flannel-backed tablecloth to use
as design wall.
- Irons and ironing boards – enough to share (no more than 3 students
per ironing board)
- Sewing machine in clean and oiled condition, with several bobbins
already filled
- Thread appropriate for machine (color doesn't matter)
- Toolbox that came with machine
- Extra bobbins, EXTRA NEEDLES
- Foot pedal and all necessary cords for sewing machine
- Scissors or thread-snippers
- Cushion or pillow for chair to raise you to a good sewing height!
- Extension cord (with multi-plug outlets if you have one)
- Reducing glass or other reducing device like binoculars or camera
- Camera with flash capability, plenty of film and batteries
- FABRICS – minimum amount to bring is the following: Bring SIX
FABRICS in EACH OF TWO COLOR FAMILIES (12 total). In each color family,
be sure you have light, medium and dark values (bring prints and solids)
- NOTE: You need not buy all this fabric new: pull from your own fabric
collection first, then fill in missing values by shopping!!!
Strip Cutting Instructions
Cut your fabrics into strips as follows:
- Cut four fabrics at a time. Stack fabrics with raw edges more or less
even, folds and selvages parallel to each other; stagger folds by about
1/4".
- Slit folds up about 12".
- Cross-cut one strip in each of the five following measurements:
2-1/2" 2-1/4" 2" 1-3/4"
1-1/2"
- Pick up the strips of each fabric in random width order (this is why
you staggered the folds in the first place). In the end, you should
have one pile of each of the fabrics you cut, with one each of all of
the strip widths in that pile.
- Bring to class the uncut portions of the fabrics you cut into strips,
since you may find you want more strips from one or more of them.
- If you are unsure of your fabric selections, bring a few extra fabrics
(you need only 1/2 yard of each) which you think go with the fabrics
you cut into strips. This gives you the flexibility to add more fabrics
during class, if necessary.
Miller Quilts © 1997 - 2009
